The sprint football team had looked forward to its two games over Fall Break as a chance to turn its season around. The Tigers planned to use the break from classes and work to rebuild their team spirit and improve their record.
Navy and Cornell — Princeton's opponents — had other plans for the Tigers.
After shutting down the Navy offense for one half Oct. 27, penalties and sloppy mistakes finally caught up with the Tigers (0-5 overall, 0-3 Collegiate Sprint Football League). Navy (3-2, 2-1) won in the end, 19-0.
Princeton then faced Cornell (1-3, 2-4) in the Tigers' final home game last Friday. The Tigers were hoping to avenge an early-season overtime loss to the Big Red, a team which Princeton felt it had dominated. The Tigers walked off the field disappointed again, and done in by their own mistakes in a 14-3 loss.
Neither offense had much success in the first half of the Navy game. While three different Tigers — sophomore defensive back Christian Gomez, sophomore defensive lineman Brian Mickus and senior linebacker Brett Otteson — recorded eight tackles apiece, the Princeton offense was unable to put any points on the board. Several promising drives sputtered as a result of holding penalties.
"The game was ours to take," senior captain and tight end Mike Piazza said.
Ravens
This offensive stagnation would eventually come back to haunt the Tigers. Though its run defense remained tough throughout the game, the Princeton pass defense collapsed in the second half. Navy took advantage of an athletic receiving corps to burn the Tiger secondary with fade routes.
"They hit the fade pattern again and again," Piazza said. "Even though we were stopping the run, the fade pattern was like a hammer crushing us down time and again."
After the loss, the Tigers stepped up their training regimen in preparation for their final home game of the season. On the opening drive against Cornell, it appeared as if the work had paid off. Princeton drove the ball well and scored what the team thought was the game's first touchdown.
As has been the case all season, however, a Tiger success was negated by a mistake — the touchdown was called back on a holding penalty. Princeton was forced to settle for a field goal by junior Ki Moon and an early 3-0 lead.
"The officiating was positively egregious," Piazza said.
The Tigers recovered a Big Red fumble on the ensuing kickoff but were unable to convert the turnover into points. Cornell was forced to punt on third down from deep in its own territory, leaving Princeton with good field position. Again, however, the Tigers were unable to come up with a score.
Hokies
Cornell finally broke through just before halftime, scoring off of Princeton miscues as it had in the first meeting between the two teams. A Big Red score off a blocked punt was the difference in that game, and Cornell got another blocked kick and seized momentum late in the first half. The Tigers went into the locker room trailing, 7-3.
Cornell would only manage one more touchdown in the game — late in the fourth quarter on a drive that featured a 30-yard conversion on third down and a successful halfback option pass on a fourth-down play. That would be enough, however, as Princeton struggled on offense and dropped the final home game of the season, 14-3.
"This was a terrible, terrible result," Piazza said. "I cannot stress enough how we have continually missed opportunities to cash in.
"A number of players have stepped up and played well, if not better than anyone in the league, but we can't seem to put together a cohesive team effort for four quarters."
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