Little Tigers set for playoffs
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The turnaround for the Princeton High School football team now has an exclamation point.
The Little Tigers can officially put last year’s 0-10 season in the rearview mirror after topping West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 47-21, to improve to 8-1 and capture the Valley Division championship of the West Jersey Football League.
”It does feel great after what we have been through last year and all the doubt we faced,” said senior co-captain Sam Smallzman, who scored a touchdown on offense and led a strong defensive effort in the win over the Knights. “With all the work we put in to make us stronger it is good to see it pay off.”
Princeton finished a perfect 5-0 in Valley Division play and will next take the field for an opening round game in the Central Jersey Group IV playoffs at Brick Township on Friday at 7 p.m. For a team that went winless a year ago, getting ready for a playoff game with a league championship under your belt is something to get excited about.
”We took our lumps last year going 0-10,” Princeton coach Charlie Gallagher said. “But we had a lot of returners coming back. At the same time we did have a good offseason. We had a talented quarterback coming back. We had a talented running back coming back. We knew we had some stud defensive players coming back with guys like Colin Buckley, Tommy Moore and Sam Smallzman. And we returned most of our offensive line. Being 0-10, though, you are a little nervous. We’re working hard, no doubt.”
After turning the ball over on its first drive against the Knights, Princeton scored on Rory Helstrom touchdown runs on two of its next three possessions to grab a 14-0 halftime lead. In the third quarter the Little Tigers kicked it into high gear, scoring on five straight possessions to blow the game open.
Helstrom finished with 215 yards rushing and scored four touchdowns, while Buckley ran for 85 yards and a touchdown and Smallzman added 73 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback David Beamer, who threw for 150 yards, added a touchdown pass to Joe Hawes.
”It’s a new attitude this year,” Smallzman said “We worked hard the whole offseason and then after the first game was when we realized what we had this year.
”This year more than others we are really tight. Everyone believes in each other. We don’t blame each other when we’re down. We believe in each other and support each other no matter what.”
Princeton, which suffered through several key injuries last year, not only remained healthy this season but also received an influx of new talent as well. That, combined with the general improvement of the younger players, has made this season special.
”We had Joe Hawes come in as a soccer convert,” Gallagher said. “Jack Cook has done a nice job for us playing some corner and wide out. Ben Danis came back after tearing his ACL sophomore year. He’s been awesome. And Sam Smallzman missed half the season last year and he has come back and been a beast on defense for us.
”Coach (Scott) Goldsmith has done a nice job with the defense. (WW-P North) has a lot of weapons so we were definitely concerned. They have put up a lot of points this year. Our defensive line has been pretty ferocious all year and they did what they had to do. Colin Buckley, Tommy Moore, Amiyr Harris, we have a plethora of tackles in there. Ethan Guerra and Matt Toplin and Noah Ziegler, they all just did a great job for us.”
The Little Tigers certainly hope they are not done. They earned the No. 7 seed for the CJ IV playoffs and face a tall task at second-seeded Brick Township.
”We’re just thinking about next week,” Buckley said. “It feels good to win and not be 0-10, but you have to take it in stride. We definitely have some mojo going. We are going to give all we have left these last couple games.”
Added Gallagher: “We have a couple game winning streak going on right now. We’re going to carry that on to next week. I know we’ll have a tough opponent and we just want to go out and represent Mercer County the best we can.”