A clean sweep for the city schools as Temple, Villanova, and Penn all win over the weekend
The #8 Villanova Wildcats defeated the #12 Black Bears of Maine on home turf for their fifth straight win this season, their best start since 2009. Temple faced former coach Geoff Collins, now at Georgia Tech, but their focus was on a bounce-back win after their loss at Buffalo. The Owls defense rose to the occasion twice turning away the Yellow Jackets at the goal line in a 24 – 2 victory at the Linc. And Penn overcame Lafayette on a 200-yard rushing effort by Karekin Brooks.
A solid performance by the Owls defense lead by Benny Walls and the running game headed by Re’Mahn Davis paced the Cherry and White to victory. Walls made two key plays; a fumble recovery that was turned into a Temple score, and an interception that prevented a Georgia Tech score. Walls picked up a fumble and returned it 74-yards for a third quarter touchdown gave TU a 21 – 0 lead. The pick was in the fourth quarter. The Owls also forced a Yellow Jackets fumble early in the game keeping the contest scoreless. Davis found the endzone twice, and rushed for 135-yards on 29 carries becoming the first true freshman to run for over 100 yards since Jager Gardner did so in 2015.
Villanova is averaging 40 points per game behind quarterback Daniel Smith and running back Justin Covington. Smith was responsible for three touchdowns, two via the run and one touchdown pass, a 77-yarder to Changa Hodge. Covington gained 118 yards on the ground, his fifth straight 100-yard game. On defense Elijah Trent and Darius Pickett had an interception. It was a fast start for Nova who scored the first 30 points of the game in 17 minutes.
The University of Pennsylvania earned win number one of the 2019 season. Running back Karekin Brooks led the offense with 202 rushing yards on 29 carries and 2 touchdowns. He became the first player in program history to have three 200-yard games. After Lafayette cut the lead to 21 – 18 with 2:04 to play, Brooks salted the game away for the Red and Blue. Their ensuing drive began with a 40-yard run by Brooks. Two plays later he scored from 31-yards out with just 1:43 on the clock. The Leopards got a touchdown at the gun for the final score of the game.
Games of September 28, 2019
TEMPLE – Overall 3 – 1, 0 – 0 American Athletic Conference
Result – Won 24 – 2 vs. Georgia Tech
Summary – Shaun Bradley led the defense with 8 tackles. Walls and Christian Braswell had 6 tackles. The Yellow Jackets were 2 of 14 in Third Down Conversions, and 2 of 4 on fourth down. All the Tech drives on offense started on their side of the field.
Next Game – October 3 at ECU
#8 VILLANOVA – Overall 5 – 0, 2 – 0 CAA
Result – Won 33 – 17 vs. #12 Maine
Summary – DeeWill Barlee and added another rushing touchdown in the game. Nowoola Awopetu led the team with 10 tackles. On special teams kicker Drew Kresge was good on two field goals, while Elijah Solomon blocked a punt. The Cats lead 30 – 3 at halftime.
Next Game – October 5 at William & Mary
PENN – Overall 1 –1, Ivy League 0 – 0
Result – Won 28 – 24 at Lafayette
Summary – Quarterback Nick Robinson had 18 completions for 270 yards and 2 scoring tosses. Ryan Cragun caught both of those scoring tosses. For the day the wide receiver had 8 receptions for 128 yards. Penn overcame a 10 – 7 Lafayette lead early in the contest. Penn opens Ivy play on Friday at Franklin Field.
Next Game – October 4 vs. Dartmouth
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