PHS football enjoyed a turnaround campaign

By: Justin Feil
   It’s easy to understand how anyone in the Princeton High football program could be a bit misty-eyed two Saturdays ago.
   No, the tears weren’t specifically for the 39-13 loss that ended the Little Tigers’ season. They were because the group that brought PHS back from the depths of despair would not be together again. For the first time since 1993, a senior class leaves PHS with a .500 season.
   Though the 5-5 season qualifies as the best in 11 years, the Little Tigers wanted more. Standards turned so much since last year’s two-win season that even if they had won Saturday to go 6-4, it wouldn’t have been good enough.
   "(Friday) night at our senior dinner," said PHS head coach Steve Everette, "it was funny. The last couple have been kind of happy. We got one win the first year and two wins the next year. Now, they’re disappointed we only had five.
   "That’s a sign that things will change. More and more kids are playing football in this town. Football is important again in this town."
   The third-year coach is ahead of his original plan.
   "When I took the job here, I told (then-athletics director) John Curtis if he gave me five years, I’d get five wins," Everette said. "We’re two years ahead of schedule. The kids have worked hard. They’ve shown a tremendous amount of character and much more class."
   The turnaround schedule couldn’t have turned around without the senior class’s direction. Many in the class were starters on the one-win team two years ago, most contributed plenty to last year’s two-win season, and all were involved in bringing back a little swagger at PHS this year.
   "Coach Everette, he changed our attitude and how we worked and how we played," said PHS senior Mike Vieten of how the turnaround was accomplished. "We all could see it coming. We didn’t get where we wanted to. We all thought we could make it to the playoffs. But it was a fun year.
   "I’m going to miss all these kids so much. It’s been the most amazing thing of my high school experience. Standing next to them every day and playing with them, it was amazing."
   Vieten, a running back and linebacker, had the first of PHS’ two touchdowns Saturday as the Little Tigers started strong. Cranbury’s Vinny Giacalone’s 21-yard pass to Vance Slocum was the only other score for PHS, which had a 13-7 lead. Turnovers and penalties cost them a comeback chance as Nottingham took a 14-13 lead going into the half and PHS, which turned around everything else this season, couldn’t turn the momentum.
   The Little Tigers take plenty of momentum into next season, when the theme won’t be turning anything but continuing in the upward direction. The PHS seniors know they aren’t leaving a program empty-handed.
   "It’s a good feeling," Vieten said. "The next couple years, I’ll come back and see them win a lot of games. All the young kids are working hard."
   They picked up that work ethic from players like Vieten and fellow seniors Vinny Giacalone, T.R. Johnson, D.J. Boyer, Cory Curtis and Vance Slocum. Replacing them was difficult to think about so soon after finishing this season Saturday.
   "It’s very tough," Everette said. "But we thought it was going to be tough to fill in for Ben DeRousi last year and the year before, Michael Britt. It’s going to be hard. We lose our leading tackler (Vieten), one of our leading reception guys (Slocum). It’s going to be difficult to replace them. We’re going to need someone to step up. These guys would expect nothing less."
   This season already saw an incredible jump in expectations. A .500 season wasn’t good enough, even if it was three wins better than anyone in the Blue and White had experienced in their PHS career.
   "It is a little weird," Vieten said. "It’s a great feeling (to win three more games than last year), but it’s bittersweet. We changed attitudes and what was expected. We turned a lot of heads, but this isn’t where we wanted to go. Hopefully in the future, the younger kids will take us there."
   And the 2005 graduates of PHS can remember back misty-eyed to the year that turned the fortunes for the Little Tigers football team and know that they are gone but hardly forgotten.
   "I’m going on vacation for the first time in three years," Everette said. "Then we’ll come back the first of December, and the kids will get back in the weight room and we’ll remember everything that got us to this point. We’ll build on this foundation that the senior class laid for us. The first class got us one win. The second got two. This class got five."
   It’s just a start.
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   The Tigers will have a strong Cranbury contigent returning next season, including defensive backs Matt Chester and Johnny Mitko, receiver/end Frank Giacalone and placekicker Katy Paxton.