Terrell drives Tigers to win

EASTON, Pa. — By the time the Princeton offense took the field in the fourth quarter of its 23-21 win over Lafayette on Saturday, it was clear that the number of points the Tigers put on the board would be less important than the amount of time they took off of it.

With the Leopards' own offense rejuvenated and scoring at will after being shut out in the first half, Princeton (1-0 overall) engineered a pair of prolonged fourth-quarter drives — which ate up nearly 13 minutes of the final period— to keep Lafayette (2-1) at bay.

Leading the marches downfield was junior quarterback Jeff Terrell, who shook off the pressures of starting his first collegiate game and the relentless blitzes of the Leopard linebackers. Despite being temporarily knocked out of the game by a hit to the head in the second quarter, Terrell had enough poise to throw for 197 yards while completing 68 percent of his passes.

Behind Terreoo in the backfield was sophomore fullback Rob Toresco, who assumed primary ball-handling duties when junior tailback Cleo Kirkland went down with cramps and responded to the responsibility with eight punishing fourth-quarter carries for 37 of his game-high 79 rushing yards. In front of Terrell was the senior-heavy offensive line, which proved itself worthy of the preseason attention it received by opening holes and thwarting would-be tacklers when the game was on the line.

Together, they ensured that the Tigers' near flawless first-half effort — and the 20-0 lead Princeton had built by halftime — would not be made meaningless by an equally perfect collapse.

After Lafayette scored two unanswered second-half touchdowns to cut the Tigers' lead to 20-14 with 13 minutes, 12 seconds remaining in the final quarter, Terrell and Princeton took the ball at their own 21-yard line and opened a 16-play scoring drive that would not end until nine minutes and 25 seconds had come off the game clock.

Four times, the Tigers found themselves facing third down. Four times, Princeton picked up the yards it needed to avoid relinquishing possession to its eager opponent.

Converting on two of those third downs was sophomore wide receiver Brendan Circle, who hauled in five passes for a game-high 75 yards and got open enough that Terrell had no choice but to make him his primary receiver in crunch time.

It was on a second-down-and-18 play, though, that Circle came up with the biggest reception of the day for the Tigers. With a false start penalty having just pushed Princeton back to the Leopards' 33-yard line and likely out of field-goal range, Circle made a circus catch for a gain of 10 yards, pressing the ball into his pads with one arm while falling to the ground.

Though the play drew boos from the crowd, which doubted that Circle had made the catch cleanly, it set up a 37-yard field goal by senior kicker Derek Javarone two plays later, putting the Tigers up 23-14 with 3:47 to play.

On the ensuing kickoff, Lafayette's Larry Johnson returned the ball 72 yards, and the Leopards then managed a 23-yard touchdown pass on first down. It was the second touchdown pass of the day for Lafayette quarterback Pat Davis, who replaced the ineffective Brad Maurer late in the first half and picked apart the Princeton defense from there on out.

But with their lead cut to two, the Tigers resolved not to let Davis touch the ball again. Terrell handed the ball to Toresco on six of the first seven snaps during Princeton's next possession, and the Leopards were forced to burn all three of their timeouts as the back moved the chains. A final Toresco first down with just over a minute left allowed the Tigers to run out the clock and walk away with the win.

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Princeton would not have enjoyed the luxury of being able to let Toresco pound out yards, however, had it not been for the team's all-around effort in the first half.

After the offenses swapped scoreless possessions to open the game, an unimpeded nine-yard touchdown run by Kirkland, who ran for 30 of his 47 yards in the first quarter, gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead just under eight minutes into the game.

Princeton looked primed to find the end zone again early in the second quarter, as the Orange and Black once again moved deep into Lafayette territory. But a roughing-the-passer penalty took Terrell off the field for the rest of the quarter. With his replacement, sophomore Bill Foran, under center, the drive stalled, and the Tigers had to settle for a 22-yard Javarone field goal.

Princeton's lead would balloon to 17-0, though, when senior cornerback Jay McCareins got a perfect read on a Maurer pass, hopped in front of the intended receiver for an interception and returned the ball 75 yards the other way for a touchdown.

Four minutes later, following consecutive 15-yard penalties charged to the Leopards, Javarone added another field goal, this one a 25-yarder, to put the Tigers up 20 points going into halftime.

Though Terrell returned to the field after the break, Princeton's lead nonetheless shrank rapidly in the third quarter as first half near-perfection gave way to second-half shakiness. But there is nothing shaky about the Tigers' perfect record, nor the cast of resilient players who helped to secure it as time ticked away.