Losing streak reaches 33 as Cornell tops sprint football

On a night in which everyone in attendance could feel a victory in the air, all that came down was rain. Sprint football (0-4 overall, 0-2 CSFL) lost to Cornell (1-3, 1-1) Friday at home, 32-19, in a closely contested game. The loss extended the team's losing streak to 33 games.

Princeton stayed within five points of the Big Red until early in the second half, when a botched pitch was recovered and run back for a touchdown sealed the game.

Cornell struck first, on a Nick LiVigne two-yard touchdown run. Less than 90 seconds later, the Big Red had the ball back and was moving the ball downfield with ease. Cornell was poised to score again. Yet Princeton's defense made three big stops inside its own 10-yard line and forced a field goal.

On the ensuing Tiger possession, momentum seemed to turn in Princeton's favor. The Tigers drove 74 yards on nine plays before sophomore running back Matt Francis crossed the goal line on a 1-yard touchdown leap over the center of the offensive line.

On Cornell's first possession of the second quarter, the Big Red drove the ball to Princeton's 1-yard line. On fourth-and-goal from the one, the Tiger defense came up with a huge stop as Cornell's running back ran into a wall of defenders.

Unable to sustain the momentum gleaned from the defensive stop, however, the offense gave the ball right back. Cornell moved the ball efficiently downfield as its elusive running back, Mike Fullowan, found gaping holes in the defense and eventually found the endzone, capping a six-play, 31-yard drive. Cornell led at the half 17-6.

"We knew we could play with them," senior quarterback Dennis Bakke said. "We knew that if we came out [in the second half] and played well we could score, get some defensive stops and put some points on the board."

Princeton trimmed the deficit on its first offensive possession of the second half, a 13-play, 90-yard drive. Bakke made up for his lack of throwing accuracy with his legs, running for a huge gain down the left-side of the field on a quarterback keeper.

The Tigers went for it on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line, and Francis punched the ball in for the score, cutting Cornell's lead to just five points.

Princeton's defense matched the offensive unit's intensity, forcing two three-and-outs on the Big Red's next two drives. The defense put Bakke and company in position for the go-ahead drive. This drive, however, never came.

With 29 seconds left in the third quarter, the game turned in the Big Red's favor. Francis fumbled a Bakke pitch inside the 10-yard line. Cornell's Jason Zittel picked the ball up on the eight-yard line and ran it back for the score, halting the Tigers momentum.

Just 12 seconds later, the Big Red forced a Princeton safety, increasing its lead to 25-12.

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Cornell struck again on a 25-yard halfback pass from Fullowan to receiver Jon Amoona.

On this night of sloppy play on a soggy field, Princeton struggled with field position all game, seemingly starting every drive from within its own 15-yard line.

"We put together three pretty good drives," said Bakke, "but we went three-and-out too many times. I didn't have quite the zip on the ball [because of the rain] and because of that I needed to spread the field out. I didn't get into a rhythm."

The defense did its part by holding the Big Red's offense to 356 total yards. Princeton dominated Cornell in most statistical categories except for the all-important final score.

"We just haven't found out how to win," Bakke said. "We didn't know how to make plays, call plays, or what decisions to make when the game got close. We didn't do enough good things."