Football: Wornham hurt in home loss

The football team played its best 30 minutes of the season on Saturday, taking a 13-0 lead into the locker room at Princeton Stadium. But the first half also took a major toll: The home team saw three key players leave the game due to injury. Over the final 30 minutes, Brown dominated a depleted Princeton offense and came back for a 17-13 victory.

The Bears (3-2 overall, 2-0 Ivy League) lost All-Ivy quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero to a hand injury earlier in the season, and the effects could still be seen early on. Brown managed only 85 yards in its scoreless first half, while the Tigers (1-4, 0-2) moved the ball well.

Princeton received the ball to begin the game and marched down the field with short gains.

The longest play of the drive was a 12-yard sweep by senior fullback Matt Zimmerman, and a direct snap to Zimmerman gained three yards on fourth-and-one to extend the drive. Junior quarterback Tommy Wornham found the end zone with a one-yard sneak, giving the hosts a 7-0 lead.

The Tigers regained possession immediately, thanks to a Brown miscue on the ensuing kickoff. Running back Mark Kachmer could not handle a short kick and lost the ball, which was recovered by sophomore defensive back Noah Krimm. Princeton could not take advantage of their fortune, however, as Wornham’s third-down pass to the sideline was intercepted. Worse for the Tigers, he was knocked to the turf with a hard hit on the release. Wornham played the next series, but then left the field and would not return.

Senior quarterback Andrew Dixon entered in his place. Princeton scored on two of Dixon’s first three drives, aided by short fields and junior kicker Pat Jacob’s leg. The Tigers gained a total of 15 yards on the two possessions, but Jacob booted field goals of 37 and 42 yards, sandwiching a miss from 51.

But Princeton would soon have to deal with two more unfamiliar faces in the backfield. Senior running back Jordan Culbreath and Zimmerman, who combined for 88 yards on 16 carries in the first half, would not play in the second. Senior running back Meko McCray replaced them, managing just 16 yards on six attempts.

“Maybe we need to hire some more medical staff,” head coach Bob Surace ’90 joked about his banged-up team. “If [Wornham, Culbreath and Zimmerman] are healthy enough to play [next week], they’ll play, but we’ll find out more soon.”

In the first half, the Bears never reached the Princeton 40-yard line, but they crossed that point with each of their six second-half possessions. They gained 253 yards in the final two quarters and could have blown the game open had three drives not stalled inside opposing territory for no points.

“We had so many mistakes [in the first half] that it was just a matter of executing our game plan,” Brown head coach Phil Estes said of the turnaround. “We played Brown football in the second half.”

Brown opened the third quarter with a seven-play drive from midfield, but a 43-yard field goal attempt into the wind fell short.

The Bears quickly regained possession and marched 63 yards to the end zone, capped by a two-yard run by quarterback Pat Donnelly. Springer completed 13 of 17 second-half passes, and three of the incompletions were dropped by receivers.

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Another long drive stalled at the Princeton 37-yard line, but it seemed just a matter of time until the Bears would break through.

They did just that with a 10-play, 60-yard drive halfway through the fourth quarter. Wide receiver Jonah Fay found a seam in the end zone, and Springer hit him from eight yards out to put the visitors on top, 14-13. Brown would add some insurance with a 38-yard field goal a few moments later.

Princeton had one last chance, taking over at its own 21-yard line after stopping the Bears with 31 seconds remaining. The Tigers immediately went to a trick play: Dixon threw a quick slant to sophomore receiver Shane Wilkinson, who lateraled to senior receiver Trey Peacock, who lateraled back to Dixon, who threw all the way across the field to Wilkinson, who took off with a couple blockers down the right sideline. He had plenty of room to run but was eventually tackled at the Brown 45-yard line, and the clock ran out after one more fruitless snap.

Aside from the 34-yard lateral play, Princeton netted zero yards of offense in the second half.

“We just weren’t able to generate first downs,” Surace said. “We lost the field position game and we left the defense on the field too much.”

Dixon missed one offensive series in the second half after he was hit hard on a third-down incompletion. Kerr took over for three plays out of a Wildcat formation, running the ball three times for a total of one yard.

Princeton will hope to get some of its key players healthy in the next few days. The Tigers, still looking for their first Ivy League win, host Harvard (3-2, 1-1) at 1 pm Saturday.