The recipe through four games for head coach Terry Cullen and the sprint football team has been an efficient offense, complimented by a menacing defense. In beating Princeton 35-0 in front of the home crowd, the Red moved to 4-0 for the first time since 1987.
“It’s fantastic,” said Cullen. “This has been a very enjoyable year and we’re not 100 percent there yet, but we’re getting close. I’m surprised it has been that long since we started with that record.”
The Red defense, an expected strength as the season began, has shined against both renowned offenses and less-heralded ones featuring a harassing defensive line. Junior Jason Remillard, who played exclusively on defense against the Tigers, led the Red with five tackles, one interception and two pass breakups.
[img_assist|nid=18950|title=When in Rome|desc=Junior wide receiver Roman Barinas (20) hits the open field in the midst of the sprint football team’s 35-0 win over Princeton this past weekend.|link=popup|align=left|width=100|height=66]
“[Jason Remillard] should have had two more interceptions, and one for a score,” said Cullen. “He just played a big game for us, and [senior] Matt Collin did the same job he’s done all year for us. It all starts with getting to the quarterback and that opens everything up for the secondary. It makes us look good.”
Collin led an aggressive defensive front line with two sacks, allowing the secondary to amass six interceptions for a total of 85 return yards. No one player in the defensive backfield made more than one interception, with contributions from freshman Andrew Jeong, Remillard, senior John Samuel, senior Ian Murray, sophomore Jeremy Walco, and sophomore Yaroslov Dvinov. On the other side of the ball, sophomore quarterback Zak Dentes (6-for-13, 80 yards) split time with returning junior Brian Kennedy (7-for-8, 81 yards).
“It was good to see Brian [Kennedy] back in there,” said Cullen. “He got a cortisone shot last week and has thrown pain free for the first time in a year and a half. It was hard to see where he was at because he couldn’t throw. Now we’ll see; I expect us to keep with what’s worked so far.”
Roman Barinas spelled starting senior tailback Mike Fullowan, rushing for 65 yards on 12 carries. Fullowan did have an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the third quarter and kept the game out of reach. The offensive line had a sound performance in protecting the two quarterbacks.
“It was another sound effort by our line,” said Cullen. “[Roman] Barinas showed us something today and we’re almost completely there running the football. We looked at the film today and we’re right there. Hopefully we execute even better in these last two games and do something special.”
Starting the season undefeated through the first four games certainly puts the Red in an enviable position with two games remaining. The Red have a home game against Penn (1-2 and lost to Cornell on September 16, 20-12) this Friday night and then travel to Army for the season finale. The beauty for this year’s squad is that it controls its own destiny in winning a league championship.
