The Penn sprint football team ended the career of 13 of its seniors with a dominating 37-15 win over archrival Princeton on Friday.
"It's bittersweet -- good to go out with a win, but the senior class was a tight-knit group," senior defensive lineman John Pinto said. "We would have liked to have had more success this season, but we had a good year and a lot of fun."
Pinto's classmate, quarterback Jimmer Donapel echoed those sentiments.
"It feels good to go out with a win," he said. "The fact that I am not going to be playing football anymore except for the alumni game won't hit me for a couple weeks."
Donapel finished his career as the all-time leading passer for the Red and Blue with 2,458 yards over his four years at Penn. He surpassed Tommy Frankel's record of 1,960 yards in the Quakers' first meeting with Princeton this year. Frankel's record had stood for 20 years.
Friday night marked the second time this season that Penn defeated Princeton in dominant fashion. The Quakers crushed the Tigers, 44-0, on Oct. 3 at Franklin Field.
This time around, the game was held in Princeton, N.J., but the result was largely the same. Behind a game-high 87 yards rushing from Donapel and 67 more yards running by junior Greg Bagnoli, the Red and Blue jumped out to an early lead and Princeton was never able to recover.
"Coming into Princeton, we feel that we are definitely superior to them," junior wide receiver Pat Monaghan said.
"We just had a better team," Pinto said. "And we came out and showed that."
The Red and Blue (3-3, 2-2 CSFL) earned the first points of the game midway through the first quarter, as Princeton (0-6, 0-4) elected to intentionally take a safety rather than risk punting from their end zone.
Five minutes later, freshman tailback Masamba Sinclair made the score 9-0 on a 3-yard touchdown run.
The second quarter was dominated by Monaghan, who scored three touchdowns in the period.
Monaghan's first touchdown of the contest was a 6-yard reception from Donapel with 9:40 left in the half. After a Princeton touchdown made the score 16-7, Monaghan answered with a rushing touchdown, increasing the Quakers' lead to 16.
His third touchdown of the quarter came on a 13-yard touchdown catch from freshman quarterback Mike Loguidice. Penn led, 30-7, at halftime.
"I was in a position where I could get the ball in the end zone," Monaghan said.
"It was just me doing what I need to do to fulfill my end of the bargain."
After a scoreless third quarter for both teams, Penn freshman running back J.T. Hutchinson scored the clinching touchdown early in the fourth. After a short pass, Hutchinson found running room down the sideline, and a key block by Sinclair allowed the freshman to complete the 44-yard play with a touchdown.
"I am from the Princeton area, so I had a lot of friends and family there," Hutchinson said. "So that just made it a little sweeter."
Princeton responded with a scoring drive of its own, making the score 37-15, but they were never able to get any closer against the Quakers' defense.
Penn finished the season in third place out of five teams in the Collegiate Sprint Football League. Army defeated Navy in West Point, N.Y., on Friday to clinch the CSFL Championship.
The Quakers are looking with optimism to next season despite the loss of Donapel and the rest of the seniors.
"This offseason, we need to focus on fine-tuning our individual skills," Monaghan said.
"We are on the verge of becoming the best team in the league."
