Sprint Football: Despite big plays, team falls at Penn

At the end of last year, the sprint football team was obliterated by Penn in a 70-0 loss. Compared to that game, Friday night’s matchup at Franklin Field could be considered a success.

Ultimately, Princeton began the 2011 season no differently than it has its previous 11 years, falling 34-0 to a Penn team that gained 436 yards. Though the Tigers (0-1) did execute on a couple of big plays that placed them in scoring position, they were unable to break through and put points on the board against the Quakers (1-0).

New head coach Stephen Everette said the team had opportunities to prevent the shutout but that the Tigers failed to capitalize on some of the turnovers and big plays that put the offense in the red zone.

Junior quarterback Jaison Zachariah — who threw for 174 yards and zero interceptions — connected with junior receiver Nick Lulli twice for gains of 45 and 30 yards, which put the Tigers inside the Quakers’ 30-yard line. But both times, the offense could not convert in the red zone, and freshman kicker Nick Martin missed two field goals.

“We were able to get a big pass play right before the half but couldn’t turn it into points,” Everette said of the 45-yard completion. “That would have given us some confidence going into the half.”

Despite the shutout, junior receiver Kees Thompson said that the offense showed significant potential, highlighted by the two large gains through the air.

“Offensively, we had some really good stuff, even though we didn’t put any points on the board,” Thompson said. “At least we had some drives where we drove it down the field.”

Drives were continually stalled by a Quaker defense that sacked Zachariah six times, resulting in a negative net rushing total for the Tigers’ offense. Zachariah was brought to the ground twice in the red zone, ultimately lengthening Martin’s field goal attempts.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Tigers kept the game within reach for the first half, entering the locker room down a significant but closeable 20-point deficit. But two quick Penn scores to begin the third quarter put the game out of reach. The second of those touchdowns, a 79-yard run by Quaker running back Mike Beamish, “killed the momentum,” according to Thompson.

To clamp down on the running game in preparation for next week’s game against Mansfield — a team that the Tigers nearly beat last year, dropping a tight 10-6 contest — Everette said that the defense will work on its tackling in practice this week.

“We’re going to go back to stressing the fundamentals,” he said.

Thompson agreed that if the Tigers were going to find their first victory in over 10 years next week, the defense had to contain the running game.