By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Charlie Gallagher hopes what he saw in the second half last Friday night is a sign of things to come for his Princeton High School football team.
Todd Smith knows the test gets tougher for his Hun School football team this week.
Gallagher’s Little Tigers rallied from a 17-point first half deficit to defeat Ewing, 34-27, for their first win of the season.
“We have experienced guys who stayed composed,” said Gallagher, whose team will host Hightstown tonight at PHS. “It was nice to see the guys can do that. It took us a little while to get up to speed, We scored 10 points in the first half, which was more than we scored in the first game. But we were able to turn it on in the second half.
“I thought we did a great job in the beginning of the second half. We had a drive all the way down the field and fumbled at 5-yard line down by 10. All the air came flying out like that was our chance. But Noah (Ziegler) made a huge play on a safety two plays later. That was the momentum changer. They kicked from the 20 and we had a nice return and we just started scoring points.”
David Beamer connected with Alex Solopenkov to tie the score at 20-20 and Rory Helstrom followed with the second of his three touchdown runs to give Princeton a 27-20 lead. After Ewing tied the score, Helstrom’s late touchdown run gave Princeton a 34-27 lead on its way to evening its record at 1-1.
“I thought our defense played well in both games,” Gallagher said. “Hamilton had some weapons. Our defense has a new coordinator (Steve DiGregorio) and he is doing a great job. He brings a wealth of experience and fire that we need. We have a good complement of coaches.”
Princeton will host Hightstown tonight. Last year the school drew close to 3,000 fans for its first night game at PHS. This year the Little Tigers expect an even bigger crowd.
“They printed 4,000 tickets for the game,” Gallagher said. “I think we were just shy of 3,000 last year. We are excited and want to make it happen. It should be a great game. It was great last year and the game was 7-0. The kids know the deal as far as putting points on the board.”
Ziegler, a senior captain who plays on both the offensive and defensive lines, earned Offensive Lineman of the Week honors from the 12th Man Touchdown Club for his efforts in helping get the offense rolling.
“It’s a nice honor for him,” Gallagher said. “We had 300 yards rushing and 200 passing. We ran a lot behind Noah. We ran it his direction and he does a great job.”
Hun also piled up some big numbers on offense in a 70-6 win over Wyoming Seminary. Quarterback Simon Vadas threw for a school-record six touchdowns in the win for the Raiders.
“We were pretty balanced across the board,” said Smith, the Raiders’ second-year head coach. “I feel like we have the ability to run and throw the ball. We’re still in the process of finding that outright deep threat. We are trying to be efficient with the ball. We didn’t have a turnover and we didn’t have to punt.”
Vadas completed 13 passes for 353 and six touchdowns. Senior transfer Luke Apuzzi caught five of the passes for 129 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
“We replaced a lot of the skill guys who graduated,” Smith said. “Luke Apuzzi has been a pleasant surprise. He has adapted really well. Simon had a good day and set a school record with the six TDs, which were all in the first half.”
The Raiders will face a tougher task this week when they play at Poly Prep.
“They’re rated the top prep school right now,” Smith said. “They have a good team and it should be a good game.”
West Windsor-Plainsboro North found itself playing in a high-scoring affair, falling to Allentown, 81-56. The Knights trailed, 47-35, at haftime before Allentown pulled away with a big third quarter. Malik Thompson was named the 12th Man Touchdown Club Special Teams Player of the Week after he returned a pair of kickoffs for touchdowns and also had a 50-yard punt return in the loss for the Knights. Thompson also accounted for four other touchdowns and over 400 yards in total offense.
Montgomery had a 14-7 lead in the fourth quarter before North Hunterdon rallied for a 21-14 win. Wyatt Colangelo ran for a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to give the Cougars a 14-7 lead before the Lions rallied for the win.
West Windsor-Plainsboro South fell to 0-2 with a 34-14 loss to Nottingham. Lucas Cuitino returned a fumble for a touchdown to give the Pirates an early 7-0 lead. But the Northstars scored the next 27 points to pull away. South added another touchdown when Scott Cochrane connected with T.J. Derricotte on a 12-yard touchdown pass.
