EASTON, Mass. — Freshman kicker Mason Walters arrived on Penn’s campus a month ago. He spent the last few weeks learning where his classes are. But in his first collegiate football game, he kicked like he’d been there before.
“You’re forced to hit the ground running here at Penn,” Walters said. “It was like that for school and football … It’s one step closer to making me feel like I belong here.”
“I was nervous for sure, but all my teammates crowded around me. I don’t think there was a single one of them that was on the field that didn’t say they believed in me,” Walters added.
With nine seconds to go in Penn football’s season opener, Walters connected on a game-winning 45-yard field goal to lift the Quakers over Stonehill. It was his first career kick attempt for the Red and Blue, and earned them a narrow victory following a back-and-forth affair. After leading by two scores at halftime, Penn saw the Skyhawks score 14 unanswered points before a string of clutch plays and Walters’ heroics helped them escape Easton with a 1-0 record.
“The game settled in. We made the key plays when we needed to,” coach Ray Priore said. “Winning is hard. People don’t realize the time, effort, and energy that’s there. And anytime you go on the football field, you have to be prepared for a battle.”
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Penn’s red-hot first-half offense came largely from its veteran contributors. Senior quarterback Liam O’Brien and senior wide receiver Jared Richardson wasted no time renewing their productive connection, with Richardson shrugging off tackles to take a short crosser 69 yards to the house on the opening drive.
“They were bringing pressure,” Richardson, who finished with 103 receiving yards, said. “I just saw a lot of space, it was man-to-man, Liam found me, and I was like, ‘You know what? Let’s take off.’”
Then, senior running back/return specialist Julien Stokes dashed past the Skyhawks’ defense for a 63-yard punt return score — the program’s first since 2019. Stokes, long renowned for his speed, drew compliments from observers in the press box.
“That dude’s quick.”
“Yeah, you think?”
Penn’s next score came just as quickly. After the Skyhawks responded with a touchdown drive of their own, junior running back Sean Williams Jr. turned his 16th career carry into his first career touchdown, putting Penn ahead 21-7.
The score gave the Quakers their highest-scoring first half in a season opener since 2018 and provided a welcome sign for an offense still seeking to replace the contributions of departed running back Malachi Hosley, who was named the Ivy League’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2024.
“What you saw was a little bit of running back by committee,” Priore said. Williams Jr., Stokes, O’Brien, and sophomore running back Donte West each finished with four or more carries.
“They all do something a bit different … Our hope was to get a number of guys touches on offense, and we did,” Priore added.
But in the second half, the Skyhawks battled back. After a scoreless third quarter, Stonehill opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back touchdowns — tying the game with 5:32 to go.
Then, with the game on the line, O’Brien took matters into his own hands, racking up rushes of 10 and 16 yards on Penn’s final drive to set the Quakers up in field goal range. Senior kicker Sam Smith had missed an attempt from 22 yards out earlier in the game, but both Priore and Walters said that the decision was a matter of distance, not performance.
“If we had gained more yards on first down, perhaps we would have went with [Smith],” Priore said. “But that was just a little bit out of where I thought his range was, and I made the decision. The young puppy did a nice job.”
Many players wait their whole careers for a moment like Walters’. But as the postgame dust settled, Penn’s veterans were not the only ones who’d earned their share of praise.
“Nice kick!” a fan shouted to Walters as he exited the locker room.
“Thank you,” he said with a smile.
Deputy sports editor Conor Smith contributed to this story.
