IVY CHAMPS! Football wins share of title

No disappointment. No let down. One less goalpost. Last year Harvard clinched the Ivy League title after disposing Penn 33-0 in Cambridge. Saturday, the Quakers (7-2, 5-1 Ivy League) turned the tables, defeating the visiting Crimson (4-5, 3-3), 41-10, for their first Ivy League Championship since 1994. "It's unbelievable," Penn linebacker Darren MacDonald said. "I was in tears with four minutes left to go in the game. It's the greatest feeling I have ever had." While Harvard showed little resemblance to last season's team, the Quakers did not even need the full 60 minutes to show their progress from last year. "Obviously a complete role reversal from last year," Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. "They beat the hell out of us, and they deserved to win." Without feeling the pressure or excitement of a possible Ivy League Championship, Penn's offense continued where it left off against Princeton a week ago. After scoring three touchdowns in the first five minutes against Harvard, the Quakers needed only five plays from the line-of-scrimmage to take a 13-3 lead halfway through the first quarter. The Quakers' first possession began on Harvard's 31-yard line after a 21-yard punt return by Penn's Joe Piela. Four plays later, Penn running back Jim Finn ran the ball into the endzone from the eight-yards out for his Ivy League leading 14th touchdown of the season. "The guys up front on the punt return team did a great job, as they have been doing all year," Piela said. "It set the tempo. The offense got the ball, and they put it right in. That is how you want to start the game." On the first play of the Quakers' next possession, Penn quarterback Matt Rader found wide receiver Brandon Carson clear past Harvard defensive back Glenn Jackson for a 78-yard touchdown bomb. "It was just a bootleg pass," Rader said. "The defensive back actually stopped in the coverage because he was about 50 yards downfield. I just lobbed it over his head, and Carson made a great play." The Crimson's rushing defense, along with a few penalties, slowed Penn's offensive progress for the rest of the half. Finn, the Ivy League leading rusher, was held to only 44 yards on 13 carries in the first half. While, an offensive holding penalty on Penn nullified a touchdown throw and caused Penn to attempt a 43-yard field goal, which kicked by Jason Feinberg missed short. "Harvard has one of those eight-man defensive fronts," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "We knew that we were going to have to run just to keep them honest. The only time that our offense really got stopped is when we ran into a lot of penalty situations. Against a defense that good it can't be first and 15 or second and 20." With its lead down to ten halfway into the third period, Penn resorted to its passing attack to ignite the offense. After completing passes to Penn wide receivers Jason Battung and David O'Neill, Rader (15-of-25 for 260 yards, two touchdowns and an interception) handed the ball off to Finn who scored from 16 yards out. "It seemed like Rader just hit every receiver with every pass," Harvard defensive tackle Brendan Bibro said. "They just took it to us. They took control of the game. It was anybody's game right there." As the Quakers added touchdowns by Finn, who finished the game with 106 yards on 27 carries, and tailback Jason McGee in the fourth quarter, Penn's led 27-10 with one quarter left -- enough leeway for the fans to start chanting for the goal posts. The reason for this confidence came from the Quakers' stingy defense, slamming the door on Harvard's hopes to comeback. Bending but not breaking, Penn's defense did not allow Harvard to complete an offensive play longer than 15 yards. Although Penn gave up 96 yards to Harvard's second string running back Damon Jones -- filling in for the injured Chris Menick -- the Quakers' pass defense was ruthless. Early in the second quarter, Piela, from the safety position, intercepted Harvard quarterback Rich Linden's intended pass to fullback Chris Stakich, returning the ball 37 yards to the Crimson eight yard line. "When I get the ball my goal is to get it into the endzone," Piela said. "I broke one tackle, and I cut it back across the field. I got some good blocks from the guys up front and found the whole." Linden managed to stay in the game for only one more series before suffering injuries to his right ankle and right hand. Unlike last year's 212 yard, two touchdown performance against Penn, Linden managed only 53 yards, completing 7-of-14 attempts. "I think we got a lot more pressure on him this year, which put him back on his heels," Piela said. "He was throwing the ball earlier than he wanted to. There were guys at his face and hitting him as he was throwing the ball." Filling in for the injured Linden, Brad Wilford brought Harvard to within 10 points on a two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Chris Eitzmann midway through the third quarter. Unfortunate for the Crimson, Wilford and the rest of the Harvard offense could not keep up the intensity. Wilford ended the game completing four-of-13 passes for 17 yards. With the win, the Quakers only guaranteed a tie for the Ivy title. While Penn was able to get pumped for Senior Day against Harvard, it will be harder to keep up their vigor as they travel next weekend to Ithaca to face Cornell. "I want the kids to enjoy this because it is so hard to achieve it," Bagnoli said. "We will make sure that our heads are screwed back on. Trust me, by 3:20 on Tuesday, Harvard will be a distant memory."

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