Keasey, defense spark Tiger victory

If senior linebacker Zak Keasey winds up playing on Sundays next fall, it will be in large part due to the performance he turned in on the final Saturday of his football career.

Keasey played like a man among boys on Saturday, making 22 tackles as the defense carried Princeton (5-5 overall, 3-4 Ivy League) to a 17-10 victory over Dartmouth (1-9, 1-6) in both team's season finales. Four of those stops were made behind the line of scrimmage, including two sacks.

It wasn't Keasey alone, however, who carried the day. His linebacking corps colleagues, juniors Justin Stull and Abi Fadeyi, chipped in 10 and nine tackles, respectively. And five different players sacked Big Green quarterback Charlie Rittgers by the end of the game.

Overall, the Tigers' defensive performance was one of their best of the season. They held the Big Green to just 263 yards of total offense and only 10 points, all of which came off of Princeton turnovers.

"Our defense had something to prove," Keasey said. "We wanted to show how good we could be if we could play a complete game. I think we were pretty close to that."

And on a day when the offense was atrociously anemic — only one drive picked up more than 22 yards — it was a good thing the Tiger defenders came to play. They were responsible for 10 of the team's 17 points. Beyond junior defensive end James Williams' game-winning blocked field goal return for a touchdown, safety Tim Strickland's second quarter interception set up Princeton's lone field goal.

But it was in the trenches that the Tigers were most impressive. Keasey's video-game-quality statistics were the result of the Big Green running the ball up the gut at seemingly every opportunity. Despite all the pounding they took, Keasey and the rest of his defensive mates never wore down.

Dartmouth's two burly running backs, Chad Gaudet and Chris Little, combined to pick up 122 yards, but it took them 38 carries to do so — a less-than-impressive 3.2 yards per rush average. Time and again, Keasey was there to make the stop and ensure the Big Green gained only a handful of yards.

After the game, Keasey downplayed his individual performance, giving the defensive line party of the credit for his ridiculous numbers.

"The guys up front played their butts off," he said. "That helped me be able to make some plays out there."

Indeed, the line turned in an excellent performance. There was Williams, whose quick thinking allowed him to make the biggest end of the day. And there were the two seniors, defensive end Chris Browne and nose tackle Pete Kelly, who, like Keasey, ended their careers on a high note.

On the very last drive of the game, the three seniors singlehandedly drove the final nails into Dartmouth's coffin. The Big Green got the ball back with two minutes, 27 seconds to play, plenty of time to drive the 66 yards needed for a game-tying touchdown. Instead, they went backwards.

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"We were just bringing a four-man rush with some line stunts," Keasey said. "Our [defensive backs] locked them down and gave us time to make plays."

First, Kelly sacking Rittgers for a nine-yard loss, followed by Keasey dropping for a loss of five yards on the next play. On third down, Rittgers forced a throw under pressure that was almost picked off. Finally, on fourth-and-24, Browne drove Rittgers into the turf once more, jumping up to celebrate with a mock home run swing.

Over the course of the season, the Tigers enjoyed far less success than they had hoped they would. But on this day, Browne, Keasey, Kelly and the rest of the defense hit a grand slam — and they knew it.