Sprint Football: Tigers net negative yards in 48-0 loss

On a first-and-five two and a half minutes into the sprint football team’s matchup against Post University Saturday, senior running back Kevin Infante picked up 10 yards on the ground and moved the ball to the Tigers’ own 40-yard line. His rush earned them a first down.

That would be their only first down of the entire game. For the rest of the rain-shortened game, the anemic Tigers offense struggled to gain positive yardage, never mind first downs or scoring opportunities. When the final whistle was blown, the Tigers had earned -67 total offensive yards.

All in all, the Tigers (0-5 overall, 0-4 CSFL) suffered from their worst offensive and defensive performances of the season Saturday afternoon in a crushing 48-0 loss at the hands of the Eagles (2-2, 2-2). The Tiger defense fared no less miserably than the offense, ceding over 600 yards and six offensive scores.

The 670-yard difference in yards gained was the largest discrepancy in at least 10 years, only approached by a 664-yard difference in a 2005 game in which the Tigers were shut out 98-0 by Navy.

New head coach Stephen Everette repeatedly called yesterday’s drilling “a long day.” Everette credited several key Tiger injuries, the lack of substitutes on the sidelines and a strong second-year Post team with Saturday’s historic loss. Only three Princeton substitutes from the shorthanded squad played in the blowout.

Junior quarterback Jaison Zachariah, who showed progress in last week’s loss to Army, was hounded by the Eagle defense and brought down to the ground four times. The physical beating sent him off the field for the second half with bruised ribs. Zachariah was replaced by freshmen linebacker Rob Dougherty at the quarterback spot.

Dougherty, who was a backup quarterback in high school, was unable to fare better than Zachariah, completing only one pass on eight attempts and falling prey to the Eagles’ defensive line for four sacks. The two quarterbacks combined to lose a total of 63 yards on eight sacks — a recipe for a game with negative total offense.

Everette acknowledged the pass protection struggles of the Tiger offensive line.

“Up front, we just had some problems blocking their schemes ... We had trouble picking up their blitzes,” Everette said. “It just makes for a long day,” he added per trademark.

He also stressed that the offensive line would improve with more experience.

“We’ve got some first-year guys up there, and there are some guys that aren’t used to seeing the kind of athleticism that they have to see,” Everette said.

But even when Princeton played its starting lineup, which included returning players at all five positions along the offensive line, the team could not manage any offense.

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The lone bright spots for the Tigers came on special teams as junior defensive lineman John Wolfe blocked one point after attempt and two punts.

Wolfe’s second blocked punt, which came in the fourth quarter, put the Tigers in the red zone. But a sack, an incompletion and two stuffed rushes stalled the drive at the Post 21-yard line.

In the words of Everette, besides Wolfe’s performance, it was a long, long day.