Lwt. Football drops to Navy, loses hope for ELFL repeat

As the Penn lightweight football team entered its final home game of the 1997 season, the odds were stacked heavily against them. Its opponent was undefeated Navy, which beat Army, 21-16, earlier in the season. This is the same Army team that blanked Penn, 38-0. Penn, however, came well-prepared, but was unable to pull off the upset, as they lost, 9-3, on Franklin Field. Going into Friday's game Penn (2-3, 1-2 Eastern Lightweight Football League) still had a chance at a second consecutive ELFL title. If Penn had beaten Navy(6-0, 3-0), then a win next week against Princeton, and a Navy win over Army would have caused a three-way tie for the ELFL title. "The defense was able to step up, but unfortunately the offense was unable to capitalize," said Quakers defensive back John Clarke, who had an interception on a spectacular diving catch. This was the story of the game. The defense played perhaps its best game of the season, almost shutting the Midshipmen. Navy's offense, which averaged 34.8 points per game and 309 yards per game, was only able to muster nine points on 248 yards. "Our defense forced Navy to punt the ball more than they probably punted all year," Quakers coach Bill Wagner said. "The young guys on defense, like David Klein, John Clarke and Mike Viney, stepped up, as well as seniors Kwesi Edwards and Mario Malcolm." After Penn and Navy traded field goals in the first quarter, Navy scored its lone touchdown of the day after senior linebacker Jeff Rogish picked off a pass on the Quakers' 13-yard line. Placekicker Jose Perez missed the extra point wide left to keep the score 9-3 in Navy's favor. With time running out in the first half, quarterback John Kernan marched the Quakers down the field. The Red and Blue made it inside the Midshipmen's 10 for the only time of the day, only to turn the ball over on an interception at the Navy three-yard line. Throughout the second half the Quakers held the advantage in field position. Penn had the ball three times in Navy territory, but came up empty all three times. "There were a couple of times we didn't connect on key passes," Wagner said. "There were also a couple of penalties that hurt us." One penalty could have made the difference in this barnburner. With the ball at midfield, sophomore tailback Tim Ortman (103 yards rushing) beat the Navy defense around its right side and tight-roped down the sideline for a 50-yard touchdown run. The run, however, was called back on a holding penalty, which the Penn coaching staff couldn't find on the video tape. The Quakers came close to pulling off a major upset en route to another ELFL title. Navy and Army -- both undefeated in league play -- will square off next weekend for the championship, while the Quakers travel to Princeton for their final game of the season.