Tigers top Lehigh in home opener
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Two pre-teens lined up on Powers Field at Princeton Stadium on Saturday night to practice the same game-winning field goal they had seen an hour before from the Tigers’ Connor Louden.
Louden, whose first field goal was blocked to set up Lehigh’s lone score, was true on a 32-yard field goal as time expired in a 10-7 win over a Mountain Hawks team that has been difficult for Princeton to beat. Princeton’s win was just its second in the last 10 meeting with Lehigh.
“It feels really good,” said Louden, who also kicked a game-winner to beat Dartmouth in overtime in the 2007 season finale. “I just wanted to reward all the players and coaches for their hard work. When it went in, I felt awesome for everybody.”
The Tigers evened their record at 1-1 and dropped Lehigh to 1-2 thanks to some late-game heroics from all three facets of the team.
First, the defense stopped the Mountain Hawks as they drove toward their own potential game-winning score. With 55 seconds left in the game, Matt Koch and a host of Tigers plugged Adam Watson’s fourth-and-1 plunge to give the PU offense the ball back at their own 33-yard line.
“The big stop on fourth and inches will be a huge confidence builder for us,” said Princeton head coach Roger Hughes, “and hopefully will help us mature as a defense.”
The offense wasted little time in moving into Louden’s range. On their first play, Tigers quarterback Brian Anderson hit Will Thanheiser down the right sideline for a 46-yard gain. It was a play that Anderson had suggested to Hughes. Hughes listened.
“With waning seconds, if you get a big play to start with, then you’re in control,” Hughes said. “We were going to throw it down the field.
He added, “Brian trusted Will enough to put the ball where Will could adjust to it and he made a great adjustment on the ball and caught it. Your playmakers have to make plays when the game is on the line.”
Anderson and Thanheiser connected again for a short 6-yard completion. Anderson finished with 244 yards passing. Thanheiser had nine catches for 120 yards.
“They spent all July and all August together throwing, so they have a great feel for each other and a great confidence in each other,” Hughes said. “That’s frankly why the play happened to get us in position to get us the field goal.”
Jordan Culbreath ran for two yards, then took a carry to the middle of the field to set up Louden’s kick. After a Lehigh time out to freeze him, the senior placekicker delivered the game-winner.
“I definitely felt the pressure,” Louden said. “I think it’s impossible not to in a situation like this. And I was expecting them to ice me. As a kicker you have to like that situation. Then it’s easier to deal with it.”
The first half featured end-to-end offense from Princeton as it rolled up 238 yards of offense, but had difficulty scoring. The Tigers reached the red zone on their first two drives of the game, but did not score on either.
“I thought in the first half, we came out and moved the ball all over the field,” Hughes said. “We didn’t score, so we have to make a couple adjustments there. Overall, I thought we really picked up where we left off last week and continued to move the ball.”
Lehigh scored first after Heath Brickner blocked Louden’s 29-yard field goal attempt and Al Pierce returned it all the way to the Princeton 8.
“It does (linger) a little bit,” Louden said of the blocked kick. “That’s the biggest thing — getting it out of your mind. You can’t let it affect your next kick.”
Two plays later, J.B. Clark hit Mike Fitzgerald on a 7-yard pass in the back of the end zone. Lehigh would not score again and never got closer than the Princeton 32 on their final drive.
Princeton held Matt McGowan, who had been averaging close to 100 yards rushing per game, to just 83, 29 of which came on the Mountain Hawks’ final drive. They also limited Clark to 169 yards passing and Jeff Jackson’s first career interception halted one Lehigh drive in the first half.
“I thought our defensive confidence grew as the game went along,” Hughes said. “As the fourth quarter started, I really felt like they came up with big stops and got our offense the ball a number of times and we didn’t move the ball well enough on offense to capitalize.”
Princeton, however, capitalized when it had to most. They answered Lehigh’s score with a swift drive to tie it, 7-7, with 4:57 left in the first half. Anderson’s 46-yard pass to tight end Joe Magro set up an eventual 1-yard touchdown run by Culbreath, who ran 20 times for 126 yards Saturday.
In the final minute, the PU offense displayed confidence despite turning the ball over on downs and then punting the next three possessions of the second half. Neither team had punted in the first half.
“Brian is an excellent quarterback,” Louden said. “I had all the faith in him as well as our offensive line, the whole offense and even before that, our defense to stop them to give us a chance to get back down the field.”
Princeton had a chance to score on its first possession of the game. It drove to the 1-yard line, but could not score in four rushing attempts. Princeton’s second long possession of the game ended in Louden’s kick being blocked. By the end of the game, however, the young fans were imitating only the kick that earned the Tigers their first win.
“You always get a rush on any field goal,” Louden said. “I was definitely upset about the blocked kick. I wanted to make up for it.
“Everyone else works so hard, and I’m not on the field for long,” he added, “so when I am, I need to make it happen.”