The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 45

Sunday, November 15, 1998 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER C9 COLLEGE FOOTBALL Quakers crush Crimson, clinch tie for Ivy crown Penn can claim the league title outright with a victory at Cornell in its next contest. if of 18 yards to David O'Neill and 19 yards to Battung to spark a 67-yard drive that concluded with Finn's 16-yard burst that made it 27-10. The first career touchdown for backup tailback Jason McGee, a senior, and Finn's 16th touchdown of the season wrapped up the scoring in the fourth quarter. And it was time to celebrate, with limitations, of course. "We're not done yet," Rader said.

Harvard 3 0 7 010 Penn 13 7 7 1441 First quarter Penn Finn 8 run (kick failed), 12:37 Harv FG Giampaolo 32, 8:08 Penn Carson 78 pass from Rader (Feinberg kick), 7:47 Second quarter Penn Battung 6 pass from Rader (Feinberg kick), 11:21 Third quarter Harv Bitzmann 2 pass from Wilford (Giampaolo kick), 4:22 Penn Finn 16 run (Feinberg kick), 1:41 Fourth quarter Penn McGee 2 rush (Feinberg kick), 12:03 Penn Finn 2 run (Feinberg kick), 6:16 A 14,909. Harv Penn First downs 16 19 Rushes-yards 42-142 39-160 Passing 96 260 Comp-Att-Int 13-33-1 15-26-1 Return Yards 36 62 Punts-Avg. Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0 Penalties-Yards 8-56 7-66 Time of Possession 29:21 30:39 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Harvard, Jones 20-96, Linden 5-21, Belczyk 2-12, Nwokocka 5-10. Rose 2-5, Wilford 8-(-2). Penn, Finn 27-106, Rader 2-29, Ryan 1-18.

McGee 9-7. Passing: Harvard, Linden 7-14-1-53, Wilford 4-13-0-17, Rose 2-6-0-26. Penn, Rader 15-25-1-260. Meba 0-1-0-0. Receiving: Harvard, Patterson 6-40, Slakich 2-8, Belczyk 1-6, Metakis 1-1), Kramer 1-15, Bitzmann 1-2.

Wilsko 1-14. Perm, Battung 4-59, Da. O'Neill 2-29, Do. O'Neill 2-18, Rogers 2-33, Carson 2-92, Finn 1-4, Burhorn 1-21, McGee 1-4. of their first four possessions to take a 20-3 lead less than four minutes into the second quarter.

The Crimson, already playing without their top rusher, Chris Menick, lost starting quarterback Rich Linden in the second quarter to an ankle injury, and had no comeback punch. Two of the touchdowns were set up by free safety Joe Piela. His 21-yard punt return to the Harvard 32 set up Finn's first score. Later, he ran an interception back 37 yards to the 8, and Rader found Battung three plays later for Penn's third touchdown. Battung, who was moved to wide-out from quarterback early this season, was the top pass catcher for Penn, with four.

Carson, who started the Cornell game at quarterback two years ago but switched to receiver the next season, connected with Rader on a touchdown pass that carried almost 60 yards in the air. "You recruit a couple of quarterbacks and you try to athletically put them in situations where, if they can't play quarterback, they can be a wide receiver or running back," Bagnoli said. The Quakers had one moment of concern. The Crimson, getting a break when one official overruled another on an apparent fumble recovery by Hasani White, scored on a 2-yard pass from Brad Wilford to Chris Eitzmann late in the third quarter to make it 20-10. But Rader zipped in completions vV- 7 'Jtlel I j.

in the game. This is the greatest feeling I've ever had." Added Rader, "It's definitely gratifying for me because there were a lot of expectations coming here and winning a championship, but we fulfilled them. It's a great feeling, especially your senior year, last home game, the fan support. Watching them tear down the goalpost will stick with me the rest of my life." Rader, a transfer from Duke, had one of his best games of the season, completing 15 of 25 passes for 260 yards. He threw his touchdowns to a pair of converted quarterbacks, a 78-yard bomb to Brandon Carson in the first quarter and a 6-yard dart to Jason Battung in the second.

