FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Quakers 'D' riddled with injuries

The Penn football team will be without defensive end Mike Germino and linebacker Jim Hisgen against Columbia. The injury bug took a great big bite out of the Penn football team. Quarterback Matt Rader was injured in the third quarter of the Fordham game. As he rolled out for a pass to running back Jim Finn, Rader was hit by two Rams defenders. After the play Rader noticed his upper throwing arm was cut, requiring over 25 stitches. "One guy ran into my arm with his face mask, and there must have been something sharp -- a buckle up there or something sharp on his face mask that just cut my arm up," Rader said. Although not even the game tapes demonstrate clearly how Rader was cut, most likely either a screw or a chin strap buckle was responsible. "I just went off the field as soon as I could," Rader said. "After that I was in shock." Rader will sit out practice for most of the week. He has been told not to move his stitched-up right arm, but is involved in the offense game plan during practices. If the stitches take, he may be cleared by doctors to play Saturday against Columbia. "If I'm going to play on Saturday, I'll probably get cleared by Friday," Rader said. "If not, I'm going to have to sit out a week." Backup quarterback Reed Werner took all but two snaps after Rader went down at Fordham and will most likely start if Rader is not cleared to play. Rader said the injury was frustrating, especially in light of the offenses renaissance last week. But he welcomes the rest. "I think it's going to be good for my body because I had a lot of aches and pains that I was nursing," he said. · Not all of the injury news is quite so promising, however. Starting linebacker Jim Hisgen will sit out this week's game with a knee injury. He is expected to be back in two weeks for the Brown game, though. The Quakers will also lose defensive lineman Mike Germino for next week's game. Because of neck and back injuries, Germino will miss at least the next four weeks and could possibly be out for the season. Germino, who is 6'1'' and 250 pounds, came out of the Fordham game after he collided with the pulling Rams offensive tackle Andrew Green, who is 6'4'' and 302 pounds. "Those two guys are big losses, definitely," safety Joe Piela said. "We have to make sure we overcome [the injuries] -- have some young guys step up and make some plays." · Offensive tackle Jason Lebron played for the first time this year last week at Fordham. But Penn coach Al Bagnoli said he will continue to start his regular five offensive linemen: Matt Bane and Aaron Atkins at the tackles, Mike Bertolino and Jesse Simonin at guards and Carmelo Rubano at center. "[Lebron] is healthy, [but] he's still not 100 percent," Bagnoli said. "He hasn't had a tremendous amount of practice, [and] hasn't had a lot of contact. "If we need him there, he's available." · The offense had its best showing in a long while against the Rams. "Offensively we're just about to turn it around," Rader said. "We scored 34 points in 2 1/2 quarters, so I think if we build on that we're going to be all right." But the offense will have its hands full against Columbia's defense, which is ranked 10th in Division I-AA. "They haven't let up a rushing touchdown this year," offensive coordinator Chuck Priore said. "We have to have a good combination attack of both run and pass." Priore said the game plan will remain the same whether or not Rader plays Saturday. "We're preparing to beat Columbia, and whatever quarterback will do what we prepare," Priore said. Bagnoli said running will be tough against Columbia's eight-man front. "It looks like on paper you should do nothing but throw," Bagnoli said. "But then obviously that gets you out of your game plan and you never use Jim Finn."