Princeton Falls To Yale, Will Play For Title In Week 10

The drive needed another play to become The Drive. When the last, final, dramatic moment ended with Princeton still 15 yards away, the Ivy League football race was suddenly as chaotic as it’s ever been.
 
Blake Stenstrom drove the Princeton offense 65 of the 80 yards it needed in the final 1:35, with no timeouts remaining, but came up just short as the final pass attempt in the end zone was high and incomplete, allowing Yale to hold on for a thrilling 24-20 victory over the Tigers in New Haven.
 
With the loss, Princeton is now tied with Yale for first place in the league at 5-1 with one weekend remaining. Complicating issues further are Harvard and Penn, and with the Crimson’s fourth quarter win over the Quakers, then those two are 4-2, meaning there is still the possibility of the league’s first-ever four-way championship.
 
Princeton finishes the season with a home game against Penn, while Yale is at Harvard. Princeton and Yale would both be assured of at least a tie for the title with a win regardless of what else happens, but should both lose, then all four teams would be 5-2.
 
The 144^th meeting between Princeton and Yale did not lack for drama, that’s for sure. Yale led first at 7-0. Princeton took a 14-7 lead at the half. Yale scored the next 17 to make it a 24-14 game in the fourth quarter.
 
Stenstrom would get a touchdown back with a 22-yard pass to Carson Bobo with just under 11 minutes to go, and then the Tiger defense got some crucial stops, the last of which gave Princeton the ball on its 20 with 1:35 to go and no timeouts. From there, Stenstrom marched his team 65 yards in 12 plays, completing a four-and-four pass to Dylan Classi along the way.
 
There would be just five seconds to go when Princeton reached the 15, after yet another connection from Stenstrom to Classi. This time, though, the pass was high, and Yale had won.
 
Stenstrom finished the day 34 for 52 for 367 yards, while Classi had 10 catches for 139 and a touchdown and Andrei Iosivas has nine for 86. Stenstrom also threw a 42-yard TD pass to Michael Axelrood in the second quarter.
 
While Princeton was moving through the air, Yale did its damage on the ground, with 297 rushing yards, including 152 from quarterback Nathan Grooms and 108 from Joshua Pitsenberger.