Bulldogs’ Ivy title hopes slim after loss to Princeton
PRINCETON, N.J. — There were moments in Saturday’s first-place showdown when Yale made huge plays, plays that looked as if they might turn momentum surging in the Bulldogs’ favor toward a possible 17th Ivy League football championship.
And there were other times when it looked as if the moment may have gotten to them.
Ultimately, Yale’s hopes of defending the 2019 Ivy title are all but blown away. Princeton took the lead for good with three seconds left in the first half and went on to beat the Bulldogs 35-20 Saturday. Yale is a game behind Dartmouth and the Tigers with one to play
“We had some moments in the first half where it looked like we doing some things,” Yale coach Tony Reno said. “We created some turnovers with the blocked punt, the interception. We never really got in rhythm offensively, and defensively, we let up some big plays.”
Two quick touchdowns in the first 5:19 of the second half broke it open for Princeton, No. 22 in the AFCA Coaches’ Poll, in front of a crowd of 7,686 on a blustery and sometimes stormy day at Princeton Stadium.
Yale got three points back on Jack Bosman’s second field goal in the third quarter, but even on those field goals Reno wished the Bulldogs had earned seven.
“Right at the end of the first half we had a chance to score (a touchdown) again and didn’t; we had to kick the field goal,” Reno said.
“In my opinion, if we’re playing well, we put both in the end zone. That’s kind of a microcosm of the game for us.”
Yale (5-4, 4-2 Ivy) finishes its 148th season next Saturday at noon against Harvard (7-2, 4-2) at the Yale Bowl.
Sacred Heart 27, Wagner 0: At Fairfield, Marquez McCray threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score and Sacred Heart rolled to a victory over winless Wagner in Northeast Conference play.
Noah Gettman’s 35-yard field goal was the only scoring in the first quarter. McCray connected with Malik Grant for a 35-yard touchdown to make it 10-0 early in the second quarter and Julius Chestnut added a 1-yard TD late to give the Pioneers (7-3, 5-1) a 17-0 lead at halftime.
McCray’s 6-yard TD run and a 25-yard field goal by Gettman came in the third quarter and capped the scoring. After Gettman’s field goal lightning arrived and the game was called.
McCray completed 13 of 22 passes for 214 yards with one interception for Sacred Heart. Chestnut ran for 106 yards on 14 carries
DQ Vinson completed 4 of 12 passes for 35 yards for the Seahawks (0-10, 0-6). Wagner managed just 119 total yards.
Stonehill 42, SCSU 6: At New Haven, Diante Wilson caught a touchdown pass from Ralph Gonzalez for the Owls’ lone score in the season finale for the Owls.
The Owls (4-6, 3-5 NE-10) were held to 111 yards total offense. Justin Felder had 148 yards rushing and two touchdowns for Stonehill (8-2, 6-2 NE-10).
New Haven 34, Franklin Pierce 20: At Rindge,
N.H., Jake Conlan finished with 107 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns as New Haven beat Franklin Pierce to wrap up a perfect Northeast-10 Conference campaign.
The Chargers (9-1, 8-0 NE-10) will find out their next game on Sunday when the NCAA Division II playoff bracket is announced.
Quarterback Connor Degenhardt was 15 for-22 passing for 158 yards with touchdown passes to Dev Holmes and Kasi Hazzard.
Franklin Pierce finished its season 0-10 (0-8 NE-10).
Duquesne 31, CCSU 27: At Pittsburgh, Darius Perrantes threw for three scores and his 30-yarder to Cyrus Holder with 29 seconds left carried Duquesne past Central Connecticut.
The Blue Devils led 27-24 and sought to add to their lead. But on third-and-6, Duquesne’s Maxi Hradecny sacked Blue Devils’ quarterback Shon Mitchell and the Dukes’ Tim Lowery recovered at the Duquesne 39-yard line.
Perrantes proceeded to march Duquesne (6(equals)3, 4-2 Northeast Conference) 61 yards in six plays in 82 seconds to complete the gamewinning drive. Holder caught five passes for 114 yards.
Kyren Petteway’s 81-yard kickoff return for a score with 9:59 left gave Central Connecticut (3-7, 3-3) its last lead of the game. That followed Billy Lucas’ 2-yard scoring run that ended a 10-play, 43-yard scoring drive that put Duquesne up 24-20 with 10:14 to go.
Mitchell threw for 276 yards and two scores and Tyshaun James caught seven passes for 169 yards and a touchdown.