Britton causes late turnover to preserve win
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
NEW YORK — The challenges were bigger in the third game of the season for the Princeton University football team, and it responded again with a win.
One week after beating Lehigh on the final play of the game at home, the Tigers made the plays down the stretch again to put away Columbia, 27-24, before an energized Homecoming crowd at Wien Stadium on Saturday.
”I think we showed a lot of heart at the end,” said PU linebacker Scott Britton. “When we needed a big play, we got it. When it came down to it, we wanted it more.”
The Tigers were short-handed without two of their top linebackers in Jeff Jackson and John Callahan, on the road against a sizeable crowd and taking on a Lions team desperate for a win. They might have got it were it not for some big plays down the stretch by the Tigers.
Britton forced a fumble that Cart Kelly recovered with 1:32 left and the Tigers offense then picked up a first down on two plays to seal their Ivy League opener and improve to 2-1 overall. The Lions lost for the 11th straight time to open the season, 0-3. It was the sixth straight win for PU at Columbia.
Columbia had a chance to break its streak when they took a 24-21 lead five minutes into the fourth quarter. It didn’t hold up even one possession as Princeton scored five plays later on a 52-yard pass from Brian Anderson to Trey Peacock.
”We’re excited to get the win,” said Anderson, who was an efficient 14-for-19 for 237 yards and three touchdowns. “We were able to focus 11 guys in the huddle and do what we needed to do to beat them.”
Princeton had all the answers for the Lions on Saturday. Every time Columbia gained momentum, the Tigers battled back.
”It was back and forth,” Britton said. “The fact that we were able to bend but not break was big. We never let their momentum overcome us. I think that’s going to help us.”
Columbia scored on the first possession. The Tigers scored a touchdown on their first possession on a 5-yard swing pass to Jordan Culbreath, who one-handed it before getting in the end zone to tie it, 7-7.
Princeton then built a 14-7 lead on Culbreath’s 3-yard run at the end of the first quarter. When Columbia edged closer with a field goal to take momentum into the halftime locker room, the Tigers scored immediately to start the second half and take the lead, 21-10, on a 17-yard pass from Anderson to Will Thanheiser.
Thanheiser again led the Tigers in receiving with 7 catches for 132 yards, his second straight week over 100 yards.
Columbia answered with a 71-yard drive for a touchdown on its first possession of the third quarter then took the lead, 24-21, early in the fourth.
”Our biggest problem was losing the third-down battle,” Britton said. “There were a lot of third downs where we didn’t stop them and it prolonged drives.”
Columbia was 4-for-6 in the second half on third down. Princeton had gone 4-for-6 in the first half on third downs.
The Lions defense had the momentum with back-to-back three-and-outs to finish the third quarter, but their lead was short-lived as the Tigers scored less than two minutes after the Lions had taken the lead on Anderson’s pass to Peacock.
”It was looking pretty grim,” Anderson said. “Columbia did a great job of fighting back. We had them down, 21-10, and we were really looking good in the first quarter and they responded with a score right before the half. Then they went up and ahead in the game. The momentum swing was huge but we were able to calm their fans down and do the right thing on offense and get a win out of it.”
The Tiger defense then came up with back-to-back stops, including forcing the first turnover of the game on Britton’s hit.
”We needed someone to step up and make big plays,” said Britton, who finished tied with Collin McCarthy with 11 tackles Saturday. “Today it just happened to be me. It could be any of the other 10 different guys out there. Everyone is a playmaker out there. The bottom line is we got the job done.”
Princeton will play its final non-conference game at Colgate on Saturday. The Red Raiders will be the third opponent this season to come off a bye week. Colgate’s scheduled Saturday game against Georgetown was canceled due to a viral outbreak at Georgetown. Princeton gained momentum after winning a game that had its share of challenges.
”I think we were hoping to come out today and really stop them and get ahead,” Britton said. “Instead, we made it close. Hopefully we learn from that situation where it was a close game and we came together and stopped them when we needed it.”

