Yale’s Last-Minute TD Tops Brown 24-17
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Deon Randall’s 32 yard touchdown run with 19 seconds remaining broke a 17-17 tie and lifted Yale to a 24-17 Ivy League win over Brown before a crowd of 7,988 at the Yale Bowl. The loss breaks Brown’s two game winning streak, as the Bears fall to 5-3 overall, 2-3 in the Ivy League. Yale extends its record to 5-3 overall, 3-2 in Ivy play.
Randall’s 32-yard scoring run came on third and 10 yards, as the Bulldogs were trying to get into field goal range. The 32-yard touchdown run capped a 59-yard scoring drive for the Bulldogs.
Brown had rallied from a 17-7 halftime deficit to tie the game at 17-17, on an Alex Norocea field goal with 17 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Bears outgained the Bulldogs by a 392-305 margin but fumbles and penalties haunted the Bears all day. Brown was flagged for seven key penalties, totaling 72 yards, and lost two fumbles.
“We didn’t make plays today and mistakes cost us,” said Brown head coach Phil Estes. “I can attribute our three losses undisciplined play.”
Senior quarterback Patrick Donnelly (Longmeadow, MA) completed 25 of 46 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears, including nine passes to senior wide receiver Jordan Evans (Brentwood, CA).
Bears’ senior tailback John Spooney (Northfield, OH) didn’t break any long runs as he has all year, but rushed for pedestrian 125 yards on 27 carries.
Defensively, junior Jacob Supron (Mansfield, OH) led the Bears with eight solo tackles, while junior Dan Giovacchini (Acton, MA) had seven tackles, including an interception.
Yale got on the scoreboard first, grabbing a 7-0 lead on a 35- yard screen pass from quarterback Henry Furman to tailback Chandler Rich with 10:20 remaining in the opening quarter.
Brown marched down to the Yale 16-yard line on its next possession, but a missed field goal, Brown’s first of the year, kept the Bears down by a touchdown.
Following a Yale punt, Brown drove 54-yards in five play to tie the game, 7-7, with 5:21 left in the quarter, on a five yard touchdown pass from Donnelly to senior Tellef Lundevall (Highland Park, IL), who made a diving catch in the right corner of the end zone. Lundevall left the game in the second quarter and did not return due to injury.
The Bulldogs answered with a 74-yard scoring drive to take the lead with less than a minute left in the opening quarter, 14-7, with Furman throwing a six yard scoring pass to Myles Gaines.
The second quarter wasn’t good to the Bears with two fumbles, one on offense and another on special teams, resulting in a 46-yard field goal by Yale’s Kyle Cazzetta with no time on the clock to give the Bulldogs a 17-7 lead at the half.
The Bears got back in the game late in the third quarter when Donnelly tossed a four-yard touchdown pass to Evans with 3:15 remaining, pulling Brown to within a field goal of the Bulldogs, 17-14. The drive was set up by an interception by Giovacchini at the Yale 48 yard line.
An interception by senior linebacker Zack Lattrell (West Newbury, MA) gave the Bears great field position once again, taking over, again, at the Bulldogs’ 48-yard line. A 37 yard completion to Brian Strahan (Wellesley, MA) set up 26-yard field goal by senior Alex Norocea (Hermosa Beach, CA) with 17 seconds remaining in the quarter to tie the game, 17-17.
Brown returns home for a Senior Day matchup against Dartmouth on Saturday, November 16. Game time is 12:30 pm at Brown Stadium with Senior Day festivities starting at 12:20 pm.
