Football beats Dartmouth to end year

Football is a game of bounces, which in their fickle nature can go for or against you. Fortunately for Princeton (5-5 overall, 3-4 Ivy League), the biggest bounce in Saturday's season finale against Dartmouth (1-9, 1-6) fell into the arms of sophomore holder Colin McDonough.

With 9:35 left in the fourth quarter and the score tied at 10, a series of events unfolded that could have buoyed or broken both teams. Junior wide receiver Greg Fields fielded a punt at the Big Green's 48-yard line and, running behind effective blocks along the right sideline, powered his way into the endzone. The six points were quickly negated, however, by a block in the back penalty that bounced the Tigers back to their own 43-yard line.

Undeterred, Princeton continued to drive down the field courtesy of first down receptions by sophomore wide receiver Brian Shields and senior tailback Jon Veach. Ultimately, however, the drive stalled at the 25-yard line. Junior placekicker Derek Javarone, who had converted on a 33-yard field goal attempt earlier in the game, came on the field for the 42-yard try.

As the ball passed over the scrum, Big Green free safety Clayton Smith leaped high into the air and blocked the kick. The ball floated back towards McDonough, who plucked it out of the air and started to run. But when it quickly became obvious that the six-foot, 185-lb. holder would be unable to break free of the swarm of Dartmouth players, he shoveled the ball to junior defensive end James Williams.

With the Dartmouth defenders still focused on McDonough, Williams rumbled through a clear 24-yard lane into the endzone. The Tigers reclaimed the 17-10 lead they thought they had established four minutes earlier.

"Two of the Dartmouth guys hit [McDonough], so I was like, I'll just slip under here and see if I can grab the ball," Williams said. "And he tells me he gave it to me, but I think I took it."

Despite the crushing momentum swing, Dartmouth nearly managed to mount a comeback. A pass interference call on sophomore safety Tim Strickland gave the Big Green the ball on Princeton's 24. Quarterback Charlie Rittgers looked deep into the endzone for wide receiver Sam McDonald on second down. As McDonald dove for the ball, sophomore cornerback J.J. Artis extended his reach and tipped away the ball.

On third down, Rittgers threw another perfect pass into the middle of the endzone for open wide receiver Bob Murphy. As Tiger fans expelled a collective groan, Murphy changed their groans into gasps of surprise as the ball inexplicably bounced off his chest and fell incomplete. Fourth down was a near replay, but this time it was wide receiver Aaron Brown who dropped the would-be-touchdown reception.

Princeton then went three-and-out and was forced to give the ball back to Dartmouth with just under two and half minutes remaining. But the Tigers' senior defensive corps, playing in their final game, put on the clamps. Defensive tackle Pete Kelly, linebacker Zak Keasey and defensive end Chris Browne each recorded sacks for a net 21-yard loss on the four downs.

"I definitely wanted to end my career here on a strong note, and our defense had something to prove," Keasey, who finished with 22 tackles, said. "We wanted to show how good we could be when we played a complete game, and I think we were pretty close to that today."

The majority of the first half was a defensive battle. Dartmouth relied on the running game of tailback Chad Gaudet but was never able to sustain a scoring drive. Instead, Princeton's defense coalesced at opportune times and forced the Big Green to attempt 40- and 41-yard field goals, both of which fell short. Following the Tigers' first score, a Javarone field goal with less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Dartmouth finally converted on a 31-yard kick by Erik Hinterbichler.

Princeton took the momentum at the end of the half on a 70-yard drive that ended with a five-yard pass from senior quarterback Matt Verbit to junior wide receiver Jay McCareins.

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The Big Green answered right back to start the second half, however. After the Tigers recovered an onside kick, senior tailback Branden Benson had the ball stripped, giving Dartmouth control on its own 31-yard line. Eschewing the ground game, Rittgers found wide receiver Andrew Hall for a 22-yard touchdown pass to knot the score, 10-10. But that was just a preamble to the wild fourth quarter.

"It was a crazy game, but our kids fought their tails off," head coach Roger Hughes said. "If you just keep playing hard, good things are going to happen, and finally we got a break. So I'm very proud of their effort, and obviously it's a great way to finish off the season."