New captains but old legacy

Last season’s Penn football captains — Kyle Derham, Jake Lewko and Chris Wynn — helped lead their team to an Ivy championship and the top-ranked scoring defense in the Football Championship Subdivision.

To top it off, seniors Lewko and Wynn, both of whom were named first team All-Ivy, have already drawn the interest of NFL scouts, with Lewko recently earning a tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Needless to say, the four juniors who were recently elected as captains by their teammates have big shoes to fill.

Derham, Lewko and Wynn will be passing on their responsibilities to cornerback and wide receiver Bradford Blackmon, quarterback Keiffer Garton, defensive end Owen Thomas and offensive lineman Joe D’Orazio.

And despite the legacies of their predecessors, next season’s captains are trying to forge their own paths.

“We’re losing a bunch of all-Ivy guys and a bunch of good football players,” Garton said. “But I feel like we have the people that are going to step in and make it happen again.”

But even with seven all-Ivy players gone from the roster, two of next season’s captains will bring their own accolades to the helm. D’Orazio earned first-team honors last season after leading the offensive line to the fewest sacks allowed in the conference. Meanwhile, Thomas was a second-team selection after finishing second in the Ivy League in sacks.

“As long as we do our jobs, we’re still going to be able to have a successful season,” Blackmon said.

Still, the captains are aware of the expectations that they face next year.

“Anything short of not winning again is considered a failure, since we’ve already won it,” Blackmon said.

But after a relatively successful spring season, he thinks the team has the ability to repeat its Ivy championship.

“It took us a while to get things going in the spring … but we’re still sitting in pretty good shape,” he said.

Garton agreed.

“We’ve had a lot of young guys that really came through in the spring and stepped up and are excited to make stuff happen,” he said.

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