By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Skip Edwards has seen how hard his players have worked this season. So when it came time for the biggest decision of the season, the West Windsor-Plainsboro South football coach left it in the players’ hands.
The Pirates scored with 54 seconds left in the game to pull within one points of Hamilton. Conventional wisdom says you kick the extra points to tie the game and go from there. But the Pirates had other ideas.
“I called the kids over and talked to a couple coaches and they wanted to go for the win,” Edwards said. “I was fine to go to overtime but the kids work hard and they are out there all the time. The way the season was going I said why not? I asked them and said go for the win.”
Quarterback Scott Cochrane connected with Anthony Taylor on the two-point conversion pass and the Pirates had their lead. They wound up a 29-28 winner when the Hornets missed a field goal on the final play of the game.
“I am happy for the kids,” said Edwards, whose team snapped a 12-game overall losing streak. “They did a good job executing the game plan, They didn’t give up. They played hard. We had some big plays made by people we were hoping would make them and it worked to our advantage.”
Zyion Cooper rushed for 195 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win to earn the 12th Man Touchdown Club Offensive Back of the Week award. Cochrane threw a touchdown pass to Manas Garg and also ran for another in the win.
“Hamilton is a dangerous team,” Edwards said. “Tom Hoeglan does a great job over there. This was a great win for our team. We’ll take each game one at a time. We have a lot of young players and this week (against Ocean City) poses new challenges. We’re facing a team we have ever played before.”
While WW-P South was improving to 1-2, WW-P North improved to 1-2 with a 28-10 win over Princeton. The Knights took advantage of five Princeton turnovers to win their second straight game.
“I thought it would be a battle the whole way,” said North two-way lineman Jeremy Lockwood. “Last year we only won by 10 points and it was a battle the whole way.
“We’re playing better each week. Allentown was a good experience for us as a young team this year. We don’t have many seniors. We refocused against South and got a shutout and then came back here tonight and kept it going.”
The Knights offense was balanced as Brian Murphy threw three touchdown passes and Tyrell Williams ran for a touchdown. The offense has looked good over the last two weeks.
“Our offensive coordinator, Jeff Torralba, put in this zone read because we have a fast quarterback, great running backs, great skills and a great line,” Lockwood said. “We have a couple new kids on the line. Jack (Rome), Jude (Batoon) and I are the only returning linemen, Everybody else is new and we’re trying to get them into things.”
The Knights have done a good job of working some newcomers into the lineup and it is paying dividends.
“Daniel Moore, it is his first year ever playing football,” North coach Jeff Reilly said. “He’s 6-5, 290 and he has really stepped up and has learned the game of football. I saw him in the weight room one day and said, who is that guy? Someone said ‘he’s Dan, he’ll never play.’ I thought oh yes he will. Next thing you know he is in the weight room lifting every day and he’s a wonderful kid.
“Carlos Suarez, this was his first time starting. Our center, Jude Batoon, hurt his ankle in gym class on Monday and instead of being upset I just said Carlos has to do it and he stepped up and did a great job.”
Princeton was coming off a big win over Hightstown. But the Little Tigers made too many mistakes in the loss to the Knights.
“We had some momentum going in our direction and it just fell apart in the second half,” Princeton coach Charlie Gallagher said. “We didn’t do what we wanted to do. We were a little bit out of the game at the end but we were still down inside the 10 twice. We could have put some points on the board and made it look more respectable.
“At the same time, you get in there, you never know. You get an onside kick or something like that and good things that can happen.”
But too many turnovers hurt whatever chances the Little Tigers had of getting back into the game.
“It is the amount of mistakes,” Gallagher said. “It is the turnovers. It is just a slew of things that we don’t really see in practice. They do a pretty good job. We have just got to make sure we have all the right guys in. We have a great bunch of guys. I really do love this team. They do work real hard. It is a matter of youth.”
Montgomery fell to 1-2 with a 14-0 loss to Hunterdon Central.
The Hun School improved to 2-0 with a 55-13 win over Capital Prep of Connecticut. John Strycharz ran for three touchdowns and Josh Henderson ran for a pair of scores.