Finn, the major focus of Harvard's fast and aggressive defense, ran for touchdowns of 8, 16 and 2 yards and picked up 106 yards in 27 carries. That left him 41 yards short of Bryan Keys' single-season school rushing record of 1,302 yards with one game remaining. This was expected to be a closer game. Harvard (4-5, 3-3), the defending Ivy champ, was still in the championship race. The Crimson had shown flashes of their old form at times and expected to make a contest of it.

However, the Quakers were percolating from the opening kickoff. They scored touchdowns on three By Joe Juliano INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Outside, the students, having outnumbered security guards and Penn police, gleefully tore down the goalpost at the Harvard 10 east end of Frank-Penn 41 lin Field and triumphantly marched through the gates with their trophy before a ceremonial dumping in the Schuylkill River. Inside, the stars of the Penn Quakers whooped and hollered and puffed on victory cigars and told of their exploits through an unfamiliar smoky haze. Asked if he had an antismoking policy on his team, Penn coach Al Bagnoli replied, "Well, I thought we did." But Bagnoli could forgive the Quakers this time. With Jim Finn rushing for three touchdowns and Matt Rader passing for two, the Quakers clinched a tie for the Ivy League championship yesterday with a 41-10 thrashing of Harvard before an excited crowd of 14,909.

The Quakers (7-2 overall, 5-1 Ivy) can claim outright possession of the league title Saturday with a victory at Cornell. But yesterday was the time to celebrate their first share of the crown since 1994. "It's unbelievable," linebacker Darren Macdonald said. "I mean, I was in tears with four minutes to go I ''I1' RON CORTES Inquirer Staff Photographer Penn's Kevin Martin (87) sacks Harvard quarterback Brad Wilford. Crimson lost starting QB Rich Linden with an ankle injury.

Hurricanes storm to victory over the punchless Owls f. it Miscues also hurt 2-8 Temple. Four in the first half I lfifi to a 28-f) Hetlrit. anH this time there was nn rallv -A ning touchdown. Against Miami, the Owls couldn't find any offense from the start and were ill-equipped to put together any scoring drives once they put themselves in a hole.

The best example of Temple's futility was that it entered the game as the top team in the Big East in rushing. But the Owls had minus-20 yards on 19 carries in the first half. Miami's ground game, meanwhile, yielded four first-half touchdowns, two each from tailbacks Edgerrin James (137 yards on 26 carries) and James Jackson. Temple started freshman quarterback Mac DeVito, who threw a pair of touchdown passes and scored the decisive touchdown against Pittsburgh. But the 5-foot-ll, 180-pound native of Westport, fumbled three times and had little success yesterday.

Another freshman, Devin Scott, got similar results when he was put in to provide a spark. Scott did, however, hit Jerry Butler with a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1 minute, 41 seconds to play that provided Temple with its only score. Miami was staked to a 28-0 first-half lead by four Temple miscues. After stopping Miami the first two times it had the ball on downs after the opening kickoff and on an interception by freshman Chonn jw'tim. JONAIHAN WILSUN InquirerSuBufban STall I 3 Temple's Jerry Urias (37) stops Miami's Edgerrin James in the first half By Kevin Tatum INQUIRER STAFF WRITER i Coming off an uplifting victory at struggling Pittsburgh last week, Temple took on Miami yesterday in a Big East football Miami 42 game and was re-Temple 7 minded of just how much dis-; tanqe still separates the Owls from the conference's upper echelon teams.

Temple still has a long way to go. On an evening when 18,734 fans showed up at chilly Veterans Stadium, very little went right for Temple on its way to a 42-7 loss that included a first-half deficit of four touchdowns. "I was impressed with Miami," said Temple coach Bobby Wallace, who said he expected to talk with Auburn officials about its head coaching vacancy this week. "Hopefully, we'll get close to that in the next few years." Temple, which will complete its first season under Wallace on Saturday when Syracuse visits the Vet, fell to 2-8 overall and 2-4 in the Big East. Jvjfiami improved to 6-2 and 4-1, and i-ia now qualified to play in a bowl game.

