South football is lone area winner
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
It looked like the Princeton High football team was following the same script it had successfully followed for the last few weeks.
Trailing in the fourth quarter, the Little Tigers battled back to tie the game and were in position for a comeback win. But when Hightstown blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown with 29 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Little Tigers went from the brink of victory to a tough 19-13 loss.
”Every bounce went their way because they were playing hard and they were scrapping,” said Princeton coach Steve Everette, whose team fell to 5-2 with the loss. “They tip a ball and it would stay in the air one more second and their kids were running to the ball. They block a field goal and the ball goes right into their kid’s hands. That’s what happens when you are scrapping and fighting for a win. My hat is off to them. Coach (Steve) Jablonski did a great job getting his kids ready to play.”
Princeton trailed, 13-6, before a 50-yard touchdown run by Josh Gordon tied the score in the fourth quarter. With two minutes left the Little Tigers got the ball back and were in position to win the game with a 47-yard field goal by Brian Vieten. But the kick was blocked and returned for a touchdown to give Hightstown the lead with 29 seconds left.
”We had a shot down the stretch,” Everette said. “Our kids have been making plays for us and we just came up a little bit short. It’s what happens. That’s the joy of being a high school football coach. You have some great days and you have some bad days.
”They made one more play than we did. They did a great job.”
Montgomery saw its playoff hopes take a big hit with a 30-6 loss to Somerville on Friday night. The Cougars struggled from the outset and were never really in the game.
”The bottom line is that Somerville completed dominated us on both sides of the ball,” said Montgomery coach Zoran Milich, whose team fell to 4-3. “They totally took it to us and outplayed us in every facet of the football game.”
Somerville got on the board first on a 71-yard pass play in the first quarter and never trailed. The lead grew to 30-0 before Connor Chick scored for the Cougars’ on a 1-yard run.
”We still had plenty of opportunities after that and plenty of game left,” Milich said. “We just did not execute. We’re 4-3 and we’re playing for pride right now.”
The only Packet-area team to win this weekend was West Windsor-Plainsboro South, which improved to 7-0 with a 28-9 win over Nottingham. David Twamley rushed for 201 yards and scored all four touchdowns for the Pirates, who overcame a 9-7 deficit with three fourth-quarter touchdowns.
The win moved the Pirates to the top of the power points standings in Central Jersey Group IV with one game against Steinert left before the state cutoff.
WW-P North stayed with Notre Dame most of the night on Friday before falling, 28-20. The Pirates jumped on top on a Rob White to Sean Reed 65-yard pass play for a touchdown. Reed scored on a 6-yard run in the third quarter to tie the game at 14-14 before the Irish scored twice to take a 28-14 lead. A Ryan Phelan to Cashmir Hardison touchdown pass closed out the Knights’ scoring.
The Hun School dropped a 21-7 decision at Sayreville on Friday night. The Raiders — playing without injured standouts Tyler Stockton and Brian Leffler — scored on a Brendan Dudeck to Nick Williams touchdown pass.
Princeton Day School went on the road and dropped a 41-8 decision at Delaware Military.

