On a chilly and wet autumn evening in Ithaca, N.Y., the Princeton sprint football team once again found its offense frozen out. The Tigers (0-4 overall, 0-2 Collegiate Sprint Football League) suffered their second consecutive shutout, losing 44-0 to host Cornell (2-2, 2-1) on Friday evening.
As in its loss to Army on Oct. 2, Princeton found itself in a big hole early. Down 7-0 before even touching the football, the Princeton offense took a holding penalty on its second play of the game, and its drive ended soon after.
The ensuing Cornell drive was only one play long: a 54-yard pass from quarterback Elliot Corey to wide receiver Upal Sarkar. Corey only attempted four passes before being removed from the game, but both of his completions were long first-quarter touchdown passes.
After establishing a 21-0 first-quarter lead, Cornell kept the ball almost exclusively on the ground for the remainder of the game. Nine different Cornell players had at least three carries, recording a total of 62 rush attempts for the Big Red.
Leading the way was quarterback Timothy Bruhn, with 12 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown. Bruhn was also two-for-five passing for 53 yards and a score.
Despite the box score, there were some high points for the Tiger defense on Friday.
As he has done all year, junior linebacker and co-captain Andrew Gabriele anchored the defense, recording 16 tackles and forcing a fumble. Gabriele also led the team in all-purpose yards, posting four kickoff returns that totaled 50 yards.
Freshman defensive back John Wolfe also put in an impressive performance, as he blocked two Cornell kicks and intercepted a pass for the Tigers’ only takeaway of the game. Senior and co-captain Sam Gulland was very impressed with the way the rookie has been playing so far.
“John Wolfe is a ball-hawking safety,” Gulland said. “He is making really good reads on defense. He has really good ball instincts and plays with reckless abandon. He’s helping us out a lot.”
On offense, Princeton continued to struggle to develop a drive down the length of the field. The Tigers mustered only five first downs, partly because of their zero-for-11 performance on third-down conversions. The Orange and Black only entered Big Red territory three times during the game, and it failed to reach the red zone.
Freshman quarterback Ned Moffat was once again the focus of the Princeton offense. Moffat put up numbers strikingly similar to those he put up against Army, completing seven of 20 passes for 71 yards. The pressure from the Big Read defense created problems for Moffat: He was sacked twice and threw two interceptions. The quarterback also carried the ball 17 times, but he was relatively unsuccessful and finished the game with a net of -15 yards.
Wide receiver Kees Thompson, also a freshman, was surprisingly silent catching the ball, but he did manage to lead the team in rushing with 23 yards on three carries.
Senior wide receiver Anthony Soroka was Moffat’s most successful target in the game, hauling in two balls for a total of 29 yards, including a 24-yard reception that was the Tigers’ longest play of the game.
The offensive frustration led to lots of work for senior punter Reid Fritz. Fritz averaged a respectable 41.2 yards over eight punts, including a long kick of 59 yards and three punts that pinned Cornell inside their own red zone.
Gulland recognized the need for the offensive line to create more protection for Moffat and the rest of the audience.
“As center and as captain, I take a lot of responsbility for the offensive line’s play,” Gulland said. “I was really disappointed. We made mental mistakes in blocking the wrong guy or the wrong gap. When you do that early in the game, it’s tough to overcome.”
Next week, the Tigers will be on the road in Annapolis, Md., where they will go up against an incredibly tough Navy defense that forced seven turnovers in its recent 49-0 victory against Mansfield.
The Midshipmen (4-0, 2-0) appear destined for a showdown with Army in the last game of the season to determine the CSFL championship, and the Tigers will have a difficult time trying to derail them.
Still, if the Tigers stick to their game plan, they stand a chance at preventing Navy from sailing away with another win.
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