By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Instead of spending Labor Day Weekend at the beach, the Princeton football team will be on the field opening up its scholastic season on Saturday at 11 a.m. when the Little Tigers play as the host to Hamilton West.
Princeton gets an early start to the season due to a change in the schedule as a result of West Windsor-Plainsboro North dropping its varsity football team. The program was forced to call off the season due to a lack of players.
The teams that were scheduled to play West Windsor-Plainsboro North suddenly found themselves with an opening on their schedule. The West Jersey Football League scrambled to fill the voids and Princeton and Hamilton West went from not facing each other this year to playing a week earlier than they had originally planned to start.
“With the West Windsor North situation, they had to get all those teams a game,” Princeton coach Charlie Gallagher said. “The only place to find a spot to play the game was before the season would have started. We play Hamilton West. I guess we’re fortunate because Steinert has to go all the way to Middle Township (Cape May County), which is a long ride.
“We saw the writing on the wall. I saw we had Hamilton and (WW-P) North had Hamilton, so that is how it happened. It is unfortunate. I would rather have North have a team and we would be playing against them. But that didn’t happen.”
Princeton, which finished 1-9 last year, will go into the opening game with a solid nucleus of returning players to build around. The Little Tigers have 10 seniors, eight of whom saw varsity action last year, while two of the seniors are new to football. The junior class is also deep, which gives Princeton depth at the upper class levels.
“Two years ago we had 35 freshmen come out,” Gallagher said. “Last year we had five and this year we have about 15. I like the number 15. I would like it to be more. But if we get 15 freshmen a year, that is good. To get 35 is great. But what we can’t have is five.
“We’re still around 18 or 19 with the juniors. You know you are always going to lose a couple from year to year.”
The group of eight seniors who are returning includes quarterback Vince Doran, who brings experience to the key position on offense.
The Little Tigers also return seniors Takahi Carter (OL/DL), Henry Garcia-Guzman (RB/LB), Finn Kaiser (OL/DL), Moses Mahiri (RB/LB), Marqui McBride (OL/DL), Adam Musa (OL/DL), and Will Smith (WR/CB).
Two seniors who are new to the program are Ben Cier and Chris Hidalgo.
“We have a good group of seniors,” Gallagher said. “All but two are returning letterwinners. The other two are trying to get into mix. The guys we have returning all got a lot of varsity reps last year. And then in the junior class, we have a lot of guys as well. So we’re happy about that. If you want to do well you have to have the horses.”
While Princeton stumbled last fall, the program is just three years removed from a 2014 season when the Little Tigers finished 8-2 and earned a berth in the Central Jersey, Group 4 state sectional playoffs.
Gallagher enters his fifth season as head coach with a 13-27 record. He hopes the solid numbers on the roster lead to consistency with the team’s record.
“I think that is the goal,” Gallagher said. “I would like to think that no matter what happens we will always be around the .500 mark. That has not happened every year. We are trying to figure that formula out. We would like to be a good football team every year and once in a while have a run (similar to 2014). Without a doubt, consistency is paramount. We have to get there in 2017. We have some good players. We’d like to have a good run. Right now we are all about Hamilton West. They have a good squad and they will come ready to play. They won a playoff game last year and they have some experience.”
Princeton’s returning strength will be at quarterback and on the offensive line. Doran, who threw for 1,834 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior, brings experience to the position.
The offensive line returns starters Kaiser and Musa at tackles, as well as McBride at left guard. Junior Jaylen Johnson, who saw significant time as a sophomore last year, is the center. The right guard spot is up for grabs, with junior Joseph Feldman looking to seize the spot.
“Vince has done a really nice job thus far,” Gallagher said. “He threw for a lot of yards last year. He’s done a better job this year with ball security and making the right reads. If we can control the line of scrimmage where we have a lot of returning guys, that will be a big help for us. So far the guys are all doing a great job and we’re excited and hoping for a quality season.”
