GREAT GAMES IN PENN HISTORY: Quakers tame cagey Tigers, 31-21

The win allowed Penn (6-1, 5-0 Ivy League) to maintain a one-game lead over Harvard in the Ivy League standings. The Tigers dropped to 3-4 (3-2 Ivy League). Penn and Harvard meet on Nov. 16 in Cambridge, and the Quakers can clinch their fourth consecutive -- and second straight undisputed -- Ivy title with a victory in that game. But first things first. Saturday's game lived up to its pregame billing as another in a long series of memorable battles that Penn and Princeton have waged in the 77 times the archrivals have met. But this one will be remembered more for one incredible play than for the overall game -- which was pretty incredible in itself. The Quakers trailed, 21-0, midway through the second quarter after allowing the Tigers to pick them apart with a barrage of misdirection runs and well-timed passes. But Penn closed to within 21-14 on the strength of two long touchdown drives flanking halftime. Then -- after yielding 283 yards in the first half -- the Quaker defense stiffened, stopping Princeton on its initial possession of the second half and forcing the Tigers' Rob DiGiacamo to punt from the Penn 38-yard line. The punt was short and high, and Chris Flynn -- the Quakers' sophomore returner -- signalled for a fair catch, allowing the ball to hit at the 14-yard line. Princeton's Eduordo Waite went to down the ball as it took a Penn bounce. Perhaps Flynn could describe the sequence better from here. "I waved my hand and got away from the ball," Flynn said. "The Princeton defender [Waite] hit the ball up in the air. Once touching the ball, I can pick it up and run with it." That's exactly what Flynn did, and 79 yards later, Penn was within one extra-point conversion of a tie. Not so fast. The officials obviously didn't know the rules as well as Flynn did, and they initially decided to bring the ball back to the point where it was originally touched. "I looked back and saw the yellow flag," Flynn said, "and Coach Berndt was tearing ass on the field. I walked back and they were still arguing. Then Jeff Goyette raised his hands [and jumped about eight feet in the air]." The Quakers had their touchdown. After Ray Saunders converted on the conversion, they had their tie as well. "It was a big play to get the emotions up," Flynn said. Emotions were an important part of Princeton's ability to jump to such a large early lead. "They were sky-high at the beginning," Penn senior linebacker Gavin O'Connor said. "They didn't do anything differently than we had already seen, but every play they just seemed to get us a little." The Tigers "got" the Quakers for 223 yards and 21 points in the first 23 minutes, 27 seconds of play. And while the passing of Doug Butler (16 of 27 for 207 yards and 2 touchdowns on the day) played a part, Princeton's ability to run out of the Wing-T offense was the major reason for its success. By halftime, the Tigers had 166 yards rushing -- the Penn defense hadn't given up 100 yards on the ground to an Ivy opponent in a game all season. "It's a complicated offense," Quaker defensive end Ken Coombs said of the Wing-T, which involves a whirlwind of motion. "Practicing against the scout team isn't the same as the real thing. The speed and execution -- you can't get that from practice." Princeton scored its first touchdown on a 75-yard drive that involved 10 plays. Craig Fitchett carried for eight yards and the score at the 11:10 mark of the first quarter. "We were shocked," O'Connor said. "We couldn't believe that they had scored on us, especially that quickly." O'Connor and the rest of the Penn defense were a lot more shocked 2:46 later when Butler hooked up with split end Ted Fire on a 44-yard touchdown strike to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead. "I screwed up," Quaker cornerback Kirk Moyer said. "I was biting on the dig and [Fire] got behind me." The 14 first-quarter points were the most Penn has surrendered to an Ivy opponent this season. The onslaught continued in the second quarter when Princeton scored on an 11-play, 53-yard drive capped off by a five-yard pass from Butler to fullback Butch Climmons at 8:27 of the second quarter. "The defense didn't do the job in the first half," O'Connor said. "But I knew there was no way we were going to lose." That confidence was on the verge of being seriously questioned when Butler led the Tigers on yet another foray into Penn territory toward the end of the half. But Duane Hewlett stepped in front of a pass intended for Fire and picked it off for his second interception of the year. The play would be a turning point. "We were two-deep defensively on him at the time of the interception," Hewlett said. "It wasn't a tough play to make, the ball was right there." After the interception, Quaker quarterback Jim Crocicchia led his team on its longest drive of the season, touring 80 yards on six passes and one penalty. Crocicchia was 6 for 6 for 68 yards on the drive, including a 12-yard connection with sophomore tight end Brent Novoselsky for the score. "We were in the two-minute drill," said Crocicchia, who had his best day of the season, completing 17 of 26 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns. "Our team has good confidence in the drill, and we ran some good patterns and made some good calls." The drive was Turning Point No. 2 on the day. "We came out a little flat, on our heels," Crocicchia said. "But we knew it was just a matter of getting our heads screwed on straight. I was getting a little pissed off. They were mouthing off all the time. When they tackled you, they'd say, 'Look at the scoreboard! Look at the scoreboard!' or 'Don't run this way again.' It was the first half and they thought they had the game won." Penn won the game by scoring 17 points in a 15-minute span of the second half. First came a 74-yard, 10-play touchdown drive. The key plays were two passes from Crocicchia to tight end Scott Scungio. The first caught Princeton in a blitz and gained 30 yards; the second was a one-yard touchdown pass. "It was a big lift getting seven points at the end of the half," defensive tackle Tom Gilmore said. "But the first drive in the third quarter was probably the deciding factor in the game." Then came Flynn's punt return to tie the game. Meanwhile, the Quaker defense was slamming the door on Butler and Princeton, allowing only 115 total yards in the second half. "Once we got ourselves on a roll," Coombs said, "it was almost easy. We just had to quit looking to our right and our left and look to ourselves." The game-winner was a 29-yard Saunders field goal (his 10th of the season in 13 attempts) at 2:33 of the final quarter. The Quakers never let Princeton out of its own territory after that, and a 20-yard Crocicchia pass to Brian Moyer -- completed when Tiger defenders Jim Anderson and Sean Brennan ran into each other -- put the game out of reach. "I told the guys at halftime that it was 0-0 as far as I was concerned," Tiger head coach Ron Rogerson said. "We're playing a hell of a football team, and you know they're going to come after you. But they came out and dominated the second half, just like we dominated the first." "I think we proved something here," Coombs said. "I don't see how anybody can doubt us now."

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