Finally, a victory: Tigers win at VMI

LEXINGTON, Va. — For the first time in 41 games, the sprint football team came out on top.

Never mind that their opponent, the Virginia Military Institute, is a newcomer to the sport this year.

Never mind that this was only the third game ever for the Keydets.

Never mind that sprint football is only a club sport for VMI.

Never mind that since the Keydets aren't in the Collegiate Sprint Football League, neither team had to weigh in for the game.

Never mind those caveats. They don't matter. On Oct. 29, Princeton won, 19-7.

Yes, that's right, the Tigers won.

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

Senior running back Frank Langston ran for two touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Alex Kandabarow hit classmate wide receiver Lon Johnson on a 53-yard scoring pass to snap Princeton's 40-game losing streak and lead the team to its first win since 1999.

"We're going to savor this," said defensive coordinator Ralph Wright '88, who set this game up with VMI in hopes of getting a win.

The Tigers (1-6 overall, 0-4 CSFL) looked a little shaky at the start, as if their 98-0 loss to Navy last week was still fresh in their minds. It took a while for Princeton's confidence to build.

Late in the first half, with the game still scoreless, VMI (0-3) quarterback Marcus Carlstrom fumbled on fourth down at the Keydets' 45-yard line. The ball rolled back to the 35 before Carlstrom smothered the ball and was whistled down.

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Princeton's offense took over, and Langston pounded the VMI defense on the ground in a march to the end zone. With 50 seconds left in the quarter, Langston took the ball from the two-yard line and found an opening up the middle, crossing the goal line to put the Tigers on the scoreboard and to give them their first lead of the season.

Junior kicker Neil Swami missed the extra point, so Princeton took a 6-0 lead into halftime. Which, for this team, was a victory in itself.

"Way to go, guys," yelled one of the fans in the sizeable Princeton parent cheering section as the Tigers headed into the locker room. "You're winning!"

Early in the third quarter, Princeton scored again, this time on a 53-yard pass to Johnson. Kandabarow threw the ball a little short, forcing Johnson to stop and grab it over his defender. Johnson fought through two tackle attempts before twisting into the end zone backward for a 12-0 lead.

The Tigers' ensuing two-point conversion attempt was tipped away.

Indicativ of the squad's improvement in skill and confidence, both Kandabarow and Johnson reacted to positioning of the VMI defensive backs on the scoring strike.

"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 Tigers kept plugging away, adding a third touchdown with 10:36 to play in the fourth quarter. Langston went up the middle from 10 yards out on a run similar to his first score.

"It's good to have those big plays," Langston said. "The line really stepped it up as the game went along. Those guys blocked their butts off, and we made it happen."

Princeton was finally able to convert an extra point attempt, putting the team ahead 19-0.

VMI's only touchdown came midway through the fourth quarter, when a third-down pass by Kandabarow was intercepted and returned 25 yards 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.

In the waning minutes of the game, VMI stepped up the pressure and the Tigers looked a little like their old bumbling selves for a while. Then, in dramatic fashion, Princeton ended the long drive with two swarming sacks. The Tigers then ran out the clock, icing a 19-7 victory and assuring that the cadets' arms would remain rested.

When the horn blew signaling the end of the game, the Tigers ran calmly back to the sideline, as if winning was something they did every day, respectfully listening to the VMI school song before letting out a cheer and singing a song of their own: a spirited rendition of "Old Nassau."

"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."

Just six days later, Princeton returned to its losing ways at Penn, falling 38-12 to the Quakers on Friday in Philadelphia.

But never mind that. For one glorious afternoon, the Tigers were winners.

— David Mordkoff '01, a 'Prince' sports editor emeritus, contributed reporting from Lexington, Va., for this article.