Football: Princeton falls short on opening day

History is said to repeat itself, and for the football team, the age-old adage has taken on new meaning. The Tigers opened their 2009 season in much the same manner they did the 2008 season, with a tough loss to The Citadel. Princeton (0-1) drew first blood early in the first quarter before surrendering 38 unanswered points in the 38-7 loss.

“I think the score of this game is not indicative of our defense,” senior inside linebacker and captain Scott Britton said. “I think that we’re going to be able to see this tape and we’re going to be able to fix a lot of the minor mistakes, and that’ll make a big difference.”

“Obviously we’re disappointed,” head coach Roger Hughes said. “I’m not sure they are 31 points better than we are, but clearly we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities that we had.”

The turning point of the game came early in the third quarter, with the score at 10-7. After stopping the Bulldogs (1-1) on their first possession of the second half, the Tigers took over on their own 13-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Tommy Wornham, who was making his debut as a starter, led Princeton on a 73-yard, 13-play drive, but the Tigers were stonewalled on the Citadel 14-yard line and were forced to attempt a field goal. Senior kicker Ben Bologna’s field-goal attempt bounced off the right upright, so instead of tying the game, the Tigers remained down and would never come closer.

“Clearly I felt a little bit of emotion go out of us on the sidelines, but I really didn’t get the sense that there was any letdown,” Hughes said.

Princeton appeared to be in position to regain possession immediately after stopping the Bulldogs on both first and second down. Citadel was then flagged for a false start, setting up a third-and-15. Citadel quarterback Bart Blanchard rolled to his weak side, then hurled a pass back to a wide open Andre Roberts for 39 yards. After eight more plays, including a drive-saving defensive pass interference call on third-and-six from the Tigers’ 32, The Citadel cashed in with a three-yard Van Dyke Jones touchdown run.

After receiving the ensuing kickoff, the Tigers put together another 13-play drive. This time, they stalled at the Citadel 15-yard line, Bologna’s subsequent field-goal attempt, his second of the day, was blocked. The Bulldogs responded with another long drive, highlighted by a 41-yard pass from Blanchard to wide receiver Scott Harward. Running back Terrell Dallas put the finishing touch on the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.

The Tigers mustered a third consecutive 13-play drive, but this one ended at the Citadel 28 when a Wornham pass was intercepted after bouncing out of his receiver’s hands and being tipped twice. Outside linebacker Jonathan Glaspie returned the pick 86 yards to the Princeton 2-yard line, and Dallas extended the Citadel lead to 31-7 with a two-yard touchdown run on the next play.

Wornham was intercepted on the Tigers next drive after his arm was hit while throwing, and the Bulldogs scored out of their variant of the Wildcat formation when freshman quarterback Miguel Starks, playing in place of Blanchard, ran the ball in from the three-yard line.

Sophomore quarterback Drew Ellis finished off the game for the Tigers, leading Princeton on an 42-yard, eight-play drive that ended when time expired.

After the teams traded possessions to start the game, the Tigers took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter in a rather unconventional way. Wornham fired a pass intended for junior wideout Andrew Kerr, but Kerr was not able to hang on to the pass. He tipped the ball over his head, though, and by a stroke of luck, the ball fell to junior wide receiver Jeb Heavenrich, who made an athletic heads-up catch for the score.

The Bulldogs responded with a field goal on their next drive, then forced a three-and-out on defense. Citadel then drove 58 yards in 15 plays, taking eight minutes, 16 seconds to do so. But the Bulldogs were stopped on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line when Britton and junior linebacker Keola Kaluhiokalani tackled Dallas for a loss of one yard.

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Citadel forced another punt on the Tigers’ next drive, and it then drove 46 yards in seven plays for their first score of the game. The drive was capped off by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Blanchard to tight end Alex Sellars on third-and-nine. The teams then traded possessions before the half ended.

Wornham finished 24-of-41 for 198 yards — with a touchdown and two interceptions — and carried eight times for 31 yards. Senior running back and co-captain Jordan Culbreath rushed 15 times for 67 yards, and junior wide receiver Trey Peacock caught seven balls for 45 yards. Kerr finished with four catches for 56 yards.

Britton led the way defensively with nine tackles and half a tackle for a loss. Sophomore safety Matt Wakulchik finished with eight tackles.

Citadel was led offensively by its ground game, scoring four of its five touchdowns on the ground. Jones finished with 15 carries for 59 yards and a score, while Dallas added 36 yards and two scores on nine carries. Blanchard finished with 22 yards on six carries and completed 16 of 26 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown.

Harward caught seven passes for 99 yards while Roberts, who torched the Tigers for two touchdowns last year, finished with three catches for 56 yards. Defensively, middle linebacker Jordan Gilmore led the way with 12 tackles.

The Tigers face Lehigh on the road next week before returning home for a two-game homestand against Columbia and Colgate.