By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Local prep football fans are well aware of Anthony Gaffney’s multi-faceted skill set.
The Pennington School product is showing all that he can do at the next level now as a freshman on the Princeton University football team, and he hasn’t even shown everything he can do.
”When we recruited him,” said PU head coach Bob Surace, “we knew he had some athleticism.”
It didn’t take long for Gaffney to display it Saturday. He opened the Tigers’ game in New York City against Columbia with a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He went on to intercept a pair of passes to help Princeton to a 33-6 win, its first of the season after losses at Lehigh and to Georgetown.
”I think it gives us a little more confidence, a little more swagger,” Gaffney said after the Tigers improved to 1-2 overall, 1-0 in the Ivy League. “We weren’t too down, but I think we should have both of those games. Things didn’t go in our favor. We know we can get wins, we know we can dominate a team. It gives us more confidence.”
Tom Moak threw his second touchdown pass in two weeks after a bad snap for a field goal, and Quinn Epperly threw for his first touchdown of the year on a 44-yarder to Roman Wilson, and kicker Nolan Bieck connected on all four of his field goal attempts one week after missing all three attempts in a one-point loss to Georgetown.
”We really got off to a good start,” Surace said. “The kickoff return to start the game was big confidence booster. The defense played well start to finish. We applied pressure.
”Special teams played well, but we had a couple kickoff covers — they got a couple out to the 35. Nolan had some confidence, and he booted them through. We had a real solid day on special teams. We lost three offensive linemen, so our offense took a while to get going. We had turnovers where we had a couple chances to really put them away in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter, and we had an interception and fumble.”
Defensively, the Tigers held Columbia to 39 yards rushing and 213 total offensive yards. They recorded five sacks, and slowly stretched a 17-3 halftime lead with a 16-3 second half for their largest margin of victory in 63 games.
”It felt great,” Gaffney said. “It was a great feeling in the locker room afterward.”
The Tigers had contributions from a range of players, but no one made a bigger impact than Gaffney. He took the first kick of the game back for a momentum-building touchdown.
”The blocks were set up as perfectly as they could be,” Gaffney said. “The seam was wide open. You could almost drive a truck through it. I got to the end zone. It was a good way to start off the game.”
Gaffney also became the first Princeton player in five seasons with two picks in one game. Princeton hasn’t even used him where they originally wanted to — on offense at receiver — where he could make even more of an impact.
”I hope I can keep contributing more,” Gaffney said. “I’ll do whatever I can on the field to contribute and do it the best I can.”
Princeton envisions using Gaffney on offense for eight to 10 snaps per game. They had wanted to earlier in the season, but an injury to Khamal Brown at the other cornerback spot thinned the Tigers secondary.
”I expect to play him all three ways,” Surace of Gaffney. “Khamal Brown got hurt, and we had to keep Anthony at corner. We have an offensive package for him. With Khamal missing some practice time, we didn’t feel comfortable risking it.”
Gaffney had been a standout for four years where he played safety and wide receiver, then took a post-graduate year at Taft School, where he also played some cornerback in addition to receiver.
”Last year, basically was kind of like my redshirt year,” Gaffney said. “You can’t do that (redshirt year) in the Ivy League. It gave me a year to develop mentally, physically and my football IQ.
”That year difference gave me a chance to develop strength-wise and mature more. I was away from home. I’m close to home now. Truthfully I don’t know if I’d be playing as a freshman if I didn’t do that.”
The grandfather of the freshman class used his extra year wisely. He came in ready to play for the Tigers, and has made an instant impact.
”The PG year brings him some maturity,” Surace said. “It allows him to be a little further ahead than some of the freshmen. He’s done a good job. He’ll continue to do better. He’s one of the guys that can make big plays for us on offense. Other than Roman Wilson and one play from DiAndre (Atwarter, PU running back), I didn’t see us getting down the field enough.”
Putting Gaffney on offense could help in that department, but the freshman is happy to be contributing wherever he can. He has adjusted to the pace and physical play at the college level after two games, and looking to continue to help the Tigers wherever he can.
”I think I’m a little more confident,” Gaffney said. “First game, I had a little butterflies against Lehigh, they were a top 15 team. I have a couple games under my belt. I’m getting in the flow. I’m not satisfied. There are still things I have to learn and correct.”
Princeton will continue to work on fixing its issues. They improved greatly in their field goal unit, though it started with another bad snap on their first field goal attempt that Moak found Des Smith for a 14-yard touchdown strike. It was the second straight week that Moak has taken a bad snap and turned it into a touchdown.
”Tom Moak has so much composure,” Surace said. “He has such good composure. He played quarterback in high school. And Nolan had a block on both. I’m hoping not to see (the play) again.”
When the snaps from Jason Tiemeier cleaned up, Bieck made it count. He connected on all four of his attempts.
”He practiced well all week,” Surace said. “I was able to talk to someone that I trust, Taylor Northrop, who runs kicking camp. He was an All-American here. I was able to consult with him and he really gave good advice with some things and Nolan, to his credit, had a great week of practice.”
Connor Michelsen and Epperly both threw for more than 100 yards and Atwater rushed for 51 yards on 13 carries. Epperly added 42 yards and Will Powers rushed for 40 yards. Wilson caught three passes for 73 yards.
Princeton goes back on the road this week when they play at Lafayette on Saturday. It is their final non-conference game before they return to Ivy play for the remainder of the season.
