Improvements shown despite loss

On Friday, Nov. 3, the sprint football team fell to Penn, 35-12, despite a heartfelt effort at Franklin Field.

The game capped off a winless season for Princeton (0-6 overall), a team that saw much change and improvement this year.

The Quakers finished the season 2-4, with their only two wins coming against the Tigers.

"As usual, the team was tough and fought hard," head coach Thomas Cocuzza said. "The boys did about as well as you can ask for with only 23 guys on the active roster."

Penn got an outstanding performance from quarterback Mike Loguidice, who completed 14 of 19 passes for 240 yards and four first-half touchdowns. Loguidice was generous, completing touchdown passes to Stephen Delgado, Mike D'Angelo, J.T. Hutchinson and Matt McConville, making the score 28-0 at halftime.

Junior wide receiver Lon Johnson scored on a 16-yard pass from junior quarterback Alex Kandabarow midway through the fourth quarter, making the score 28-6. Freshman Anthony Cheng's extra point attempt was blocked.

Penn later drove for five minutes, ending with a three-yard touchdown run by McConville, to make the score 35-6 with only 15 seconds remaining in the game.

But the Tigers only needed those 15 seconds to claim the final score for the game. Kandabarow connected with Johnson for an 85-yard touchdown pass — a highlight which came on the final play of the season.

Johnson — the most consistent offensive threat all season — turned in his best game of the year in the season finale, catching 12 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns. His stellar performance capped off a season in which he set Princeton's single-season receiving record with 667 yards. The former record was 574 yards.

"Before the game, I told him that he needed 150 yards to set our single-season receiving record," Cocuzza said. "He just looked at me and said, 'I can get that.' After the game, I told him he shouldn't have done so well, because now it will be harder for him to break his own record next year."

Kandabarow also had his best game of the season, completing 17 of 41 for 277 yards and two touchdowns. Kandabarow's numbers have increased steadily all season in Cocuzza's new pass-oriented offensive scheme.

"[Kandabarow and Johnson's] performances are a very good sign for the offense next year," Cocuzza said. "We also did some things differently — we tried running the ball. This forced Penn to defend the run as well as the pass, so that opened things up."

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Another good sign for next season is the team's number of offensive returnees.

"Next year we return all of our receivers, though we will lose some linemen and defensive players who will be hard to replace," Cocuzza said. "But on offense, unlike this year, we won't have to start on square one."

Other keys to next season include attracting new players and staying healthy. The team, which started with a 36-man roster, had 13 season-ending injuries. In the Penn game, many players had to play both ways — including quarterback Kandabarow.

"If we had 10 more healthy bodies, it would have been a different game," Cocuzza said. "Our starting quarterback had to play safety, which is unheard of. Trying to make adjustments is impossible when 85 percent of your offense is playing defense, including your quarterback."

Still, the team is happy with its progress this season and hopes for fewer unlucky injuries and more recruits next year.

"Overall, we took a step forward," Cocuzza said. "We improved in almost every stat we looked at throughout the year — including yards for, points for, yards against and points against. We didn't win a game, but they improved in lots of different ways, especially from last year. Now we just have to work on getting more bodies out there."