Last week in its victory at Pitts-'burgh, Temple came back from 20 i points down to score the game-win 1 LJ-r-KtS JOHN COSTELLO Inquirer Staff Photographer 137 yards and three TDs. Rushes-yards 41-224 46-80 Passing 191 125 Comp-Att-Int 14-26-2 12-27-1 Return Yards 30 3 Punts-Avg. 6-22 Fumbles-Lost 2-1 6-3 Penalties-Yards 7-69 3-45 Time of Possession 24:52 35:08 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Miami, James 26-137, Jackson 7-47, Davenport 6-29, Moss 1-9, Hart 1-2. Temple, Harrison 6-35, Mack 8-24, Wilkinson 8-18, Jackson 7-9, Butler 1-6, DeVito 10-6, Johnson 1-1, Godfrey 1-0, Scott 4-(minus 19). Passing: Miami, Covington 9-19-2-119, Kelly 5-7-0-72.

Temple, Scott 9-22-1-102, DeVito 3-4-0-23, Nicholl 0-1-0-0. Receiving: Miami, Franks 4-69, Moss 3-20, Wayne 2-41, Fulcher 2-39, King 1-9, James 1-7, Jones 1-6. Temple, Johnson 4-40, Mack 2-25, Butler 2-24, Harrison 2-12, Khamis 1-12, Jackson 1-12. VU Ward 19 pass from Boden (Hannon kick) 12:23 VU Westbrook 1 run (Hannon kick), 7:52 VU Diaz 10 pass from Boden (pass failed) 3:20 But Hinson 5 run (Keller kick), 1:02 VU -Ward 33 pass from Boden (Hannon kick), :29 Third quarter VU Ward 19 pass from Boden (Hannon kick). 11:57 Buf Hinson 5 run (Keller kick), 10:16 VU Westbrook 36 pass from Boden (Hannon kick), 8:27 VU Westbrook 8 run (Hannon kick), 2:30 Fourth quarter Buf Watkins 7 pass from Salisbury (Keller kick), 11:38 VU Stopper 3 run (Hannon kick), 8:58 Buf Brereton 7 run (Keller kick), 3:04 Rilf Hartrfart 29 naset from Qollchnr.

us-u failed). :58 Buf Brereton 1 run (pass failed), :06 A 6,121. Buf VU First downs 27 30 Rushes-yards 49-271 43-182 Passing 209 344 Comp-Att-Int 17-33-3 23-27-0 Return Yards 00 25 Punts-Avg. 2-46 1-40 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-1 Penalties-Yards 6-61 9-78 Time of Possession 30:57 29 03 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Buffalo, Hinson 13-71, Roth 10-68 Brereton 10-65, Schmidli 5-29, Haddad 2-18 Walker 6-11, Crowder 1-6, Feldmaier 2-3. Villanova, Westbrook 36-170, Stopper 5-26, Chico 1-(mmus 1), Boden 1-(minus 13).

Passing: Buflaio, Salisbury 16-27-2-194, Feldmaier 1-6-1-15. Villanova, Boden 23-27-0-344 Receiving: Buffalo, Haddad 5-67, Watkins 4-66 Schmidli 3-16, Hinson 2-13, Walker 1-22, Brereton 1-17, Shaughn 1-8. Villanova, Sango 8-120 Ward 6-108, Westbrook 5-71, Diaz 2-26, Kinsella 1-12, Kavanaugh 1-7. fill choll went back as if to punt, but directed a pass at Fulton Fryar on the left sideline instead. Fryar was alone at the Miami 45, but Nicholl's throw was too long.

It took only four plays before Miami's Jackson went in from the 20 with 1:48 remaining in the first quarter to make it 14-0. "We had a chance to get some momentum early," Wallace said. "I don't like to throw out of punt formation, but we had a big play if we just throw and catch." Miami's last two touchdowns of the half came after Nicholl booted punts of 13 and 11 yards. There was number early and often, and the 5-foot-9, 185-pound Westbrook banged out 170 yards on 36 carries. Westbrook, the Division I-AA all-purpose leader in yards heading into yesterday's action with 275.8 per game, added 71 receiving and 21 on a kickoff return.

