Prtman finds the endzone four times in Princeton

Tim Ortman scored three of his four touchdowns rushing in sprint football's sin over Princeton. Penn wanted to send a message to Navy. They did. The Penn sprint football team (2-0, 0-0 Eastern Lightweight Football League) handed Princeton (0-2, 0-0 ELFL) a 41-20 defeat two weeks before its first league matchup at Navy. Penn coach Bill Wagner described the game as a "stepping stone to get ready for the Navy game," and said that the Quakers did a "good job." Much of the Quakers' success can be attributed to a strong performance by running back and junior co-captain Tim Ortman, who contributed 207 yards on 31 carries with four touchdowns -- three rushing and one on a kickoff return. "It was a good game for the team? different people scored," Ortman said. Also scoring were senior wide receiver Todd Johnson and sophomore wide receiver Robert Reeves, each with one catch. Penn jumped on the scoreboard first after Ortman carried the ball 44 yards into the endzone midway through the first quarter. He led the offense with three more touchdown runs during the game, including a 56-yard kick return. "Every game depends on what the offensive line does, and we know that if they keep it up, we will be successful," Ortman said. Senior co-captain Keith Lotman, who doubles as a defensive back and a punter, contributed to the winning effort with four punts averaging 37.3 yards each. "I try to put our defense in as good of a position as possible," Lotman said. "Football is a field position game." On the other side of the ball, the defense turned in a less-than-brilliant performance. Wagner stated that the defense was somewhat unprepared because of the inability to scout Princeton's new program under its new head coach. "The defense was put to test because Princeton was better than we thought," Wagner said. The Tigers offense was led by Geoff Gasperini with two touchdowns, including a 60-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter. The defensive sloppiness was partially due to both the two-week break the Quakers had before the game and the sloppy field conditions caused by heavy rains. Lotman stated that the third touchdown and a significant lack of tackles were partially attributed to the slick conditions. The Quakers will have two weeks to prepare for their first league game at Navy. Although they would rather be playing next week, members of the team admit that they can use the time to improve their game. Ortman said that if the defense plays like they did this week against Navy, it will be a very long game. He does feel that the team has the ability to beat Navy if it plays to its potential. "Anything we didn't do well, we have the opportunity to correct during the bye week," Wagner said. According to Ortman, Penn will be "working on fundamentals, refining everything and running plays over and over." All of the hard work will be worth it if the Quakers win their first league game at Navy in two weeks. They feel that this is a must-win situation if they are to contend for the ELFL title, their ultimate goal.