Football's 'D' keys win over Lafayette

One year ago, defensive back Kevin Stefanski was already sidelined for the season.

It was early in the season-opener against Lafayette when he went down.

In the matter of seconds his sophomore season was gone due to an anterior cruciate ligament tear.

Fast forward to last weekend. Penn once again opened against the Leopards. Stefanski was in the starting lineup for the second year in a row.

The Quakers lost the coin toss, and kicked off first into the hands of Lafayette and Leopards' quarterback Marko Glavic.

With emotions running high, the Penn defense trooped onto the field.

Just like that, the annihilation began.

Over the course of the game, Lafayette was able to successfully complete a first-down campaign only 12 times.

Not to mention the three interceptions that Glavic threw or Lafayette's total rushing yards on the day -- 60, in 35 attempts.

"They definitely had some problems up front adjusting to a couple of stunts we put in during the offseason," Penn linebacker and captain Travis Belden said on Saturday following the game. "It all kind of works in tandem -- you get pressure on the quarterback, he's not going to be able to step in follow through.

"And then it just comes to the guys behind us making plays on the ball."

The Quakers' defense, which came out with a quick and furious vengeance against the Leopards, was the backbone to the win on Saturday.

The front seven defenders set the tone for the rest of the squad, forcing incomplete passes by continuously harassing Glavic.

Glavic was quick to point out the stress that Penn's linebackers -- Belden and Steve Lhotak -- forced throughout the game.

"They lost a lot of good players from their team last year, but those two inside linebackers they had were ridiculous -- they were real good," he said on Saturday.

Although Glavic pointed out the linebackers, and specifically mentioned the first seven defenders, the secondary was crucial as well.

Stefanski was there, in the thick of it, reaping his revenge for the season that he lost.

He got back at the team that took away his sophomore season in impressive fashion.

He connected on two passes from Glavic, recording two interceptions in his first game back.

It appeared that all of the physical therapy and rehabilitation had paid off.

"I exercised the demons a little bit before the game," Stefanski said. "It was fine.

"I put [the injury] on the back burner because I had a job to do, our whole defense had a job to do."

"It's kind of bittersweet being back here," he added. "I've had success, but I also left last year on crutches. It's nice to be able to walk away from the field this year."

Stefanski may not have been thinking about revenge, but he was thinking about a win. Stefanski, and the rest of the secondary -- including Fred Plaza -- was merciless.

Plaza ended the day with 6.5 tackles and one interception, taking the day's total to three hijacked Glavic passes.

In the coming weeks, as Penn takes on more formidable foes, the secondary and the front defensive line will have to continue this campaign of success.

Let's just hope that Stefanski was telling the truth when he said revenge wasn't on his mind last week. Let's hope he'll be there, in full form, ready to intercept against Lehigh on Saturday.

Because Penn is a good team with strong building blocks -- its defense.

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