Tigers dominate Georgetown 50–30

A week after enduring a disappointing defeat to Columbia, Princeton football returned to its winning ways Saturday with a convincing victory over Georgetown. Scoring 50 unanswered points, Princeton dominated on both sides of the ball and finished its nonconference schedule with a 50–30 win.

The game began somewhat sluggishly for the Tigers, who allowed Georgetown to score twice early in the first quarter and take a quick 10-0 lead. From that point on, however, the game would be all Princeton. Junior wide receiver Jesper Horsted opened the scoring for Princeton with a 13-yard pass from senior quarterback Chad Kanoff, and junior running back Charlie Volker notched a 1-yard touchdown run on the final play of the first quarter to give Princeton a 17–10 lead. In the second quarter, junior tight end Graham Adomitis hauled in two red zone touchdown passes, his first two of the season. Freshman defensive back CJ Wall continued the impressive start to his career with an interception return for a touchdown, his third interception in just four games. After the half, junior wide receiver Stephen Carlson caught a 63-yard touchdown pass and sophomore running back Ryan Quigley added a 15-yard touchdown run to put the score at a lopsided 50–10. Georgetown would go on to score three more touchdowns before the game came to an end, putting the final score at 50–30, a result which still makes the game appear closer than it actually was.

Once again, Kanoff posted impressive numbers, completing 25 of 29 passes for 313 yards and four touchdowns. The 313 yards allowed Kanoff to pass Matt Verbit ’05, for the second most career passing yards in Princeton football history. Kanoff has 5,269 career yards passing, behind only Doug Butler ’83 with 7,291. For Kanoff to break the all-time record, he will need to average 337 yards passing over the next six games, a difficult, but not unachievable, feat.

Horsted received 112 of those yards on Saturday, continuing the junior’s productive season. “I know the offense much better,” said Horsted about his expanded role. “On top of that, I have a better [rapport] with Chad and my footwork is better on the routes.” Only three players in Princeton history have notched 1,000 yards receiving in a season, but that milestone could be achievable this year both for Horsted, who has 374 yards receiving, and Carlson, who has 379.

Despite a slow start, the Princeton defense was also stellar on Saturday, holding the Georgetown offense essentially silent throughout the second and third quarters as the Princeton offense racked up points. Junior linebacker Mike Wagner led the way once again, with 2.5 sacks and seven tackles. Wagner leads the Ivy League in sacks, with 6.5 through four games. Freshman defensive back Delan Stallworth, junior defensive back Ben Ellis, and sophomore linebacker John Orr each contributed five tackles as well.

With the win, Princeton brought its record to 3–1 overall, having won each of its nonconference games. The team will return to Ivy League play for good next week, with a road matchup against Brown.