Sports Brief: Tuesday, September 28, 1999

Spring Football romps past Cornell 35-0 That seems to best describe the 35-0 spanking which Penn's sprint football team travelled all the way to Ithaca, N.Y., to deliver on Friday night. "Yeah, we pretty much dominated them the same way we did last year," senior running back Tim Ortman said. Ortman, the 1998 Collegiate Sprint Football League MVP and the Quakers' career rushing leader, also had a typical game, as he rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns -- one on a 61-yard scamper -- before being taken out early in the third quarter. "The offense set the tone on the very first play from scrimmage," Penn coach Bill Wagner said. And what a tone it was. On the Quakers' first play, quarterback John Kernan connected with wideout Scott Moore for a 49-yard touchdown pass to kick off the 1999 season. "After that, the defense totally shut Cornell down," Wagner said. While Ortman and Co. were putting up 445 yards of total offense, the Quakers defense held the Big Red to just 94 yards rushing and 68 yards through the air. "We knew that their passing game was not as strong as it has been," Wagner said. "They still tried to throw and we were able to knock some balls down and intercept a few. The entire unit really just swarmed to the ball the whole game." On the evening, Penn forced four Big Red turnovers on two interceptions and two fumbles. Those turnovers, along with Penn's 42-yard punting average, helped to pin Cornell deep in its own territory all night long. "Basically, our defense beat up on their young offense," Wagner said. Kernan, one of Penn's many returning all-conference performers, made large contributions to those drives. The junior was 7-for-14 passing for 135 yards and two touchdowns. That performance prompted Ortman to describe the passing attack as "the best I've ever seen it." "Kernan had a great game [and] we actually dropped a couple of balls on him, too," Wagner said. "We'll probably try to throw between 12 and 20 times a game. Teams are gonna put eight guys in the box and they're gonna come gunning for Timmy [Ortman]." Freshman Mark Gannon rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown, while three members of the Quakers offensive line made their starting debut. "The two offensive tackles -- [sophomore David] Berkley, and [freshman Robert] Pavlacka -- did an outstanding job for their first time, as did [guard] Adam Smiley," Wagner said. "And Gannon just has a great eye for finding that little crack in the defensive line." -- Sebastian Stockman