By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Isaac Webb had high hopes coming into his junior season for the Princeton High School football team.
After catching 38 passes and scoring seven touchdowns a year ago, Webb and the Little Tigers were hoping for big things this season.
Unfortunately, Princeton’s opening game of the season against Hamilton saw starting quarterback Vince Doran go down with a season-ending injury. Webb also injured his ankle in the opener and has slowly been working himself back into shape.
Those injuries, combined with several others for the Little Tigers, have turned a season that opened with promise into a rebuilding year.
“I have been trying to get back and perform on the field,” said Webb, who caught his first two touchdown passes of the season in last week’s 48-13 loss to West Windsor-Plainsboro South. “This injury has been messing with me for pretty much the entire season. Last game, I had to come out around the first quarter. Lawrence and Hightstown, I finished but it was a struggle.”
Webb was able to play the full game at receiver and defensive back in the setback to the Pirates. Princeton, which fell to 0-6 with the loss, started freshman Jake Renda at quarterback, with junior Ryan Benattar playing the second half. Each quarterback connected with Webb for a touchdown pass.
“Just having that many injuries, you kind of lose a little bit of optimism,” Webb said. “But with Jake being our quarterback, and he is learning really fast, and with Ryan being our quarterback, he is also learning really fast. They are trying to take advantage of the opportunities that they have and trying to get the ball up the field.
“It mostly comes down to throw me the ball. They have to read their reads and take advantage of the opportunities they have.”
Princeton will play home to Northern Burlington tonight at 7 in its Homecoming Game. The contest will be played under portable lights in what has become an annual night game for the Little Tigers.
“We feel like Homecoming is a winnable game,” Webb said. “We thought this one was a winnable game. We came out with a lot of optimism. We came out with a lot of might and a lot of fight. Just simple mistakes took over and we couldn’t capitalize on the fact that they made some mistakes, too.”
Princeton, which has 10 seniors on the roster, is down to just six who are playing as the season begins to wind down. There have been plenty of opportunities for the younger players on the roster to get on the field and gain experience that should help the team down the road.
“We have a lot of juniors and those kids are getting reps,” Princeton coach Charlie Gallagher said. “We have a small sophomore class, but our freshman class is a big one. We have to keep positive. Things have been good. We have had great weeks of practice and I am excited about that. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. We haven’t gotten to the end of the tunnel yet, but we’re going to get there. It might be the next week. It might be the week after. We’re going to get there. We have a great group of kids.”
Renda, a freshman, was thrust into the quarterback position when Doran was hurt in the opening game. He’s thrown for over 300 yards and a pair of touchdowns this season. Benattar has also seen action at quarterback and has thrown two touchdown passes.
“We have a freshman quarterback,” Gallagher said. “This kid is a great kid. He’s going to be our future. We’re throwing him out there to the wolves. Ryan is a junior and a veteran guy and we’re hoping for a little bit of veteran leadership. They have been competing in practice and it has been a close one. Jake understands, and I think Ryan understands, that if you get the starting nod and things don’t go well it doesn’t mean you get to finish the four quarters out. It means we are giving you the opportunity to start things off and if it doesn’t go well we’ll go to the other guy.”
Princeton still has a chance to right the ship. The Little Tigers realize there will be growing pains with so many young players on the field. But they also want to do whatever they can to win games this season.
“It’s a mixture of both,” Webb said. “You think about how Jake is developing so fast and he is tremendous on the field. And then you think about next year and how it will be a whole different story. And then you look at next week and you think we need him to develop just a little bit faster.”
Webb’s own development was slowed a bit by his injury in the opener. But he’s getting healthy again and that has made a difference in his play.
“It has been a slow season compared to last year,” Webb said. “I want to say that by this time last year I had five or six touchdowns. But we’re starting to figure it out and get that mesh again.”
Added Gallagher: “He is giving everything he’s got. He’s a competitor. He’s a good player. He’s a motivator. He has these flashes of brilliance. And to be honest, we don’t get the ball to him enough. We need to do a better job with that.”
