Steinert grounds PHS football

Little Tigers look for line improvement

By: Bob Nuse
   Steve Everette knows there is no secret what his Princeton High football team is in for this season from opposing defenses.
   Until another offensive weapon emerges, teams are going to try to stop Alexz Henriques, the leading returning rusher in the Colonial Valley Conference. On Saturday, Steinert stopped Henriques, no one else emerged on offense, and the Little Tigers suffered a 20-0 loss in their season opener.
   "We know everybody is going to come in and bring people up into the box," said Everette, whose Princeton team will host Nottingham on Saturday in its Homecoming Day game. "We just didn’t block it well. They controlled the front lines and when that happens it doesn’t matter if you have the best back in the world.
   "We know that’s going to happen and that’s why our receivers and our tight ends need to go and make plays. I thought Tyler (Moni) had a good day and he caught a couple nice passes. We just have to make sure that when we throw passes we make receptions."
   Princeton just never managed to get it going offensively, as Henriques was limited to 11 yards on nine carries. His longest run of the day was for six yards, but there was just nowhere for the elusive back to run to get into open space.
   "That’s a big, physical team," Everette said of Steinert. "Where they were good, they were very good. They were big up front and controlled the front line and wore us down at the end. They had great field position all day and we didn’t. I think that hurt us. When they had to go a long way against us, they couldn’t. They didn’t have a sustained drive. When you only have to go 30 or 40 yards, it’s not that hard. We just had to find a way to get a stop and we couldn’t do it."
   Steinert broke a scoreless tie in the second quarter with a field goal, then added a touchdown on a 50-yard run by Jim Costello. Then Costello added another touchdown in the third quarter to open up a 17-0 lead.
   "Hopefully we can rebound," Everette said. "We’ve done it before. We were hoping we would get off to a better start this year, but it didn’t happen. We just have to go back to work and get ready for next week against Nottingham. It’s Homecoming and we’ll have the balloons out and the alumni back, so it should be fun."
   Most of the Princeton offense came through the air, as quarterback John Mitko completed 10 of his 21 passes for 50 yards. Moni caught four of the balls for a total of 22 yards.
   "I thought (Mitko) played great," Everette said of his quarterback. "We had some dropped balls that we just can’t afford. That hurt us. We had opportunities to move the ball and move the sticks and we just didn’t do it.
   "It’s rough when you’re on the field that long and your offense isn’t giving you anything. Overall, I was satisfied with our defense. We just couldn’t get a stop when we needed one. One of our linebackers (Doug Borchert) was out and hopefully he’ll be healthy and we get him back. I think you’ll see a different spark in our defense."
   And if the Little Tigers get that spark on defense, maybe it will carry over to the offense. In Saturday’s opener, the field position was never there and the Little Tigers just never got it going on offense.