Tigers next for Sprint Football

This weekend, the Penn sprint football team (1-0, 0-0 Eastern Lightweight Football League) travels to Princeton (0-1, 0-0 ) to face the Tigers. The Quakers' goal is to extend their six-game winning streak over Princeton. Princeton is attempting to win its first game in two seasons, rebounding from last week's 6-0 loss to Cornell. As if that isn't incentive enough, Friday night's game will be the Tigers' home opener and the first game played on their new field, Princeton University Stadium. Penn, however, has other ideas, such as using this weekend as a chance to bolster its chances at an ELFL title. "We need to set the tone for the rest of the season," Penn coach Bill Wagner said. "We can't afford not to win." "We want to start off where we left off," Penn junior co-captain Tim Ortman said. Ortman was referring to the 41-0 defeat that Penn handed Cornell two weeks ago. "We would like to go into the Navy game not giving up a point, to send Navy a message," Penn junior Steve Schickram said. The Quakers are looking forward to the league opener against Navy, but they are not overlooking Princeton. Senior co-captain Neil Batiancila commented that although the players are very confident going into this weekend's matchup, they never take Princeton lightly. The Penn-Princeton game is always "really heated and really physical," Batiancila said. "We anticipate a very physical and emotional game," Wagner added. Wagner expects to see big games from individual players including captains Ortman, Keith Lotman, Carter Byrnes and Batiancila, and junior Dave Klein. Ortman led the team against Cornell with 240 yards rushing and four touchdown carries. Wagner also said that the outcome of the game depends heavily upon the performance of the offensive linemen. The players would like to see a shutout, but are hesitant to predict the outcome. "If we shut them out, then we only have to score one touchdown," Ortman said. Penn is looking at this game as a chance to prove that they are legitimate contenders for the championship this year. They are looking to show the rest of the league and prove to themselves that the last game was not a fluke. Although the Quakers admit that two weeks feels like a long time to not have a game, they are prepared mentally and physically for Princeton. "We know how good we can be," Batiancila said. Penn thinks it is good enough to beat Princeton. However, they hope it's just a stepping stone toward their ultimate goal -- an ELFL title.