Moving the ball at will, Big Blue built an 11-point fourth-quarter lead that forced Princeton into a hurry-up offense the Hamilton defense couldn’t stop.
The result was two touchdowns in a span of 2 minutes and 40 seconds that lifted the Vikings to a 29-26 victory Friday, Oct. 23, at Viking Stadium.
“We just had a horrendous night tackling in the defensive secondary,” Big Blue coach Jim Place said after watching his team lose its third in a row to fall to 2-7 overall and 1-5 in the Greater Miami Conference.
“I don’t know what came over them,” Place continued. “They just couldn’t tackle anyone.”
Princeton quarterback Spencer Ware took full advantage by completing 15-of-25 passes for a season-high 249 yards and three touchdowns to help the Vikings improve to 5-4, 3-3 GMC.
Justin Cornwall caught a career-high six balls for a career-high 110 yards and two touchdowns, including a 37-yarder that got Princeton within 26-23 with 8:13 left in the game.
One play later, the Hamilton offense made its only mistake of the night when Devin Jarrett, who had been outstanding all game long, fumbled at the Big Blue 45-yard line, setting up the Vikings’ go-ahead touchdown, a 10-yard run by Ware with 5:27 remaining.
“That was huge,” Princeton coach Bill Leach said of the fumble, which was both forced and recovered by senior defensive end Rakeem Chandler. “That was the difference in the game.”
It was a tough break for Jarrett, who carried 34 times for 181 yards — both career highs — and four touchdowns. He also completed 2-of-2 passes for 40 yards as Big Blue rolled up a season-high 362 total yards of offense.
“We did a lot of great things,” Place said. “Devin and (Brian Cleckley) and the offensive line all clicked, and Kenny Lewis made some huge plays. But you have to make plays at the right time.”
Cleckley and Jarrett combined to complete 7-of-10 passes for 115 yards, with Cleckley adding another 60 on the ground as Big Blue ran 66 plays to Princeton’s 43.
Hamilton also converted nine of its 17 third downs and four of six fourth downs as Big Blue gained more yards against Princeton than they had in their last two games combined.
“We played a lot better and played with a lot more heart,” Place said.
Special teams also hurt Hamilton, which gave up a safety from punt formation to go along with a missed field goal and missed extra point.
“We left four points out there in the kicking game,” Place said. “That really hurt.”
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