In general, Penn and Princeton are considered to be bitter athletic rivals. But in sprint football, the series is so one-sided that it can hardly even be called a contest.
Penn has dominated Princeton for over a decade now, with the Tigers' last win against the Quakers coming in 1995. Most recently, Penn throttled the Tigers 38-12 in last year's season closer.
This year was no different, as Penn sprint football quarterback Mike Loguidice went 9 of 13 for 105 yards and four touchdowns, pacing the Quakers to another walkover, 50-15, over Princeton.
However, the Quakers did not take their record against the Tigers for granted, especially given Princeton's new leadership.
Yet, even though Thomas Cocuzza took over as head coach at Old Nassau this year, the result against Penn remained the same.
"We could have been complacent, but we really didn't show any complacency," Penn coach Bill Wagner said. "We were very fired up for this game because we needed a win."
"They have a new head coach, they were running a new offense, new system," Penn captain and strong safety Dave Lopez said. "We knew they were improved and doing things differently than in the last couple of years, so we weren't sure how that would play out."
The defense turned in a spectacular performance, keeping Princeton to only eleven yards rushing compared to Penn's 190 rushing yards.
Penn's special teams also had an strong game as junior tight end Tomas Altamirano fielded 8 punt returns for a total of 180 yards.
Unsurprisingly, Penn scored early and often. Loguidice completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Altamirano less than three minutes into the first quarter. Soon afterward, senior running back J.T. Hutchinson rushed for a six-yard touchdown to bring the score up to 14-0. That was quickly followed by another, when senior Matt McConville's run found the goal line.
Penn's defense was able to keep the Tigers scoreless for the entire third quarter, but Princeton's Alex Kandabarow provided some consolation, including a 23-yard touchdown pass to Lon Johnson.
But, appropriately, it was the Quakers who had the last word on the night. Freshman defensive back Greg Hollander intercepted a Kandabarow pass and took it 36 yards for a score, cementing a Penn win.
Despite their impressive win against their rivals Princeton, the Quakers are still not fully satisfied with their performance, especially with the much bigger challenge that lays in their next matchup against CSFL powerhouse Army.
"The defense did well. We still have some stuff to improve on; we made a few little mistakes," Lopez said.
"On the whole, we did well, but there is definitely stuff we need to improve on for Army, especially if we want to win."
