Princeton finishes season winless

The sprint football team brought another winless season to a close Friday, falling to Penn at home on Powers Field. Penn took an early lead with 34 straight points in the first half and went home with a 53-18 win.

"We had a difficult first half, but we came back and played them tough in the second half," junior captain and lineman Rich Hagner said. "That's what I love about this team; we never gave up on the season, and we never gave up in any game."

The Quakers (3-2) stormed out of the locker room to put 41 unanswered points on the board before the Tigers (0-5) could muster a response late in the third quarter. Junior quarterback Drew Dixon hit his stride with three touchdown passes in the second half — two of which went to senior wide receiver Lon Johnson — but he could not overcome the deficit as the Quakers ran up the score.

Penn quarterback Colin Dampier set the pace with a 23-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tomas Altamirano after nine minutes of play. Four minutes later Altamirano put the Quakers on the board again, tossing a nine-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marten Basta. The Tigers blocked the extra point, giving Penn a 13-0 lead going into the second quarter.

After success in the air during the first quarter, the Quakers brought the heat on the ground in the second with two Quaker running backs finding the end zone. The Quakers then capitalized on a Tiger fumble deep in Princeton territory with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Dampier to Basta, ending the half with a 34-0 lead.

"We consistently gave our opponents excellent starting field position," Hagner said. "A few times we would punt, but still give Penn the ball on our 35 or 30. It's asking a lot of our defense to consistently stop their offense from getting 30 yards on a drive."

Though the Tigers could not find the end zone in the first half, both the offense and defense stepped up in the second half as the Tigers allowed Penn to add just 19 more points. Princeton's second-half performance was impressive given the team's short roster.

"We are playing against teams that have 65 players, and we have 25," Hagner said, "so many guys are playing both ways against guys on the other team who are fresh in the fourth quarter. I feel that we ended the season on a positive note with how both our offense and defense played in the second half."

The Quakers moved first, with Dampier making another touchdown pass just four minutes into the second half, but the Tigers came up with an answer late in the third quarter. After sophomore linebacker Mike Schoder blocked a Penn punt, Dixon connected to Johnson with a 25-yard touchdown pass on a one-play drive with one minute, 56 seconds left in the third quarter. Dixon added six more points with 9:24 left in the game, making four completions on a four-play drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Anthony Soroka, who had been injuried for much of the season. Dampier answered two minutes later with a four-yard touchdown pass, extending Penn's lead to 47-12.

Neither team let up. The track meet continued when Dixon completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Johnson with just 2:48 to go in the game. Penn answered with a three-yard touchdown run with 1:10 remaining, bringing the game to its final score of 53-18.

After a disappointing season full of injuries, the Tigers will look to make the necessary off-season adjustments to allow them to get a few wins next fall.

"We have a solid off-season strength and conditioning program," Hagner said. "We have a lot of people — from our alumni to our coaches to our parents — who are incredibly dedicated to this program and will make it improve this off-season."