Four vying to be champ
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
There was talk of expansion. There has been some tweaking of the rules. But in the end, it’s the same four teams back for the third season of the Princeton Packet Fantasy Football League.
For the second straight year, Trentonian sports writer George O’Gorman and former Trenton Times football writer Steve Tuckerson, now the master of ceremonies at the 12th Man Touchdown Club dinners, join Packet writers Justin Feil and Bob Nuse in the high school fantasy league.
There is a minor rules change as an extra flex player has been added to each roster. Points are awarded based on yardage, catches and touchdowns on offense, as well as sacks, interceptions and points allowed on defense.
In the first year of the league, Justin Feil’s Feil Cabinets team rode the huge year of West Windsor-Plainsboro South running back Ryan Lupo to a championship. Last year, it was the Good Nuse Bears, using the passing combination of South’s Connor Farrell to Jeff Riemann as well as a strong Hun defense to win a championship.
As far as this year, Tuckerson’s Mighty Tucks team and O’Gorman’s Curious Georges are looking to make it three different winners in three years.
Players selected come from the six schools in the Packet coverage area — Montgomery, Princeton, WW-P North, WW-P South, the Hun School and Princeton Day School. Weekly updates of the standings will be available on the new Packet sports blog, NJGameon.
Here is a round-by-round look at how Tuesday night’s draft unfolded.
ROUND ONE
With the first pick, the Feil Cabinets made sure to grab a quarterback. They went for the man who leads the high-powered WW-P South offense in senior Connor Farrell.
”It’s going to be pick your poison for South opponents,” said Cabinets general manager Justin Feil. “I think they’ll try to take the run away which will open things up a little more for Farrell to have an even bigger year than last year.”
With the second pick, O’Gorman figures the Pirates will go with the run, so he took Dave Twamley, who rushed for nearly 1,300 yards and eight touchdowns last year. Tuckerson is thinking they’ll throw the ball, so he makes it three straight Pirates with the selection of receiver Riemann, who caught 11 touchdown passes last year. The first non-Pirate of the draft goes next as the Bears select Montgomery receiver J.T. Tartacoff, who may also get some work as a running back.
ROUND TWO
The defending champs open the second round with the selection of Hun School receiver/back Nick Williams, who should get the ball in a number of situations for the Raiders. Tuckerson follows by selecting WW-P North running back Sean Reed, who showed potential last year for the Knights. O’Gorman follows with the selection of the lightning portion of Princeton’s thunder and lightning, running back Josh Gordon. Feil closes out the round by taking one of Farrell’s WW-P South receiving targets, Max Merkovitz.
ROUND THREE
The Feil Cabinets open the third round with the first defense to be selected, going for the powerful Hun defense. O’Gorman takes the second quarterback of the draft, going for Hun junior Brendan Dudeck. This causes the first bad feelings of the draft, as Tuckerson had hoped to add Dudeck to his roster.
”How often do you get to draft someone you covered in Little League,” Tuckerson said. “I really wanted Dudeck.”
Instead, the Mighty Tucks go for defense with the selection of WW-P South. The Bears then go for a running back with the thunder part of Princeton’s attack, Trevor Barsamian.
ROUND FOUR
Nuse opens the round by going for a receiver with WW-P South junior Jack Dennehy. Tuckerson follows with the selection of Pirate running back Henry MacQueen. O’Gorman goes with WW-P North’s Tim Owoh, who should get some carries as a running back and also played some quarterback last year. Feil closes out the ride by selecting the highest scoring non-drafted player from a year ago, WW-P North receiver Ryan Phelan.
ROUND FIVE
Feil, feeling like there will be plenty of offense at WW-P South, takes the third Pirate running back selected in the draft when he goes for Chris Matthews. O’Gorman gets his defense solidified with the selection of Princeton. The Tucks go for the first post-graduate selection, choosing Hun’s Travis Keating. The Bears then get their quarterback with the selection of Princeton’s Connor Ryan.
ROUND SIX
The Bears add a running back with Princeton Day’s Dennis Cannon. The Tucks follow with a running back of their own, taking Montgomery power back Jon Gutman. Princeton receiver D’Quan Holman goes next to O’Gorman, with Feil closing out the round with Hun post-grad running back Donald Coleman.
ROUND SEVEN
The final two rounds are used to fill out rosters. Feil goes for another Hun player in receiver Chris Alston. O’Gorman takes the first kicker of the draft, going for South’s Alex Rohrbach. Tuckerson adds a quarterback with North’s Rob White, while the Bears follow with the PDS defense.
ROUND EIGHT
The Bears fill out their roster with kicker/fencer Joe Behnke of North. The Tucks get their kicker with the longest name in the draft, Hun’s Levan Chubinishvili.
”The name itself is enough of a reason to draft him,” Tuckerson said.
O’Gorman gets another receiver, his second from PHS, with Doug Bryant. Feil closes out the draft with his kicker, Mathys Mesters of Montgomery.
DRAFT ANALYSIS
Everyone always feels confident right after the draft and this year was no exception. Feil, hurting after a last-place finish a year ago, feels confident with his South/Hun dominated team. O’Gorman, the veteran writer in the group, made some rookie mistakes in his drafting a year ago, but this year loaded up at the running back position. Tuckerson was upset with some of the players he wanted being selected right before he could take them, but is happy with his lineup. As for the defending champs, the Bears are the only team in the fantasy league with a representative from each of the six Packet-area schools. And that should be enough to make everyone happy when they repeat as champions.