Davidson, Classi, Iosivas, Stallworth Power Princeton To 49-7 Win Over Butler

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Football

October 11, 12PM

vs Mercer

Princeton, N.J.

Football

October 18, 12PM

at Brown

Providence, R.I.

Football

October 25, 12PM

vs Harvard

Princeton, N.J.

Football

November 1, 1PM

at Cornell

Football

November 8, 1PM

at Dartmouth

Hanover, N.H.

The ball was perfectly thrown by the powerful quarterback, and the catch was effortlessly made by the tall wide receiver in the end zone. Just like old times.

If you were worried about Princeton's graduation losses of current NFL players John Lovett, Jesper Horsted and Stephen Carlson, there was no need at all, at least for Week 1. Their replacements were dazzling, and the result was a game very much like the ones from last year's perfect season.

Senior quarterback Kevin Davidson was pretty much flawless and sophomore wide receivers Dylan Classi and Andrei Iosivas were pretty much electric as they led Princeton to a 49-7 win over Butler in front of 10,625 at Powers Field at Princeton Stadium in the opener of the 150th season for the Tigers. The win was Princeton's 11^th straight, the longest winning streak the program has had since winning 17 straight between 1964 and 1965.

"I thought the first half was terrific," said Princeton's Charles W. Caldwell Jr. Head Coach of Football Bob Surace. "I thought it was exciting to watch, on both sides of the ball. We have a long way to go, but this was a very good start for us."

The 1??sts keeping coming - it's Andrei Iosivas' first career TD and Princeton leads Butler 14-0!

Watch: https://t.co/a7dnOyIkhe pic.twitter.com/QFuSFmCPJX
— Princeton Football (@PrincetonFTBL) September 21, 2019

The Tigers led this one 42-0 at halftime (yards were 440-119 at the break as the defense was in lockdown mode), and Davidson, Classi and Iosivas were just incredible in the first 30 minutes. By intermission, their numbers looked like this:

* Davidson was 16 for 18 for 318 yards and two touchdowns.
* Iosivas, who had no career catches prior to his game, caught three for 75 yards, with touchdown receptions of 33 (if you didn't know better, you would have thought this one was Lovett to Horsted or Carlson on a post) and 34 yards.
* Classi caught one pass, but it was a spectacular 44-yard reception to set up a Ryan Quigley touchdown run. Oh, and he also was the one who threw the 34-yard touchdown pass to Iosivas.

"Before the game I was pretty nervous," Iosivas said. "It was the first time on the field and having to fill Jesper's and Stephen's shoes, it was a little scary. Once we got on the field and once we got running, it felt pretty good."

Throw in Andrew Griffin's first career touchdown reception and 87 receiving yards from Jacob Birmelin, and Princeton's uncertainty at the wide receiver position after the graduation of the two NFL players, who combined for 44 receiving touchdowns, suddenly looked like a wealth of riches.

Davidson was making his second career start after leading the Tigers to a win over Brown last year when Lovett was injured, and he was just about flawless too. Davidson played with confidence and poise in that game against Brown, and he did so once again now that he is the starter.

His final numbers: 18 for 21 for 341 yards and two touchdowns.

"It was a great first game for us," the senior from California said. "Now we have get right back to work and keep trying to get better."

Princeton didn't score on its first drive, though it went eight plays and 62 yards before ending just short of points. The next six drives all went for touchdowns.

Even when Princeton had to punt, it was a thing of beauty, as freshman Will Powers boomed a 48-yarder in his first collegiate effort.

Princeton built the lead to 49-0 on a Trey Gray touchdown run in the third quarter. By the end, Princeton played more than 80 players and built a 543-274 edge in total yards.

Delan Stallworth led the defense with eight tackles and an interception just before the break that set up the sixth touchdown. In all, 23 different Princeton players had at least one tackle.

Princeton plays at Bucknell Saturday, Sept. 28, with kickoff at 3:30.

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