In order for Penn to have a shot at the College Sprint Football League title, they had to beat one of the service academies, something they haven't done since 2010.  And just two weeks into their season, they've done just that.

Much like the stature of the players, the sphere of recruitment is much smaller for Penn sprint football than with many other sports. Since the team largely eschews the nationwide recruiting effort of many other Penn teams, most players hail from the metropolitan Philadelphia and South Jersey area.

The Quakers made a statement on Saturday, but returned home needed to ask themselves some questions. Opening the year on the road against Mansfield, Penn sprint football cruised to a 31-7 win but was dealt a heavy blow when sophomore running back Max Jones went down in the fourth quarter with a broken ankle.

“Safety School! Safety School! Safety School!” The year is 2007. I am a brazen and beautifully snarky middle school student sitting with a group of 10 friends at Jadwin Gym for a Princeton-Penn men’s basketball game.

“Mike isn’t even here tonight — he’s president of an a cappella group — he’s gotta audition people, he’s doing that and he can throw the ball 60 yards.” Sometimes your quarterback has to miss practice because of injury.

Chaz Augustini is still playing varsity football at a Division 1 school. But this year, it's a bit different. Augustini, a wide receiver, will have an entirely new setting when he lines up for the Quakers this Saturday.

Last Monday, Princeton announced that it was discontinuing its long-beleaguered sprint football team, effective immediately.

Better late than never. For Penn Athletics, the timeless idiom has never been more true, as several transfer students have found their respective ways to 33rd Street and quickly made an impact on the Quakers’ athletic program.

Bill Wagner, who has headed Penn’s sprint football program for the past forty-five years, has coached thousands of players during his time in Franklin Field.

Technically, two teams stepped on Franklin Field to play a game of sprint football. Based on the final score, however, only one actually showed up.

There might not be much left at stake, but there is still plenty to play for. After being eliminated from CSFL championship contention in last week's double overtime lose to Army West Point, the Penn sprint football team (4-2) looks to reset and finish the season on a high note against rival Princeton (0-6) in the season finale this Friday.

Close, but no cigar.

It is commonplace for athletes to use the metaphor of brotherhood or sisterhood when describing the nature of their relationship with teammates.

So that's what the sprint in sprint football stands for.

The team travelled to Ithaca, N.Y. — Cornell’s home turf — to take on the Big Red in a key Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL) matchup. As the fourth quarter clock ran down, the score read 29-12 in favor of the Red and Blue.

Penn football’s recent upset victory over Villanova — the program’s first in more than 100 years — has sent tremors throughout the Penn Athletics community.

Number 29 got the ball with just under seven minutes left in the first quarter of Penn sprint football’s home opener. With the Quakers already up 7-0, the freshman running back looked like he wasn’t going to gain any yardage as multiple Franklin Pierce players made contact with him.  But he shocked everyone by fending off the Quakers' opponents before reeling off another 20 yards into the endzone.