GAME ANALYSIS: Seniors shine in final home game

As if they could sense that the fate of their season, the legacy of their four-year careers and the safety of Franklin Field's goal posts hung in the balance, the seniors of the Penn football team played one of their finest collective games of the season Saturday, downing Harvard 41-10. "We don't have lots of seniors numerically, but obviously we have some kids that have had an impact on our season -- Matt Rader, Jim Finn, Darren MacDonald, Joe Piela just to name a few," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "In big situations, those kids have got to play. And I think that's one of the things that has been consistent so far is that in big situations our marquee players have played at the level they're supposed to play at." Determined to pick up one Ivy title in their four years in West Philadelphia, it was fitting that the Penn seniors took over from the very start. Quakers senior defensive lineman Larry Rascoe recorded the first Red and Blue tackle of the day. Then, following two Crimson incompletions, Penn senior co-captain Joe Piela gave the offense excellent field position with a 21 yard punt return, deep into Crimson territory. Three plays later, the other co-captain, Jim Finn, rushed eight yards for his 14th touchdown in '98, giving the home team a lead it would not relinquish. "It's definitely nice to make big plays, and we got the offensive ball on the 32 yard line," Piela said. "It's good that we went three-and-out as a defense, and we got the good punt return, and the guys up front did a good job. That kind of set the tempo -- the offense got the ball and they put it right in. Right there, that's how you want to start off the game." Finn -- closing in on Bryan Keys' Penn single-season rushing record of 1,302 yard -- did not stop his endzone march with that touchdown. Rather, he rolled over the Crimson defense for three TDs in the process of gaining his eighth 100-yard rushing effort of '98. In addition to his punt return that set up Finn's first score, Piela had an interception return which saw the defensive back run, jump, spin and stumble his way for 37 yards to the Crimson eight, setting up the Quakers third touchdown of the afternoon. Lost in the midst of his two vaunted returns, however, was what could have been Piela's finest defensive performance of the season -- a nine tackle, one interception affair. The only Quakers defensive player who bettered Piela was fittingly senior middle linebacker Darren MacDonald. With 11 tackles, including one of the defense's eight for a loss on the day, MacDonald raised his season total to 78 and helped to guarantee at least a share of the Ivy title 300 miles back down Interstate 95. "It's unbelievable. I was in tears with four minutes left in the game," MacDonald said. "This is the greatest feeling that I've ever had." It was obvious from the outset that the Quakers seniors came to play, and did not finish playing until the final whistle had blown and the final piece of the goalpost had sunk to the depths of the Schuylkill. On the Quakers final drive of the day -- already up 34-10 and with less than seven minutes remaining until party-central arrived -- senior Matt Rader emphatically showed the dogged determination that is football's class of '99. On a third-and-10, facing six Crimson defensive backs who could not be shaken in their coverage of his four wide-outs, Rader tucked the ball away, and scrambled 24 yards down the left side of the field. Wrapped up by several Crimson defenders, the senior kept fighting and stretching until he was finally pinned at the Harvard two-yard-line. Two plays later, Finn ran for his third touchdown of the afternoon. "When they really needed a play, Matt Rader just made a play. He's a difference maker in this league," Harvard coach Tim Murphy said of Rader's 15-for-25, 260 yard effort. But the outstanding performances of Penn football's senior class were not limited to just the familiar faces and multi-year starters. With the Crimson driving into Quakers territory late in the third quarter, it was a hit by senior defensive back Bruce Rossignol Jr. that caused Crimson quarterback Brad Wilford to cough up the ball. Seven plays and 64 yards later, senior running back Jason McGee, displaced as starter last season by Finn, broke through with his first touchdown of '98. The Quakers defensive line -- which limited the Chris Menick-less Crimson to under 3.5 yards a carry -- featured senior end Justin Gallagher and Rascoe -- who recorded two sacks apiece and threatened the Crimson's two quaterbacks the entire afternoon. "I think we got a lot more pressure on Harvard this year, which put [the Crimson quarterback] back on his heels a little bit. There were always guys in his face or hitting him as he was throwing the ball," Piela said. Not to be outdone, the line of the other side of the ball -- led by seniors Jesse Simonin and Aaron Atkins -- kept Rader protected and unsacked. As if they didn't know before the game had started, when all was said and done, all 14,909 fans in the stands for Saturday's Ivy-clinching romp knew what they had witnessed. Simply put, the Quakers senior class had come to win -- and they did, as clearly indicated both in the boxscore and in the aluminum remains submerged in the Schuylkill River.

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