Sprint Football: Navy's defense too much in defeat

Following a disappointing performance last week at Army, the sprint football team knew it would have its hands full again Friday as it traveled down to Annapolis, Md., to compete against the Midshipmen of Navy. The Tigers (0-6 overall, 0-4 Collegiate Sprint Football League) have not been able to score a point against Navy (4-1, 2-1) since their meeting in 2004, and Friday night’s 67-0 loss marked the Orange and Black’s 13th consecutive defeat to the powerful Midshipmen.

“We played slightly better than last week, but our performance still wasn't good enough,” senior linebacker and co-captain Adrian Colarusso said. “We were missing some key players due to injury, so that was definitely one of the reasons we fell short of our own expectations.”

Navy’s defense consistently performs as a strong unit. The unit is currently first in the league for total defense and interceptions. Princeton’s offense struggled to compete against the deep Midshipmen, posting 27 total offensive yards, an improvement over last week’s 10, but not enough to ever seriously threaten the Navy defensive line.

“[Our] offense was only slightly more productive than last week,” Colarusso said. “We were able to move the ball a little bit, but not enough to get any kind of sustainable drive going. It was very frustrating.”

Sophomore quarterback Jaison Zachariah completed six passes for a total of 60 yards, helping his team earn four first downs. Four of the completed passes were caught by sophomore wide receiver Kees Thompson. Princeton’s passing game was more successful than its rushing game, where the Tigers lost 33 yards.

“One highlight on offense was in the fourth quarter, just after our defense forced a fumble at the goal line, giving us the ball at our own 3-yard line,” Colarusso said. “On first down, Kees split out to the right and gave a quick signal to our quarterback Jaison Zachariah that he would definitely be open deep in the middle of the field. Since our offense had been so anemic throughout most of the game, I was very worried that the Navy defense would push us back into our own end zone for a safety or worse, but on that play [Zachariah] was able to deliver a perfect strike to Kees for a 30-yard gain and dig us out of that hole quickly.”

On the other end of the field, Navy’s offense posted 67 points, the highest total since the team’s 83-0 defeat of Princeton in 2007. The Midshipmen have capable players in every position, and eight different team members scored in Friday’s game.

“It's tough to compete with Navy because of the depth of their roster and the athleticism of all their players from the starters to the third-stringers” Colarusso said.

Three quarterbacks played for Navy, combining to throw for 216 passing yards. The Midshipmen rushed for an additional 321 yards. The tandem of sophomore defensive lineman Ben Foulon and senior linebacker and co-captain Andrew Gabriele led the Princeton defense with seven tackles each.

Princeton watched the Navy coach yell at his team for the 10 penalties they committed during the game, Colarusso said after the game. “He made them do 10 sprints up and down the field to make up for it. Maybe we should start doing that. I don't know; I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Midshipmen.”

In two weeks, the Tigers will take on the Quakers at Penn in their last game of the season. The Orange and Black are still hoping to earn a win, Colarusso said. “Spirits are always optimistic on our team. This situation isn't anything that we aren't used to, and the effort and determination never go away.”