Sprint Football begins dash at title

A veteran sprint football team opens its season against Cornell. The phrase "same-old, same-old" could very well be used to describe the Penn sprint football team this year. Running back Tim Ortman, after a stint with the heavyweight football team earlier in the month, will come back to the sprint gridiron after earning All-Eastern Lightweight Football League First Team honors last season. John Kernan will again call the plays for his second year as the Quakers' starting quarterback. Offensive tackle Neil Batiancila will try to earn a fourth spot on the All-ELFL offensive line in as many years. These players and 32 other letterwinners, including 13 starters, will return to the turf of Franklin Field for the Red and Blue's first league game of the season against Cornell at 7 p.m. Saturday. With so many veterans filling the roster, talk has already started among some of the players about the team's chances for a second ELFL title in three years. "We have a lot of good guys coming back this year, and I see as much talent on this year's squad as on the 1996 team [that won the ELFL title]," co-captain Keith Lotman said. "An undefeated and championship season is something that does not look impossible," he added. As in the past few years, the key to a Saturday-night victory and an undefeated season lies in the hands of Kernan and Ortman, according to head coach Bill Wagner. "Tim [Ortman] will run the ball at least 25-35 times a game," Wagner said. "If we get other teams trying to stop Tim, then we need Kernan to throw well and our guys to catch the ball." Cornell's defense should be ready for Ortman after practicing against its own set of strong backs. The Big Red's running back tandem of Joshua Trembly and fullback Andy Smith combined for 216 yards rushing and four touchdowns in their two games against the Quakers last season. The teams split the two-game series in 1997, with Penn losing 21-7 and winning 9-7. Since Cornell's starting quarterback and wide receivers in 1997 won't be returning to the field this season, Wagner said that his defense mainly needs to contain the ground games of Smith and Trembly for a chance to win Saturday night. Despite the amount of veterans he has at his disposal, Wagner still expects a lot from his younger, less experienced players. Wagner said freshman starting center Brian Dubin, the only non-returner on the starting offense, will be of key importance. "We can't play our 'old' guys all of the time," Wagner noted. And even though Wagner is entering his 29th season as Quakers head coach, he said that he still gets "keyed up" for the opening game of the season. Lotman, too, said he's excited to get the game -- and this prospective championship season -- started. "Saturday is going to be our first chance to prove we can win it all," he said.