Athlete of the Week - Chisom Opara

The football team was in a familiar position: down in the fourth quarter, one score needed, one drive left. Princeton has had close games, but rarely have these ended favorably for the Tigers.

Last Saturday, it all came down to 16 seconds, two players and one pass to determine whether Princeton would prevail or perish.

After a miraculous drive starting at their own 18-yard line with only one minute, 12 seconds left to play, the Tigers were down to their last chance.

The easy route would have been to send junior kicker Taylor Northrup out onto the field for three points and the win. Instead, the Tigers went for the superfluous points with extra flair.

Senior quarterback Jon Blevins looked downfield to see the end zone speckled with players. In the midst of a hurricane of Yale defenders, sophomore wide reciever Chisom Opara streaked to get open, 32 yards away.

Opara spun and stretched for the slightly underthrown pass — a ray of light emerging from the storm of Eli defensive backs — to haul down the dramatic score.

With Opara's grab, the Tigers defeated Yale, 19-14, bringing them to a 3-6 record, 3-3 in the Ivy League.

The drive that ended in Opara's arms began after an Eli mistake. Instead of being knocked out of bounds by Yale's defense, senior fullback Marty Cheatham was able to break free and sprint 44 yards to break into field goal range.

But the Tigers had bigger plans.

Blevins sent a short toss to Opara, who was able to reach the sideline and stop the clock. His reception brought the team to the final line of scrimmage for the game.

Opara's final catch redeemed the Tiger squad, and brought victory to the team for the first time in almost a month.

Next weekend, Princeton will host head coach Roger Hughes' former team, when Dartmouth comes to town for the last game of the season. With a win, the Tigers will finish above .500 in league play.