Sprint ends its season against nemesis

If history repeats itself, the seniors of the Penn sprint football team should have no problem beating Princeton in the final game of their college career -- the Quakers have finished on the winning side of the scoreboard the last six times they faced the Tigers. Penn (4-1, 2-1 Collegiate Sprint Football League) will host Princeton (2-3, 2-1) at Franklin Field tonight at 7:30, in the Quakers' final game of the 1998 season. Although Penn is not playing with an undefeated season or an outright league title on the line after last week's 29-9 loss to Army, the Quakers do not want to lose to the Tigers, especially in the final game of the season and in front of their home fans. "[Princeton is] our rival in the league, the [team] we hate more than any of the others," Penn running back Tim Ortman said. "It's still another opportunity to play football. We always want to win the last game." Unlike the past two years in which when Princeton hadn't won a game all season, the Tigers might actually prove a challenge to the Quakers. Since being blown out by Penn, 41-20, last month, Princeton has won two games in a row, and currently has the same league record as the Quakers. Penn is preparing for an improved team, but it is confident in its ability to repeat its early season drubbing of the Tigers. "[The Tigers] feel like they're a bunch of winners, but we're going to prove them otherwise," Penn senior Neil Batiancila said. "There's no one we feel better about beating than Princeton." The Quakers are not expecting a huge change in the Tigers' game plan since their matchup in October, although Princeton has a slightly new look with its different starting quarterback. Penn's defense is looking to improve upon its performance which allowed the Tigers to score 20 points -- 13 in the final seven minutes of the game. Offensively, Penn will stick with what has worked all season. It will count on the offensive line to block for Ortman, who had 207 total yards and four touchdowns in his last game against Princeton. He will be looking to improve upon last week's performance, when Army's defense held him to one touchdown and 88 yards on 25 carries. If the Quakers emerge victorious, they will earn a share of the league title if Navy can pull off an upset against Army this weekend. Penn is completely focused on taking care of business against Princeton tonight, but the Quakers admit that the possibility of a Cadet loss has crossed their minds. Penn senior Chris Graham jokingly e-mailed a friend on the Navy team to wish him luck against Army, but he added that the Princeton game has a lot of meaning to him, because it will be his last as a college athlete. This game is very special to the seniors on the team because this is their opportunity to win their final game. "[This is our] last game of organized football. We want to go out with a win rather than a loss," Penn senior Howie Goldberg said. "This is my last chance to hit people without being arrested," Penn senior Carter Byrnes said. Whatever their reasons, the Quakers desperately want to defeat a hated rival on Franklin Field -- where they all started with their first practice. Though some of the meaning of this game is lost after Penn was defeated by Army last week, the Quakers have plenty to play for. "We only play six games, so there's no such thing as a meaningless game," Byrnes said.