He has 1,098 yards receiving and 873 rushing for the season. Westbrook set the tone for Villanova on the opening possession, carrying the ball on all nine plays of a 55-yard drive that ended in the end zone. In the first quarter, Westbrook was directly involved as either a runner or receiver in 15 of the team's 16 plays. When Buffalo started run-blitzing frequently in the second quarter, it opened an aerial attack that blew the game open. Junior quarterback Chris Boden threw three of his five touchdown passes in the pivotal second quarter as he and wideouts Murle Sango and Steve Ward turned the contest into a wild affair.

Sango caught eight passes for a career high of 120 yards, while Ward had 108 yards receiving and three touchdown catches. He also put the exclamation point on Villanova's 27-point second-tuarter when he made Westbrook sets touchdown mark as Wildcats pound Bulls at Veterans Stadium. James ran for a bad snap on the first punt. The second one appeared to go off the side of Nicholl's foot. Miami 14 14 7 742 Temple 0 0 0 77 First quarter Mia: James 20 run (Crossland kick), 4:17 Mia: Jackson 20 run (Crossland kick), 1:48.

Second quarter Mia: James 12 run (Crossland kick), 5:12 Mia: Jackson 1 run (Crossland kick), 2:29. Third quarter Mia: James 5 run (Crossland kick), 2:30. Fourth quarter Mia: Franks 22 pass from Kelly (Crossland kick), 11:49 Tern: Butler 13 pass from Scott (Nicholl kick), 1:41 18,734. Mia Tern First downs 23 18 a juggling catch down the left sideline while being sandwiched by two defenders for a 33-yard touchdown near the end of the half. The Wildcats and Bulls set a Villanova record for points scored by both teams in a game, 105, exceeding the 88 of a 52-36 victory by Georgia Southern in a 1989 opening-round playoff game, The Wildcats increased their lead to 58-14 late in the third quarter.

However, Buffalo, aided by the recovery of three onside kicks, scored 26 fourth-quarter points to make the score artmciany close. Talley said he didn't know what Buffalo coach Craig Cirbus was doing. 'I didn't expect them to recover all of those onside kicks," he said. "They were basically playing against our scout team." How disastrous of a trip was it for Buffalo? The Bulls (4-6) forced just one punt, and even that led to a Villanova score. Drew Haddad fumbled a Chris Birch punt in the first quarter, and Sango recovered the ball at Buffalo's 12-yard line.

Buffalo Villanova 0 7 7 2640 10 27 21 765 First quarter VU Westbrook 4 run (Hannon kick), 10:57 VU FG Hannon 35, 3:18 Second quarter Lacey Temple fumbled once, had a trick play from punt formation fail, and saw two poor punts by the usually reliable Dave Nicholl leave Miami with good field position. "It wasn't Miami. We beat ourselves in the first half," DeVito said. It was a scoreless game until Miami's James went in from 20 yards with 4:17 left in the first period. Miami had taken a DeVito fumble and, with the help of a personal foul on Temple, moved from the Owls' 47-yard line.

Temple tried the trick play on its ensuing possession. On fourth down from the Temple 40-yard line, Ni By Scott Brown INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF Brian Westbrook's four trips to the end zone set a school record for career touchdowns and led Villa-nova to a 65-40 Buffalo 40 rout of Buffalo 65 yesterday at Villa-nova Stadium. Westbrook set a record of 35 touchdowns, breaking the mark of 31, held by Brian Finneran and Mike Siani. Now Westbrook will take a run at the record that would make setting the school's career touchdown mark as a sophomore seem like a footnote to his remarkable season. If Westbrook rushes for 127 yards in Saturday's regular-season finale against visiting Rhode Island, he will become the first college player on any level to crack the mark in both rushing and receiving.

"He's pretty phenomenal now," Villanova coach Andy Talley said after the Wildcats evened their record at 5-5 with the nonconfer-ence win. "There's really nobody as versatile as he is right now. The credit to Brian is he is always in shape, and he practices harder than anyone on the team." Talley called his workhorse's V-J i rv p. Villanova's DeLonne Kelly (left) and Hezekiah Lewis bring down Buffalo's David Hinson as Carlos Spencer orbits above the play. W.tfiliMMfc'iHBiWiil4iid.