North, South to debut on turf fields
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The Princeton Day School football team finally has a league of its own.
Since the demise of the state Prep B league several years ago, the Panthers have been forced to play an independent schedule that offered a mixed bag of opponents. Now, with the creation of the Tri-State League, PDS has a championship to play for.
”It’s nice for the kids to know they’re in a conference and can win a championship,” PDS coach Bruce Devlin said. “The teams in the league are pretty much at the same level as we are. It helps to play teams that are the same type of program that we are. And there is talk the league may add two more teams next year.”
In addition to PDS, the league includes St. Andrew’s and Tower Hill from Delaware, as well as George School and Perkiomen from Pennsylvania. With non-league games against Morrisville (Pa.), as well as West Nottingham (Md.), Red Lions Christian (Del.) and Delaware Military Academy, the Panthers will not play a game against a New Jersey school this year.
Both West Windsor-Plainsboro North and WW-P South will open the season at home on Saturday on new turf fields. The Knights will host Ewing at noon, while the Pirates host Trenton at 1 p.m.
Both schools will hold ceremonies prior to the opening kickoff. The ceremony at South will include the unveiling of commemorative plaques honoring former coaches Rex Walker and Tom Stuart.
Walker was the school’s first football coach, spending six years in the position as well as coaching baseball and becoming athletic director. Stuart was the school’s second head coach, leading the Pirates for 23 years and winning 131 games.
Already playing a tough schedule in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League, the Hun School didn’t do itself any favors by adding Wyoming Seminary and Valley Forge Military Academy to the schedule.
”Those are big PG schools, so they’ll be tough teams for us,” Hun coach Dave Dudeck said. “And we still have Worcester and Penn Charter, who are always tough. We’re a young team and it will be a challenging schedule for us.”