Sept. 16, 2006
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EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Penn tailback Joe Sandberg ran for 166 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Quakers past No. 22 Lafayette, 21-11, in the Leopards' home opener at the newly renovated Fisher Field at Fisher Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Sandberg scored from one and 36 yards to complement a solid outing from sophomore quarterback Rob Irvin, who completed his first 11 passes of the day and finished 17-of-27 for 182 yards.
Senior quarterback Brad Maurer set a career-high with 286 yards passing (181 in the second half) as the Leopards attempted to rally from deficits of 14-3 and 21-11 in the fourth quarter. His 23 completions on 36 attempts were also career-bests. Maurer hit eight different receivers, with Joe Ort catching seven balls for 98 yards, and also ran for Lafayette's only touchdown on a 25-yard sprint early in the fourth quarter.
Penn ended Lafayette's six-quarter scoreless streak on its first drive, with the key plays coming from Sandberg on a three-yard run on third-and-four and a 24-yard completion from Irvin to Dan Coleman that moved the ball to the one. Sandberg scored two plays later, and Derek Zoch made the extra point to put the Quakers ahead 7-0.
The Leopards put together their first sustained drive at the end of the first quarter after taking over at their own seven-yard line. A 26-yard run by Jonathan Hurt sparked the drive, which also included 20-yard tosses from Maurer to Kevin Ganascioli and Joe Russo. The drive stalled inside the 10-yard line, and Rick Ziska ended the 82-yard march with a field goal which cut the lead to 7-3 on the first play of the second quarter.
Penn went into the half with a 14-3 lead after Irvin scored on a quarterback sneak with 18 seconds left. The sophomore was 4-for-5 for 52 yards on the drive, which covered 60 yards in 2:25.
A long march to open the second half came up fruitless for the Leopards, as Scott Williams came off the edge to block a 22-yard field goal by Ziska. Hurt had carries of 17, eight and 15 yards on the drive as Lafayette reestablished the ground game, but the blocked kick ensured the 11-point margin.
The Lafayette defense held after an initial first down and Maurer hooked up with sophomore Shaun Adair for a 17-yard completion on the Leopards' first play, but Maurer was flushed from the pocket three plays later and intercepted by Tyson Maugle at the Penn 34.
Lafayette started its scoring drive on its own one-yard line, after the Quakers threw three straight incomplete passes from inside Leopard territory and Williams downed the punt by Anthony Melillo at the goal line. Maurer hit Ort for 37 yards to the 39, then found Duaeno Dorsey and Hurt for consecutive first downs. Maurer covered the last 25 yards himself on a quarterback draw, and threw the two-point conversion pass to Dorsey to make the score 14-11 with 11:53 remaining.
Penn stayed on the ground for all seven plays of its ensuing possession, with Sandberg achieving early success with three straight carries for 39 yards. Kelms Amoo-Achampong spelled the starter with runs of three and six yards to set up third-and-one at the 25, but Keith Bloom dropped Sandberg for a loss of three on the next play and the Quakers' fourth-down play was stopped at the 27 to turn the ball over on downs.
The Leopards were unable to capitalize, and on fourth-and-five from the 32, Justin Stovall was stopped a yard short of the first down on a fake punt to hand the ball to Penn with 6:16 left on the clock. Sandberg scored on the next play, bouncing an inside run play to the right sideline, and the Quakers went ahead 21-11 with 5:39 showing on the scoreboard.
Lafayette still had hope and embarked on a 15-play, 63-yard drive which included a pair of fourth down conversions (14 yards to Ort and six yards to Michael Conte) and four first downs overall as Maurer moved the offense to the Penn six-yard line. Hurt slipped down on a first down run play and the next two passes were incomplete, bringing up fourth-and-goal from the 10. Lafayette sent the field goal unit on, and J.J. Stanton blocked Ziska's 27-yard attempt that would have reduced the deficit to seven.
Sandberg picked up his final 18 yards of the game to seal the victory for Penn, the 100th win for head coach Al Bagnoli, who improved to 100-39 as he opened his 15th season with the Quakers.
Lafayette will look for its 11th straight victory following a loss next Saturday at Princeton with a 6 p.m. kickoff from Princeton Stadium.
Game Notes
* Maurer had the top statistical game of his career throwing the ball one week after setting a career-best with 325 yards of total offense (252 passing, 73 rushing) at Bucknell. He also went over 1,000 career rushing yards, after surpassing the 3,000-yard passing plateau last week.
* Maurer's previous career-highs were established last year vs. Colgate, when he was 19-for-35 for 272 yards. He also completed 19 passes (on 27 attempts) in Lafayette's I-AA Playoff game at Delaware in 2004.
* Ort tied his career-high with seven receptions (vs. Bucknell, 2005), and just missed his third career game with 100 yards receiving. He went over 50 career receptions, qualifying him for Lafayette's career average yards per catch list. He is averaging 16.0 yards on 56 receptions (895 yards) over the last three seasons.
* Ort also had a nine-yard rush on a lateral after picking up eight yards on a similar play last week.
* While Hurt's six-game scoring streak came to an end, he surpassed 100 all-purpose yards for the seventh straight game with 81 yards rushing and 36 receiving (117 yards total).
* Shaun Adair caught three passes for 48 yards to give him 30 career receptions (19.1 yards per catch).
* Dorsey (four catches, 35 yards) and Ganascioli (two catches, 35 yards) both had their best receiving days in a Lafayette uniform.
* Mark Plumby had a team and career-high nine tackles for Lafayette. He was supported by safeties Bryan Kazimierowski (seven) and Trey Martell (six), along with defensive tackles Dan Liseno and Kyle Sprenkle, who were in on a half-dozen stops each.
