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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Penn
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Late Block, OT Touchdown Sends Penn To 26-23 Football Win Over Princeton
November 07, 2015 | Football
A blocked field goal on the final play of regulation and an 11-yard touchdown pass in overtime gave Penn a 26-23 victory during a back-and-forth showdown with Princeton Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field.
Princeton. which led for much of the second half, took the ball with 3:16 remaining in the fourth quarter and the game tied, and it marched 59 yards in 12 plays to set up the field goal attempt. Senior Nolan Bieck, who had made two field goals earlier in the game, lined up a 35-yard kick with four seconds remaining, but linebacker Donald Panciello came off the edge and blocked the kick to force overtime.
The Quakers won the coin toss and sent Princeton on the field first, and the Tigers threw three straight incompletions before Bieck came back on the field and drilled a 42-yard kick. That gave Penn the opportunity to win it with a touchdown; following a 14-yard option rush by Brian Schoenauer on the first play, Penn quarterback Alek Torgerson threw a play-action pass to Fiore along the left sideline, and he went in untouched for the score.
It was a crushing conclusion to a hard-fought performance by the Tigers, who grabbed momentum with a 17-point second quarter, but could never put the game away in the second half. The Tigers got two touchdowns in the quarter, both from junior Joe Rhattigan, and a last-second field goal by Bieck to take a 20-10 lead into the half.
Penn cut it to 20-17 on a 3-yard touchdown run by Tre Solomon in the third quarter, and then evened the score on a 42-yard field goal by Jimmy Gammill with 3:22 left.
The Princeton offense, which played without the injured John Lovett, was led by Rhattigan, who carried 30 times for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Seth DeValve, who had played only one series since Week 2 after a variety of injuries, made his presence felt with nine catches for 65 yards. Junior quarterback Chad Kanoff was 26 of 42 for 218 yards in the game.
Junior linebacker Luke Catarius led Princeton with 14 tackles, while junior safety Dorian Williams added 10 stops. Senior Matt Arends had six tackles and came up with a fumble recovery on the Princeton 3-yard-line, which helped the Tigers hold on to the lead during the second half.
Princeton (5-3, 2-3 Ivy League) will honor its Class of 2016 next Saturday when it plays host to Yale at 1 pm on Powers Field. The game will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network.