(Photo by Bill Allen/NJSportAction) caption: KNOCKOUT BLOW: Princeton star senior defensive back Jay McCareins returns the ball in action earlier this fall. Last Saturday, McCareins culminated his stellar career in brilliant fashion as he returned a missed field goal 100 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to break Dartmouth's back as Princeton routed the Big Green 30-0. McCareins finished the season with a league-leading nine interceptions. He also scored four touchdowns and piled up 821 yards on kick and interception returns.

Princeton Football Fights Hard to Final Gun, Dismantling Dartmouth 30-0 to Finish at 7-3

By Bill Alden

Roger Hughes likens the football season to a 10-round championship bout, urging the players on his Princeton University football team to focus on one round at a time.

Last Saturday at Dartmouth, the Tigers started their 10th and final round of the fall looking as though they were a bit punch drunk.

"We came out a little flat, particularly on offense," said Tiger head coach Hughes, whose team was clinging to a 6-0 lead late in the second quarter. "We had a couple of turnovers that hurt us. I didn't see the execution we were looking for."

But with seconds remaining in the half, Princeton quarterback Jeff Terrell hit the Big Green with a stinging jab as he zigzagged 10 yards into the end zone to help Tigers build a 13-0 cushion at the half.

Late in the third quarter, Princeton applied the knockout blows. First, superstar defensive back Jay McCareins returned a missed field goal 100 yards for a touchdown. Then on the ensuing kickoff, Derek Davis recovered a Dartmouth fumble which Rob Toresco converted into a 15-yard scoring jaunt.

Princeton added a field goal to culminate a 20-play, 83-yard march and push the final margin to 30-0 before a crowd of 4,270 at Memorial Stadium.

The win left Princeton with a final overall record of 7-3 and 5-2 in the Ivy League, tying it with Harvard for second place behind outright champion Brown.

It marked the first time the Tigers have hit the seven-win mark in a season since they went 8-1-1 in their Ivy title campaign in 1995.

After seeing his team lose six games on the last play in the previous two falls, Hughes was proud of his team's breakthrough this fall.

"I'm very gratified and pleased by the effort," said Hughes, whose record in his six-year tenure guiding the Tiger program is now 26-33.

"Our win total was not only the most in the decade, but it is just the seventh time in the last 40 years that a Princeton team has won seven games in a season."

In reflecting on the win, Hughes acknowledged that Terrell's touchdown run got the Tigers off the ropes.

"That run did two things for us," asserted Hughes. "It gave us momentum going into the half. It gave us a two-score lead and I thought that might be enough the way our defense was playing."

The play of the previously unheralded Terrell has been a spark throughout Princeton's superb season.

"Jeff was remarkable this year," said Hughes of his junior signal caller who hit on 13-of-21 passes for 111 yards and rushed for 27 yards in the win Saturday.

"On Friday, some of our assistant coaches showed us a highlight film of our season and he was in on a lot of the plays. We had 316 yards of total offense Saturday and we did it in a lot of different ways. He's not flashy but he is a good decision maker."

The Tiger who probably provided more highlights than any other this season was the nonpareil McCareins.

The 6'0, 195-pound native of Naperville, Ill. led the Ivies with nine interceptions, returning two for touchdowns. He also returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Harvard and scored the first-ever defensive extra point in program history.

"It seems like every time he touched the ball this year, it was a big play," said Hughes, whose defense held Dartmouth to -6 yards rushing and a total of 89 yards on the day. "There aren't words that can truly describe what he has done for us this season."

The foundation of the team's success, its senior-laden offensive line, also got in its last flurry of haymakers on that final scoring drive which lasted 11:44.

"They got together with Stan Clayton [line coach] during halftime," recalled Hughes, whose line helped sophomore running back Toresco rush for a career-high 122 yards last Saturday.

"They said this is what we are about, this is what we do. We've talked all year about four times three equaling 12 and keeping the chains moving. As that drive was happening, I had no idea that we had taken so much time off the clock."

It was fitting that the seniors led the way to the end as that class has had a special impact on the program.

"Our seniors led by words but more by what they did," said Hughes, whose co-captains were a pair of seniors, offensive lineman Ben Brielmaier and linebacker Justin Stull.

"Their attention to detail, their work ethic, the way they held everyone accountable, it was a great year. There were no discipline problems, no late night phone calls."

After the last blow was stuck in Princeton's memorable fall, the seniors released their emotions in the post-game celebration.

"Last week against Yale, the locker room was a mausoleum, all you could hear were the sobs," said Hughes.

"This week you could hear sobs of happiness. The seniors realized that this would the last time we were together as a family."

While the Tigers may have fallen short of the Ivy title, their Rocky-like persistence in each round this season made it a fall to remember.

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