Tiger fans packed Princeton Stadium Saturday afternoon for the eagerly awaited return of Princeton football.
Princeton Football (0–1 overall, 0–0 Ivy League) played a game of two polarizing halves, with much to say in the first and little to speak about in the second against the San Diego Toreros (2–2 overall, 0–0 Pioneer League).
After putting up five touchdowns in the first half to make it 35–21, a disappointing collapse after the break saw the Tigers concede 21 points in the fourth quarter to lose 42–35.
The team underwent significant personnel overhaul, and many were out to prove themselves as starters. Quarterbacks Kai Colón and Blaine Hipa were substituted every two drives. Both looked impressive in the first half, but neither could put Princeton over the edge in the second.
“We weren’t able to generate some first downs on offense that we needed to generate,” Head Coach Bob Surace told The Daily Princetonian postgame. “We had some negative plays and some plays that they disguised very well, so we gotta do a better job trying to predict what they’re doing.”
Despite the eventual score, fans of last season would not recognize the team that came out during the first half. Across all sides of the game — offense, defense, and special teams — the Tigers were lighting up the field.
In Princeton’s first three drives of the game, they managed a touchdown on each — scoring in four minutes, one minute, and 45 seconds respectively.
On offense, the team’s rushers ran up the scoreboard, as sophomore third string quarterback Asher Weiner walked in a 4th-and-1 play for a touchdown on a designed run to get the Tigers on the board early 7–0.
Following a big defensive effort, senior running back Dareion Murphy hauled in a huge reception before running in the ball at the one-yard line to make it 14–0. Princeton stuck to the gameplan once more, forcing a three-and-out from the Toreros before junior running back Ethan Clark rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown on just the second play of Princeton’s third drive to make it 21–0 Tigers.
During the first quarter, Princeton’s defensive schemes were crucial in keeping the Toreros’ scoreless. Time and time again San Diego threw screen passes or slants which the Princeton playmakers were able to quickly shut down.
A forced fumble by senior linebacker and captain Marco Scarano proved crucial to the teams’ first quarter success. The Princeton defense would leave San Diego with just 68 yards in the first quarter compared to their 194.
Princeton’s troubles started after they went for it on 4th-and-1 on their own side of Powers Field, turning the ball over on downs and setting up the Toreros in good territory. San Diego converted on the field position with an impressive one-handed snag for a touchdown.
But Princeton remained relentless and maintained the deficit at 21 on the next drive, following senior quarterback Kai Colón’s first touchdown pass of his Princeton career to Clark.
“We felt and saw Ethan [Clarke] last year,” Surace told the ‘Prince.’ “I think something we talked about for this season is that we have a lot of confidence in his experience and depth.”
The teams ended the half trading touchdowns to make it 35–21 after Murphy ran the ball in for a Princeton score, but the Tigers on the defensive end gave up two big plays to cut their lead to 14.
Whilst the mood in the stadium was high for the Orange and Black, the missed plays on offense and defense came back to haunt the Tigers. Defensively, they gave up three high yardage plays on each of the Toreros’ touchdown plays in the first half and throughout the game three missed interceptions — turned dropped balls — could have reversed the growing momentum of the Toreros at any time.
The Tigers ended up with a monumental 338 yards and 35 points in the first half compared to 251 total yards for the Toreros and just 20 rushing yards. It was a first half offensive performance that exceeded most of their total offensive showings in games last season, but it was a performance that could not be replicated in the next half.
“We did a lot of good things in the first half,” Scarano told the ‘Prince’ postgame. “We talked about it in the locker room, and we have to be consistent about things the whole game, we can’t go up and down.”
Coming out of the break with a 14 point lead, all eyes were on the Tigers to seal the deal. Unfortunately, a scoreless half combined with an offensive surge by the Toreros led to a complete collapse by Princeton.
On the first drive of the half, the Tigers forced San Diego to a three and out, giving up only four yards on the possession. The Toreros responded identically, forcing Princeton to punt after a short drive of under two minutes led by Hipa.
The teams exchanged the ball once more before the Toreros were able to break through the offensive stalemate in the transition between the third and fourth quarter. With a persistent 14 play drive, the Toreros drove down the field slowly but surely, converting four third down opportunities, and eventually finding the endzone with a four yard rush. The Tigers held a mere seven point lead with 10 minutes left to play.
Princeton began their next effort from their own 25 yard line with a forced rush by Colón, but the scrambling quarterback lost control of the ball, conceding the Toreros an opportunity to take over deep in Tiger territory. After a lengthy review to determine if Colón had hit the ground before releasing the football, San Diego was granted possession at Princeton’s 32 yard line. A quick three play drive, sealed with a 24 yard rush by the Toreros equalized the game at 35 points a piece.
Eager to put themselves back on the board, the Tigers kept Colón at quarterback and began their possession with an ambitious pass attempt into San Diego’s half, but the ball fell incomplete. Colón attempted two more short passes, gaining eight yards, but on 4th and two, the team elected to punt the ball back to the Toreros.
On their third possession of the half, San Diego looked for another touchdown. Starting at the San Diego 19 yard line, the Tigers forced the Toreros to a 3rd and nine, but a deep, 28 yard pass propelled San Diego forward to near midfield. In similar fashion, Princeton was able to contain the San Diego offense to a third and long on their next set of downs but gave up a nine yard run to push the Toreros deep into Orange and Black territory.
San Diego continued to push forward until the two minute warning, as the Tigers proved unable to stop the Torero rush attack. Less than a minute later, San Diego took their first lead of the game, with a third rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter by running back Adam Criter.
With only one timeout and one minute left on the clock, the Tigers needed a miracle to even the game. To start the drive, Colón rushed for a first down and speeded into the second play, a short pass to Clark lurched for four yards. On the third play, Colón was sacked and Princeton was forced to take their final timeout with 24 seconds left.
Colón threw a long pass to senior wide receiver Jalen Geer who pushed the Tigers into San Diego territory with under 20 seconds to go. Colón spiked the ball before using second down to complete a short pass to Clark. On third and five and the last play of the game, Colón launched the ball into the highly contested end zone, targeting Geer, but the ball fell incomplete. Ultimately, Princeton fell to San Diego by a score of 42-35.
“I think we had a lot of great things from every position group,” Clark said to the ‘Prince.’ “We did a lot of good things, but there’s good and there’s bad. We made some adjustments and they made some adjustments and unfortunately that’s how the game was decided.”
Princeton will take on Lafayette in their first away game of the season next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Lily Pamplona is an associate Sports editor for the 'Prince'.
Alex Beverton-Smith is a head Sports editor for the 'Prince'.
Please send any corrections to corrections@dailyprincetonian.com.
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