PHS football falls short of .500 mark

Long Branch tops Little Tigers

By: Jake Uitti
   The Princeton High football team fell to the Long Branch Green Wave on Saturday, 36-14, despite a late rally in the second half.
   The Little Tigers, who were hoping to bring their record to .500 on the year with a win in the consolation state playoff game, could not overcome their seven turnovers Saturday against the Green Wave, who ran the ball the majority of the afternoon.
   "They made plays," Princeton coach Steve Everette of Long Branch, which improved to 3-6 and left the Little Tigers with a final record of 4-6.
   Long Branch played six playoff teams during their regular season, so Everette knew his team was in for a tough game.
   "They know what it is to be in wars and battles," Everette said. "Hopefully we can be in that position next year."
   The game’s first touchdown came with 6:35 left in the first quarter, with Long Branch getting a one-yard run from Travis Patterson, who had 182 yards and two touchdowns rushing on the day.
   Late in the second quarter, Long Branch quarterback Wesley Cannon hit running back Shawn Brown for a 7-yard score. After the touchdown, Long Branch caught the Princeton defense sleeping, scoring on a two-point conversion for a 15-0 lead.
   The Little Tigers stormed back, however, with quarterback Jon Mitko hitting Tyler Moni with a 58-yard strike with 1:23 left in the first half, setting up a first-and-goal. On the very next play, however, Princeton fumbled and lost its scoring chance.
   "You can’t put the ball on the turf versus anybody," Everette said. "That’s something to work on in the off season."
   On the first series coming out of the half, Long Branch continued its dominant running, with Patterson picking up a 16-yard run, a 19-yard run and a 13-yard run. The drive was capped off by an Isaiah Hall 5-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown, bringing the score to 22-0.
   Princeton fumbled on the next two Tiger possessions, hurting Princeton’s hopes of a come back. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Hall scored on a 61-yard run for the Green Wave, bringing the score to 29-0.
   During the very next series for the Tigers, however, something clicked. They began working their hurry up offense, with Mitko quickly throwing three consecutive passes to Moni for 18 yards, 8 yards and finally a 15-yard touchdown strike to cut the lead to 29-7 with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.
   The Princeton faithful in the stands cheered for the senior connection they had watched all year. Mitko finished the day completing 15 of 31 passes for 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
   Princeton, on its next series, however, turned the ball over yet again, with Mitko throwing his second interception of the game. On the next play, however, Princeton was able to recover a Long Branch fumble, but just six plays later turned the ball over again on another Mitko interception.
   With just over four minutes to go, the Little Tigers had the ball after a botched Long Branch fake punt at the Long Branch 36-yard line. Mitko hit Alexz Henriques for an 11-yard completion, followed directly by another Henriques completion for 16 yards and a touchdown. Again, the Princeton faithful looking on cheered loudly for another senior connection that brought the score to 29-14.
   Any hope of a second-half comeback was dashed, however, with Patterson scoring his second rushing touchdown after a Mitko interception. With the score 36-14, there was little chance for the Tigers to come back.
   "We won four out of our last six games," Everette said. "That’s the heart of a champion. The second half of the season was good for us. We were a young team. We played great defense all year. The score today really wasn’t indicative of how we played defense. There are a lot of things for us to build on in the future."
   Henriques rushed for 38 yards on 12 carries in his final game as a Little Tigers. He finished his career with 3,558 yards rushing.