PRINCETON, N.J. - Who is Keiffer Garton?
Even after Penn's loss to Brown last week, Bears coach Phil Estes referred to the sophomore signal caller simply as "No. 13" in the postgame press conference.
But in his first career start at Princeton on Friday, No. 13 made a name for himself, strapping a life jacket on the Quakers' season by guiding them back to the top of the Ivy League standings.
Filling in for injured senior Robert Irvin (shoulder) and junior Kyle Olson (torn anterior cruciate ligament), Garton ran for a touchdown and threw for another, leading Penn to a 14-9 win over the Tigers in the rivals' historic 100th meeting.
With the Bears falling to Yale, 13-3, in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, the Quakers (5-3, 4-1 Ivy) now have a share of first place with Brown and Harvard heading into the final two weeks of the season.
Three different quarterbacks have started games for Penn this season, but only Garton managed to come away with a victory in his first start under center. And after losing the battle for the league lead a week earlier against Brown, the Quakers could not have settled for anything less than what Garton gave them under the lights at Princeton Stadium.
"He just has a way of carrying himself, and I think that rubs off on everyone else," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said of Garton. "Kudos to the kid. He's tough, he's physical and he played with poise."
With Penn up, 14-9, with just over six minutes to play, a good punt from Ryan Coyle pinned the Quakers back to their own three-yard line. But the inexperienced Garton was unfazed in the pressure situation, dialing up three first downs to keep the drive alive and run out the clock on the Tigers (3-5, 2-3).
On third-and-six from Penn's own 18, Garton avoided pressure by rolling to his right and then delivered a strong throw to senior tight end Josh Koontz for 22 yards and a big first down.
A few plays later on third-and-eight, with Princeton in need of a defensive stop to get the ball back with time to score, Garton pushed a pile of Princeton defenders forward on the last few yards of a nine-yard scamper, picking up the game-clinching first down on his own.
That wasn't the only impressive run for Garton, who led both teams on the ground with 89 yards on 15 carries. Toward the end of the third quarter, the Castle Rock, Colo., native converted a third-and-12 on a 28-yard run, carrying a slew of orange-clad defenders on his back for nearly 15 yards.
"It was honestly all about the offensive line and the tight ends," Garton said. "They did a great job opening up holes."
He was able to set the tone early by engineering a 13-play, 84-yard drive to open the game, which he capped off with a six-yard keeper for the touchdown.
Penn's second score came on another long drive in the middle of the third quarter, when Garton found receiver Matt Appenfelder in the end zone for a 10-yard scoring strike.
Plagued by a slew of injuries heading into the game, Penn suffered another setback in the second quarter when senior corner back Tyson Maugle sustained a compound fracture in his finger. But a number of players stepped up defensively in a game that saw plenty of punishing tackles and hard hits.
Princeton running back Jordan Culbreath, who entered the game as the Ivy's leading rusher, was held to just 57 yards on the ground. With the Tigers threatening on a drive in the second quarter, Penn defensive backs Tony Moses and Britton Ertman hit Culbreath hard after a long reception and jarred the ball loose, giving it back to the Quakers.
"You always preach overcoming adversity to your kids," Bagnoli said. "We just control what we can control, and it just speaks volumes for our kids. It's a great win for them."
