With losing streak at 39, sprint football visits Navy tonight

Princeton will have its hands full Friday evening in Annapolis, Md., when it faces defending champion Navy in Collegiate Sprint Football League action.

The undefeated Midshipmen (4-0 overall, 1-0 CSFL), playing in their home finale, are coming off a bye week following a 7-0 win over Cornell the previous week.

The result of that game bodes well for the Tigers (0-3, 0-1), who also played the Big Red very closely for two and half quarters.

But the Princeton offense will have to confront a top-ranked Navy defense that is led by an aggressive defensive line.

"They have a solid defensive unit," sophomore quarterback Alex Kandabarow said. "They play a cover two, have fast defensive backs and a D-line that hits hard."

Midshipman junior linebacker Ryan Engle received league Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second straight week after his performance against Cornell. Engle recorded a game-high 15 tackles, three of which resulted in a loss of yardage. The previous week against Army, he tallied an impressive 23 tackles. He leads the CSFL with 48 tackles on the year.

The Tigers' running backs will have to watch out for junior defensive lineman David Novotney, who has a knack for breaking up runs in the backfield. He leads Navy with 7.5 tackles and three sacks.

Unlike many teams in the league, the Midshipmen are solid on both sides of the ball. Navy, the second-ranked offensive unit in the league, is a passing team like Princeton. Senior quarterback James Olsen has been deadly accurate thus far this season, completing 25 of 47 passes for a total of 518 yards.

More impressive than his completion percentage, however, is the fact that he has not thrown an interception yet this season. The Tigers will need to penetrate the Midshipmen backfield and force Olsen to rush his throws downfield.

Senior wide receiver Theo Williams leads Navy with nine receptions for 207 yards and six touchdowns.

"We've been running one-on-ones in practice to get our defensive backs in shape," Kandabarow said.

Though the statistics heavily favor the Midshipmen, head coach Bill Hickey is looking forward to the game.

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"Coach Hickey loves playing against the Middies," Kandabarow said. "He likes the challenge that they give us because it forces us to improve."

The Tigers, the fifth-ranked team in the five-team league in both offense and defense, have only accumulated an average of 113 yards of total offense per game while allowing a total of 419 yards.

Kandabarow will have to put together another big passing night like the one he had against Cornell in order to keep Princeton in the game. The quarterback is 32-of-99 on the year for 422 yards and two touchdowns.

Both senior running back Frank Langston and sophomore wide-out Lon Johnson, Kandabarow's two primary receivers, have double-digit receptions on the year. Johnson will look to maintain his momentum from last week's game at Cornell, in which he caught six balls for 194 and both of the team's touchdowns.

But in order for the passing game to be successful, the offensive line must hold its ground and form a pocket. The Tigers have allowed 18 sacks for a loss of 152 yards.

Navy is in the midst of a seven-game winning streak against Princeton, dating back to 1999. The Midshipmen are 58-9-4 all-time against the Tigers. Last season, Navy set a program record for points scored in a game when they defeated Princeton, 77-16.

"We aren't really looking to exploit any part of Navy's game in particular," Kandabarow said. "We are just going to play Tiger football — getting what we've been practicing all year to work on the field."