Sprint football snaps epic losing streak

LEXINGTON, Va. – For the first time in years, the sprint football team had a reason to celebrate.

Senior Frank Langston ran for two touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Alex Kandabarow hit classmate Lon Johnson on 53-yard scoring pass to lead the Tigers to a 19-7 win over the Virginia Military Institute on Saturday for Princeton's first win since 1999.

The Tigers had lost 40 straight games against Collegiate Sprint Football League opponents before beating VMI, a club team in its first season of intercollegiate play.

"It feels very, very, very good," Princeton head coach Bill Hickey said. "Only because everybody on our squad has never felt that. The first time, you always remember."

Princeton took its first lead of the season with less than a minute to go in the second quarter after the defense forced VMI to punt from deep within its own territory.

With three minutes left, the Tigers took over near midfield, and quickly moved the ball toward the end zone on two completions to Johnson and one to senior Cleland Welton. Langston plunged in from two yards out and after junior Neil Swami's extra point attempt was blocked, Princeton went into halftime with a 6-0 lead.

"Going into the locker room at halftime with the lead got us really pumped up, really excited," Kandabarow said. "I think if went in at 0-0 it would have been a little more dire."

Princeton doubled its lead on the first possession second half. Facing 3rd-and-10 near midfield, Kandabarow pumped once and arced a long pass downfield to Johnson, who caught it, fought off a defensive back, cut back inside and stiff-armed another Keydet on his way to the end zone on a 53-yard play.

Both Kandabarow and Johnson reacted to positioning of the VMI defensive backs.

"That was definitely not the designed play," Johnson said. "We kind of improvised on that one."

"He was supposed to do a slant, and I looked at him, and the safety came up right in his route," Kandabarow said. "I was not going to throw it. And then all of a sudden he busted outside."

The two-point conversion failed, but the Tigers had a 12-0 lead that its defense was not going to relinquish. Junior linebacker Jesse Reidel had several tackles for loss, and was the anchor of a squad that generated several key turnovers, including freshman Drew Dixon's interception deep in Princeton territory.

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"They got the ball back for us," Hickey said. "The defense just played inspired. They came up with the big plays."

Princeton's offensive line controlled the Keydets' front seven. They opened holes on a long drive in the fourth quarter, which culminated with Langston's nine-yard touchdown run. Swami's extra point was good, and the Tigers seemed in control with a 19-0 lead.

VMI's only touchdown came midway through the fourth quarter, when Kandabarow's pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. That brought about a hundred members of the VMI corps of cadets out of the stands to do seven push-ups on the track — one for each point the Keydets had scored.

The cadets' arms would remain rested as Princeton was able to run out the clock on its first win in six seasons — a notably different result than the previous week's 98-0 loss to Navy.

"I've been in the business a long time and crazy things happen to you," Hickey said. "When you can come around from being on the losing end 77-0 and 98-0 and then turn it around to win, it just means a lot more."

The game was also Princeton's first road win since the last game of the 1995 season.

David Mordkoff '01 is a former 'Prince' senior writer.