With the entrance of Villanova and William & Mary into the Patriot League next football season, the number of nonleague games on the schedule of teams such as Lafayette and Lehigh will be reduced.
And since Ivy League members start three weeks later than the rest of the football world and play only 10-game schedules, the opportunities for Patriot-Ivy League matchups will also be drastically reduced.
If the series between Lafayette and Princeton comes to an end, few people associated with the Leopards will shed tears.
That’s because late Saturday afternoon at Fisher Stadium, the Tigers and Lafayette met for the 54th time in a series that began in 1883, and for the 46th time in those 142 years, Princeton came out on top.
This time it was by a 38-28 margin to sour a portion of the Leopards’ Homecoming/Family Day weekend. The Tigers are now 46-5-3 all-time against the school from Easton.
The defeat dropped Lafayette to 3-2 on the season and snapped the Leopards’ three-game win streak. They have an opportunity to bounce back when they return to league play Saturday against Fordham. The only remaining nonleague game on their schedule is a cross-country trip to FBS member Oregon State on Oct. 18.
Princeton (2-0) scored 21 straight points in the second quarter to open a 28-7 lead, with the last of the three consecutive touchdowns being a 36-yard interception return by Torian Roberts. Although the Leopards kept fighting and even scored a last touchdown with 37 seconds left, they couldn’t get out of the first-half hole.
“We lost the turnover battle three to zero, and we gave up points offensively, and you know, usually when you do that, you’re not going to win a football game,” Lafayette coach John Troxell said.
Lafayette running back Kente Edwards had run for 100 yards in three straight games, but had a first-half fumble that led to a Princeton score, and then suffered an injury. He didn’t play in the second half and ended up with just 26 yards on five carries.
“He got a bruise there in the first half and we just held him out,” Troxell said.
Edwards’ absence gave his backup, Ethan Weber, the chance to get touches and he responded with 76 yards on 18 carries and a pair of touchdowns. Jakyre Henley also got an opportunity and had nine yards on five carries and a score.
But being in a deep hole from the middle of the second quarter on, Lafayette had to throw the ball with much more frequency and senior quarterback Dean DeNobile completed 27 of 36 attempts for 256 yards and a touchdown.
Elijah Stewart had seven catches for 81 yards, and Nazareth graduate Mason Kuehner had four receptions for 61 yards to go with two punt returns for a total of 34 yards, but it wasn’t enough.
“Anytime you lose a game, you can learn from it, and our guys know they made plenty of mistakes tonight,” Troxell said. “We have to get back to the film and figure it out. We’ve had a good bunch of days so far this season. Today was a bad one.”
Lafayette outgained Princeton 382-328, and was 4-for-4 in the red zone. The Leopards converted eight times on third down and were 1-for-1 on fourth down, but didn’t have the ball enough. The Tigers had more than an 11-minute advantage in time of possession (35:48 to 24:12).
“Our kids kept battling,” Troxell said. “Mason [Kuehner] had a big punt return over the 50, and then we’re down inside the 30 and we turn it over. We were only down 10 at the time. If we score there, it’s a whole different game.”
As for the efforts of Weber, who had 35 carries for 171 yards coming in, Troxell said: “We had a good game, but you know, when you have a good offensive line like we do, anybody back there can have good teams. We have a good stable of backs with Ethan, Jakyre, and Kente, so we’ve just got to keep them all healthy and keep them going.”
When asked how his guys will respond, Troxell said, “I think the guys work really hard and they want to see results. When you don’t see the result that you worked for, it’s always tough. That’s why everyone talks about how you have to handle adversity. We’ve just got to bounce back and get ready for next week. We can’t dwell on this one. We can’t let this one beat us next week. I think our team will respond. We’ll get them to respond.”
Senior captain and veteran offensive lineman Brian Baucia believes the Leopards will regroup.
“We have to take it day-by-day, and we’ll be back in this facility in the morning,” Baucia said. “We’ve got good senior leadership on this team and I am not worried at all about where we’re at. Winning or losing, we’re always going to fight until the last whistle. That’s how we’re going to go about it all season.”
Scoring summary
Princeton 7 – 21 – 3 – 7 — 38
Lafayete 0 – 14 – 0 – 14 — 28
FIRST QUARTER
P: Ethan Clark 1 run (Esteban Nunez Perez kick), 4:51
SECOND QUARTER
L: Ethan Weber 9 run (Jack Simonetta kick), 14:40
P: Dareion Murphy 4 run (Perez kick), 9:16
P: Blaine Hipa 4 run (Perez kick), 7:17
P: Torian Roberts 36 interception return (Perez kick), 2:08
L: Ethan Weber 1 run (Simonetta kick), 0:12
THIRD QUARTER
P: Perez 26 field goal, 3:40
FOURTH QUARTER
L: Jakyre Henley 3 run (Simonetta kick), 12:27
P: Jackson Green 4 pass from Kai Colon (Perez kick), 3:37
L: Hunter Ditrano 2 pass from Dean DeNobile (Simonetta kick), 0:37
