All abroad: Quakers hope to rail Lehigh

The Penn football team wants the Engineers to pay for last year's victory. It's ironic that a team called the Engineers is having a season that most resembles a runaway train, but that is what Penn (1-2) hopes to climb aboard on Saturday when it squares off against Lehigh (1-3) at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pa. Coming off their first win of the season, the Quakers will need to heed the previous three weeks' lesson -- scoring first results in victory. In each of their two losses, the Quakers fell behind 20-0 before scoring. Bxut against Towson, Penn went ahead 24-0 and loafed home for a 26-14 win. A few early scores could demoralize an Engineers team that has spent the majority of its season on the wrong side of the tracks. In each of its three losses this year, Lehigh has given up more than 30 points, including a season-high 61 points allowed last week to Colgate in a 61-28 debacle. "I hope it's high-scoring on one side," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "I think the key to the game is us coming out and getting up early. To play from in front would be a real advantage for us. They haven't proven that they can come back." Getting ahead early on Lehigh's porous defense will force the Engineers to move away from their strength, the run. Despite all the attention thrown towards Lehigh's outstanding wide receiver, Deron Braswell, the truth is Lehigh wishes it didn't have to throw to him so often. His 28 catches lead the Patriot League, but they come at the expense of carries for running back Rabih Abdullah, who had 1,536 yards in 1995, but missed last season due to injury. But he has only 257 ground yards after four games this fall. Unfortunately for Abdullah, unless Casey Jones steps out on the field for Lehigh's defense, things won't change much this week. "We are at a point where we are just trying to get a win," Lehigh coach Kevin Higgins said. It should be the Quakers who present the balanced attack this weekend. After showing an increased level of comfort in guiding the offense last Saturday against Towson, Penn quarterback Matt Rader will again be looking to distribute the ball to a variety of receivers. The seven receivers who caught passes last week will again see time against Lehigh, but their reception totals may drop due to the return of the team's leading receiver, John James. Before a cut in his mouth forced the senior to sit out last week's game, James was frequently on the receiving end of Rader's mid-distance passes. "I've been fitted with a special chin strap and mouthpiece, so I don't worry about [my injury]," James said. "We're going in with a solid game plan. The points come if they come." When it comes time for Rader to hand off, tailback Jason McGee will try to improve on his first outing of the year, which came only last week due to an injured hamstring. McGee ran effectively, carrying the ball 23 times for 76 yards, but failed to break a run for longer than 10 yards. This week, he finds a defense that seems ready, willing and able to give up the big play. Colgate running back Daymon Smith scored four touchdowns and had six runs of more than 11 yards last week against Lehigh. All signs point to the Quakers rolling to offensive numbers more bloated than Amtrak's federal subsidy. But the opportunity for a blowout could be derailed if Penn returns to its fumbling ways or if Lehigh finds a way to strike first. The Quakers' defense will again be without star defensive tackle Mitch Marrow, who will be playing the role of scout rather than prospect for the fourth-straight week due to a "mono-like virus." Nevertheless, the defense has played well without him all season, so there is no reason to think his teammates will start evoking his name as an excuse during post-game interviews this week either. "They have a balanced attack," Penn linebacker Darren MacDonald said. "Sometimes, when you get up by a lot, you lose your focus and concentration. But with a team like Lehigh you can't do that because they can score a lot of points quickly." Lehigh's head engineer, Higgins, said that he didn't see any Quakers weaknesses on either side of the ball. Maybe that's because he hasn't watched enough of Penn's game tape, but more likely it's because he knows his team is playing like a damsel in distress tied to the tracks. And he knows that Penn isn't likely to put on the brakes.

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