SPEEDING HONDA: Princeton University running back Kai Honda races up the sideline last Saturday as Princeton hosted UAlbany in its home opener. Junior Honda rushed for 61 yards and two touchdowns on the day to help Princeton defeat UAlbany 22-0. The Tigers, now 1-1, play at Columbia on October 3 in the Ivy League opener for both teams. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Justin Feil
Kai Honda’s first two-touchdown game in college built a lead and Casey Etienne Jr. and the defense did the rest in the Princeton University football team’s 22-0 win over UAlbany on Saturday. The shutout was the first for the Tigers since 2021.
“Every game, you want a shutout,” said junior defensive back Etienne. “I just heard it was the first shutout in five years. It was a great accomplishment, but we don’t want any offense to score at all. That’s what we come ready to play for.”
Princeton improved in every facet of the game after their 21-14 opening-season loss to Bryant on September 19. They improved to 1-1 overall heading into their Ivy League opener at unbeaten Columbia (2-0) on October 3.
“We’ve got to improve on how to handle success, that’s the next step,” said Princeton head coach Bob Surace. “But we had some success, which was a much bigger positive, in the red zone.”
Sophomore quarterback Ty Ciongoli got his first playing time coming in to rotate with starter Wyatt Becker. Ciongoli sparked the Tigers’ first scoring drive with a long completion to Honda before throwing his first career touchdown, and Becker got better as the game went along, connecting on 8 for 13 passes for 99 yards. Junior running back Honda showed his versatility, rushing 61 yards and top touchdowns on 12 carries plus two catches for 49 yards. He led Princeton in both categories despite being still a little under the weather for the second straight week.
“All of my success is because of the quarterbacks and the offensive line and our coordinators and coaches setting up me and our other running backs to put us in the best position possible,” said Honda. “I think we have a lot to build on and this was a great win and we’re just going to keep getting better every week.”
On the other side of the ball, the Princeton defense limited Albany to five first downs in the second half. The Great Danes were quarterbacked by Kai Colon, the former Princeton starter who is using his final year of NCAA eligibility as a graduate student at Albany. The Tigers twice came up with huge stops in the red zone on Colon passes to keep their shutout intact.
“I think it’s just overall competing,” said Etienne. “We want to compete, just bring effort and keep that effort all four quarters. I think we did a great job at that today. Just keep fighting. Big plays will happen.”
Princeton also got some key contributions on special teams. They swarmed a muffed punt snap to give the Tigers great field position for their second score, and also got their first field goal of the season from Esteban Nunez Perez. They’ll look to play even better when they play at Columbia, which is 2-0 after a pair of overtime wins (40-34 over Lafayette on September 19 and 20-17 over Georgetown last Saturday).
“They’re gonna be tough,” said Surace. “Their quarterback (Chase Goodwin) seems like he’s played forever. I think it’s his fourth game against us. The running back (Griffin Johnson) is a senior, at least one of them I know is back. They got a really good young receiving crew we know in recruiting. And they hired a new defensive staff. It must be working. They’re doing really well.”
It was a bit of a slow start for the Tigers on Saturday before they jumped to a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. Ciongoli hit Honda on a short pass over the top that Honda took 40 yards down the left sideline into Albany territory. His next completion to Jackson Green put the Tigers into the red zone and three plays later, he showed patience before finding tight end Joey Wassler for a five-yard touchdown to make the most of his first opportunity this season.
“We planned to play Ty last week, and we didn’t have any series,” said Surace. “We were planning to put him in the fourth series, and we were in a two-minute (drill), and that wouldn’t have been fair to him. So we said, OK, we’re going to put him in the third series.”
Albany’s next possession ended with their punter mishandling the snap and being swallowed by the Princeton rush. The ball fell to the turf and the Tigers’ Evan Haynie recovered it at the Albany 18.
Honda scored two plays later on a 14-yard run in which he bounced outside to the left and went untouched to the front pylon of the end zone. Princeton botched the extra point but was happy to have turned the Albany miscue into immediate points to add to their early lead.
“That was a huge momentum shift,” said Honda. “Everybody was really hyped off of that. And that’s just the name of the game. We call it ‘juice.’ And we had a ton of juice following that. And through the rest of the game, we were just succeeding.”
Albany put together a final drive before the half, moving down to the Princeton 19. On third down, Colon was flushed out of the pocket and lofted a pass back into the middle of the field that hung up long enough that Etienne ran under it, snatching it for an interception as teammate Connor Cronin waited for it to come down to him, to end the Great Danes’ threat at the four-yard line.
“I just saw the ball in the air,” said Etienne. “We want to make plays. I just had seen that ball in the air. It’s my guy, he’s going to get his. He’s going to get one, and when he does, I’m going to be right there really for him.”
Princeton opened the second half with a 70-yard drive to build a 19-0 lead. Another huge reception set up Honda’s second score of the game. Becker found a wide-open Roman Laurio crossing over the middle for a 43-yard complete to the Albany six. Honda finished the drive three plays later on a one-yard touchdown plunge up the middle,
“Red zone was a huge piece,” said Honda. “Getting the first down on third downs, huge piece. Being able to punch it in the red zone, that’s what we’ve been focusing on a lot.”
He enjoyed first multi-score game with the Tigers and enabling Princeton to finish their drives unlike their first week. Honda helped in both the run and passing attack.
“He played some receiver in high school so when we recruited him, we knew we had that part of his game in him,” said Surace. “And we started to use it last year and he had an injury and took it away, and he was a little under the weather last week so we took some things out that I think we’ll keep expanding on.”
A sack by Jake Moore ended Albany’s first possession of the second half, and the Tigers got the ball back on the punt inside Albany territory. Princeton’s drive reached the one-yard line, but on a catch by Wassler, he was flagged for spiking the ball after he thought he’d scored, and Princeton had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Nunez Perez for a 22-0 lead that they took into the fourth quarter.
Albany opened the final quarter with its best scoring chance. Cronin shot in to make a tackle for a loss with Albany threatening from Princeton’s one-yard line. On fourth-and-goal from the two, Colon again was flushed out and flipped a pass to the back of the end zone that Etienne helped break up with a hard hit. It was their second denial of the Great Danes inside the red zone.
“I think that’s just grit,” said Etienne. “That’s one of our four or five values on the team. That’s just grit, next play mentality, keep fighting every play, keep bringing that effort. And I think
it’s just heart. Who wants
it more.”
The next Albany possession ended with Colon being tackled a yard shy of a first down on a fourth-quarter scramble and Princeton could close out the shut out, even while subbing liberally down the home stretch.
“Week one was definitely a wake-up,” said Etienne, referring to the defeat to Bryant. “We came out this week with the emphasis on being more dialed in, locked in and being focused for all four quarters, I think we did a great job at that.”
Princeton also had an early lead in its first game, but couldn’t hold it in the loss to Bryant. The Tigers made sure that didn’t happen in the second week, showing some critical development. Princeton got out to an early lead again, and the defense never allowed a point by making several momentum-sustaining stops for a win heading into their Ivy opener.
“That gives the offense all the confidence in the world because we have guys that can produce on offense and our defense is phenomenal,” said Honda. “And if we can keep playing great games on both sides, we’re going to contend for an Ivy championship.”