WATERBURY, Conn. – The Post University sprint football team was defeated by the University of Pennsylvania 34-18 on Saturday afternoon at LaMoy Field in its home opener. Junior quarterback
Greg Volpe (North Haven, Conn.) threw for 344 yards and added 45 yards on the ground in the loss.
The Eagles took over on the Penn 29 yard line after stopping the Quakers early in the game. Post drove down to the seven yard line, but Volpe threw an interception in the end zone to end the drive. Penn quickly drove down the field and Mike McCurdy connected with Henry Mason on a 65-yard touchdown to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.
Junior
Bryan Sheppard (Passaic, N.J.) ran in from three-yards out to cap a 12-play drive for Post and pull the Eagles within one after the extra point was blocked. Penn extended its lead on another long pass on its next possession, 49-yards to Jonathan Lilley as the Quakers pulled in front 14-6 early in the second.
Volpe found senior
Jay'Len Mahan (Waterbury, Conn.) for a 41-yard pass on the opening play of their ensuing drive. The Eagles drove inside the Penn 10 yard line, but failed on a fourth-down attempt. McCurdy threw his third touchdown on Penn's next drive to make the score 21-6.
Post turned the ball over its next two drives, but the defense held the visitors scoreless. With just four seconds left in the half, Volpe found junior
Rocco Guerrera (Watertown, Conn.) from 35-yards out to cut the deficit to 21-12 at the half.
McCurdy threw another touchdown midway through the third as Penn jumped ahead 28-12. As the quarter winded down, Volpe hit freshman
Matthew Terlizzi (Watertown, Conn.) for a 21-yard pass and with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, the Eagles took over deep in the Penn zone. Volpe ran it in from a yard out as Post made the score 28-18.
The Eagles fumbled on their next two drives, and the final one was picked up by Penn and taken 18-yards to the house for the final margin. Post drove into Quakers territory late, but were unable to convert on fourth-and-four as Penn took over and ran down the clock.
Post outgained Penn 467 to 432 on the day, but turned the ball over five times. Mahan caught six balls for 107 yards. Defensively, junior
Chris Leggio (Brewster, N.Y.) made eight tackles and had 1.5 sacks. Sophomore
Eleodoro Perez (Chino, Calif.) had seven tackles, a sack, and an interception.
The Eagles visit Franklin Pierce on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 1 p.m. in the annual CSFL Talon Cup.
