Sprint hosts rival Big Red

Penn hopes to take out the frustrations of last week's loss to Army when it hosts Cornell. A sign posted on the bulletin board outside Penn's sprint football team's locker room reads: "It Takes Courage To Bounce Back -- We Shall Win!" After suffering an emotional loss to Army last weekend, the Quakers must bounce back tonight to have any chance of repeating as conference champions. Penn (2-1, 0-1 Collegiate Sprint Football League) plays host to Cornell (1-3, 1-1) at 7:30 p.m. on Franklin Field in a rematch of the first game of the season, which the Quakers won decisively, 35-0. Penn is coming off of a hard-fought, emotional 17-9 loss at the hands of Army last weekend. "We lost on the scoreboard but we won on the field and anybody who saw the game knows that," Penn senior noseguard/fullback Steve Schickram said. "Those are the worst losses to take." The biggest challenge for the Quakers may be to stay focused on tonight's game rather than look ahead to next week's contest against Navy. The Midshipmen, along with the Cadets, are the perennial league favorites. "If we don't beat [Cornell], the Navy game doesn't mean anything," Schickram said. "We have to focus on the task at hand and have the courage to beat them," Penn coach Bill Wagner said. Penn needs to win its remaining three games to have any chance at a share of the conference title for the second straight year. Two of the Quakers' three remaining games take place within the friendly confines of Franklin Field, including the long-awaited matchup with Navy on November 6. First, though, Penn must return to its winning form against the Big Red. "The whole offensive line is geared up," Penn sophomore guard Adam Smiley said. "We really want to redeem ourselves." "We want to shut them out like the last time," Penn defensive coordinator John Amendt said. After losing their first three games of the season, the Big Red rebounded with a 19-8 victory at home last week against Princeton. As a result, Cornell sits ahead of the Quakers in the CSFL standings at this point in the season. "We have to come out early and go for the jugular," Schickram said. In their last three meetings, Penn has outscored Cornell 110-6, registering shutouts in two of the three contests. "Our coaches do a great job preparing us for them," Schickram said. "We've also got tougher kids and better players [than Cornell]." According to Wagner, the Quakers' recent success against the Big Red can be attributed to the two senior co-captains, running back Tim Ortman and linebacker David Klein. "These two seniors have been the catalyst for this club," Wagner said. "That's why they're co-captains." The last time that these two squads met, Ortman -- Penn's all-time leading rusher -- racked up 173 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, while a solid Quaker defense held Cornell to a mere 162 total yards of offense. Penn needs to repeat that performance tonight to remain in the hunt for the league title. "We have to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Army," Wagner said. "Our only recourse is that we must win this game."