Sprint Football: Tigers held scoreless against Navy

Though Navy surpassed the half-century mark on the Princeton defense, the Tigers held strong and compiled impressive statistics for the night. Princeton forced four fumbles, recovering one to end a key Navy drive that had brought the Midshipmen into the red zone.

In the absence of senior inside linebacker Brendan Reilly, who sat out the game with an injury, sophomore linebacker Andrew Gabriele stepped up big for the Tigers. Gabriele posted 4.5 tackles for losses on the night, driving the Midshipmen back a total of 40 yards on offense. Gabriele also recorded one sack.

“Andrew Gabriele gave us an outstanding personal performance against Navy,” senior center and co-captain Rich Hagner said. “Not only did he have a great game on defense, but as our kick returner, he ran the ball back like he thought he was Devin Hester, finding a seam in our wall return, and twice was one block away from running it back [for a touchdown] against a strong Navy kickoff team.”

Another star defensive performer for The Tigers was junior linebacker and co-captain Mike Schoder, who led all players with 7.5 tackles. Schoder filled up nearly all the categories in the stat sheet, with a sack, 2.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a blocked field goal.

As imposing as the Tigers were defensively, the deep Navy bench and relentless ground attack proved too much for the defense to handle. Princeton played a total of 23 players on offense and defense combined, while Navy used 43 players. Nine players carried the ball for Navy for a total gain of 254 yards on the ground.

The running game had quite a different storyline on the other side of the field. Junior tight end Bobby Addis led the Tigers on the ground with 10 carries for 23 yards. The team, meanwhile, combined for one net rushing yard on 28 attempts.

“Unfortunately, while our running game has improved since Cornell and games before that, it was still not nearly where we want it to be,” Hagner said.

The Tigers looked to be on the verge of scoring early in the first half. After Navy scored its first touchdown, Gabriele returned the kickoff to midfield, setting up good field position for the offense. With senior quarterback and co-captain Drew Dixon picking apart the defense with quick passes out wide and screens up the middle on Navy’s linebacker blitzes, the Tigers drove to the Navy 17-yard line. But once inside the red zone, it seemed as if the aerial attack just disappeared.

“The kick returns were solid all game, and Gabriele set us up with good field position,” Dixon said. “We got a quick first down, then converted on third and long, giving us a first down inside the Navy 20. We went for the endzone on the first play and just missed. Then, we had second and long, third and long, so Navy dropped a few more guys into coverage.”

“In terms of that one particular drive, unfortunately, our offense just seemed to temporarily break down once we got in the red zone,” Hagner noted.

In an attempt to catch the Midshipmen off guard and to perhaps turn momentum in Princeton’s favor, head coach Tom Cocuzza called for an onsides kick to begin the third quarter. The kick ended up a little too low and long, however, allowing the Midshipmen to safely field the ball on the Princeton 43-yard line.

The Tigers will host Mansfield this Friday in the team’s final home game of the season. The two teams scrimmaged in late September as a warmup before the official beginning of the season. Reilly is expected to return for his final home game.

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“This is the week that we’ve all been looking forward to,” Hagner said. “Our offense has started clicking, and we have put in some new defensive schemes that should work well. We have been putting in some long practices and practicing Sunday mornings, and I think we have gotten substantially better over the last few weeks.”