Army West Point Athletics
Sprint Football Cruises to Victory Over Princeton
October 04, 2008 | Sprint Football
Statistics
WEST POINT, N.Y. The Army sprint football team scored early and often and held the Princeton offense to -14 yards en route to a 58-0 win Friday night at Shea Stadium. The Black Knights improved to 2-2 and 1-0 in the CSFL while Princeton fell to 0-2 and 0-1 in the conference.
Junior running back Ricky Lentz had a big game, totaling three rushing touchdowns and 96 yards on 12 carries. Army scored eight touchdowns, rushing for four, passing for three and returning one punt. The Black Knights rushed for 158 yards and passed for 204.
The defense was dominant as sophomore linebacker Bryan Girouard led the unit with seven tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery. They held Princeton scoreless in two trips to the red zone. Princeton quarterback Andrew Dixon was held to three completions on 14 attempts, was intercepted once and sacked four times.
Army scored 23 points in the first quarter starting with a field goal from junior Samuel Herbert at 11:22 to cap the opening drive. After forcing a Princeton three-and-out, senior Geoffrey Phillips returned the ensuing punt 35-yards to the Princeton 12-yard line and Lentz eventually scored from two yards out at 7:55. Phillips caught a 14-yard touchdown reception from senior quarterback Bobby Miner at 5:31 and returned a punt 48-yards for a touchdown with 25 seconds remaining in the quarter to give Army a 23-0 lead.
Lentz broke through for a 15-yard touchdown run at 9:58 in the second quarter and sophomore James McCarthy caught 24-yard pass from senior quarterback Abe Payne with 45 seconds remaining in the half to give the Black Knights a 37-0 lead at the half.
Army added two rushing touchdowns in the third quarter as Lentz burst through the Princeton defense for a 33-yard run and sophomore running back Devin Dornbush had a nine-yard run.
Payne and sophomore wide receiver Joshua Scott connected for 41-yard touchdown play in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.
“I’m happy for the seniors since it was their last game at Shea Stadium, so it is good for them to go out with a win,” said head coach Mark West after the game. “I’m not satisfied in the sense that there are things we need to get better at. We made a lot of mental mistakes, so if we want to accomplish our goals, we need to play better.”
The Black Knights will hit the road next to face Pennsylvania on Friday, Oct. 10 at 7:00 p.m. After a bye week, Army will play Cornell on Friday, Oct. 24 at 4 p.m. in Michie Stadium as part of the 50th Anniversary Reunion celebration.
Notes: Army used three quarterbacks ... Miner started, completing five of 10 attempts for 47 yards and a touchdown ... Payne completed 10 of 16 attempts for 142 yards and two touchdowns ... sophomore Jacob Economy saw action for the second time this season, completing three of five attempts for 15 yards ... Scott led the team in receiving with four catches for 78 yards and a touchdown... Army is now 50-3-2 all-time vs. Princeton, last losing to the Tigers in 1979 ... the four rushing touchdowns were the first for the Black Knights all season ... Lentz entered the game rushing with 69 yards on 26 attempts through the first three games ... Army had rushed for only 56 yards entering the game.
