Sprint Football: Army shuts out Tigers in 57-0 win

Despite its best efforts to start the Collegiate Sprint Football League season on a positive note, the sprint football team (0-3 overall) found itself outmatched Friday night, suffering a 57-0 loss to Army (3-0).

For the second straight week, the Tigers found themselves in an early hole. A quick Army touchdown, a botched punt that led to a safety and another Army score put the Tigers down 16-0 fewer than six minutes into the game.

The Black Knights brought pressure on defense throughout the game, preventing Princeton from developing the rhythm necessary to establish a scoring drive.

Freshman quarterback Ned Moffat struggled to handle the rush and was forced into committing five interceptions as part of a seven-for-28 passing night. Four of those picks came in the first half, propelling Army to a 37-0 halftime lead.

The Tigers played a much stronger second half, especially on defense.

Princeton induced a fumble on Army’s first play of the third quarter, and though they were unable to recover the ball, the Tigers forced Army into a third-and-15 situation. A well-designed Army shovel pass nearly earned the Black Knights a first down, but freshman defensive back John Wolfe stepped up with a stern tackle just before the marker, forcing Army’s first punt of the game.

Several defensive players helped fend off the Army attack in the second half. Junior linebacker and co-captain Andrew Gabriele led the team with 12 solo tackles, including two-and-a-half tackles for loss. Sophomore defensive back Robert Parise made an impressive play on a third-and-long early in the third frame, breaking up a deep pass.

Offensively, the Tigers never established a solid drive, despite occasional good plays, such as senior punter Reid Fritz’s 15-yard scamper on a bootleg fake punt. Gabriele and freshman wide receiver Kees Thompson also had several quality kickoff returns, with each recording returns of 30 yards or more.

Thompson suffered a scare in the third quarter when a hard hit left him on the ground for several minutes. Fortunately for the Tigers, Thompson was eventually able to walk off the field with help from his teammates and returned later in the quarter. With Thompson on the sidelines, however, the Tigers’ best drive of the game quickly stalled, ending with a thunderous sack of Moffat.

Overall, Princeton had felt prepared to handle Army on Friday, but was plagued by issues of execution, players said.

“Army didn’t come with anything surprising,” senior linebacker Jerry Nnanabu said. “We prepared really well for Army, but we failed to come 100 percent perfectly.”

Though mistakes kept them from performing the way they wanted to, the Tigers expressed faith in their abilities.

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“We just had too many mental mistakes,” Nnanabu said. “I think if we practice close to perfectly and we do everything we need to do on Friday, we can beat anyone.”

Next week, the Tigers will look to improve their play with a road test against Cornell (1-2). The Big Red is coming off a close loss to Navy and will provide a difficult challenge for Princeton, but the Orange and Black project nothing but confidence going into the Cornell game and beyond.

“We’re definitely looking for a victory at Cornell,” Nnanabu said. “We’re looking to be Ivy League Champions. [Head] coach [Tom Cocuzza] has a good game plan. We are ready to take on Cornell.”