Sprint coasts by Princeton

It must be endlessly frustrating for a football team to concentrate on inhibiting the apparent strength of an opponent, only to be blown away by by their foe in another phase of the game.

Welcome to the experience of the Princeton sprint football team on Friday night, before which they made a conscious decision to try and stop Penn's perennial strength -- rushing.

Penn quarterback Jimmer Donapel could not thank the Tigers enough for their oversight.

"Princeton seemed primarily concerned with stopping our rushing game," Penn running back Mark Gannon said. "which gave Jimmer and the wide receivers a great chance to show what they can do."

Donapel and his receiving corps did just that, and then some, in the Quakers' 36-15 uncharacteristically aerial thrashing of Princeton.

Donapel's offense glided up and down the field at will, to the tune of 422 total yards, 226 coming from Donapel's arm.

Receivers Jeff Bagnoli and Patrick Monaghan each had huge games for the Quakers (2-0), both with over 80 receiving yards.

The sophomore Monaghan jump-started the offense with a seven-yard touchdown run less than five minutes into the game.

After Princeton (0-2) answered with a touchdown of its own, Donapel and Co. reeled off 29-straight points, coming from two Donapel touchdown passes (20 and 48 yards), a Donapel touchdown rush (1), two Evan Nolan field goals (27 and 37 yards, respectively) and a Princeton safety on a bad punt snap.

Because the Tigers -- as Cornell did the previous week --dared Penn to throw the football by loading eight or nine players on the line of scrimmage, Donapel had the opportunity to solidify his reputation as a double-threat quarterback.

"Jimmer had a phenomenal game," Gannon said.

Not to be outdone, the defense played another equally solid game.

As an encore to a stunning performance last week -- holding Cornell to a miniscule 77 yards -- the Red and Blue surrendered only 198 yards Friday night, with 65 of those coming on a drive that culminated in a meaningless touchdown with 27 seconds remaining in the game.

The Penn defense was its usually dominant self, sacking Tigers quarterback Adam Farren three times, recovering four fumbles -- they actually forced a robust seven fumbles -- and intercepting one pass.

"We had them schemed up pretty well," Penn senior linebacker Steve Willard said. "After the initial lapse in the first quarter, we played well."

Last week, Monaghan even portended what was to come on Friday night, saying the offense would "try to move the ball deep and open up the passing game."

With Donapel and his receivers throwing all over defenses, Friday night could have been just a taste of the frustration CSFL defenses will have to endure in the coming weeks.

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