 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) RECORD PACE: Princeton High senior running back Alexz Henriques turns the corner during practice last week. The elusive 5'9, 165-pound running back rushed for 1,707 yards in 2005, the second best single-season total in CVC history. He needs 1,327 yards this season in his final campaign to pass the CVC career record of 3,779 yards held by Trenton's Corey Brown. The Little Tigers kick off their 2006 campaign by hosting Steinert on September 9. |
Alexz Henriques piled up some eye-popping numbers for the Princeton High football team last fall.
The elusive 5'9, 165-pound running back rushed for 1,707 yards in 2005, the second best single-season total in CVC history. He needs 1,327 yards this season in his final campaign to pass the CVC career record of 3,779 yards held by Trenton's Corey Brown.
But as PHS prepares for its 2006 season-opener this Saturday against visiting Steinert, offensive milestones are the last thing on the minds of the Little Tigers.
"We don't talk about records," said PHS head coach Steve Everette. "We just want to win; our focus is to win games."
Everette, though, acknowledges that Henriques will be a focus of the PHS offense as it looks to better the 6-4 record it posted last fall when it fell one win short of qualifying for the state public playoffs.
"Alexz is looking pretty good, he came in a couple of pounds heavier and a step quicker," said Everette, who expects junior fullback Doug Borchert to provide some vital inside yardage for his squad.
"We know people will be gunning for him. We're going to move the ball around a little bit and get it to Alexz in the passing game like we did when he was a sophomore."
The PHS passing game should be in good shape with the return of 5'7, 155-pound senior quarterback John Mitko, who was among the CVC leaders in passing yardage last season.
"I didn't think it was possible to spend more time on football and watching film than Vinny Giacalone (former PHS star quarterback who graduated in 2005) but I think John has," said Everette.
"John has a great grasp of our offense. I'm excited to see him go out and perform this fall. Last year, he didn't always get the credit he deserved. We'd get an 80-yard touchdown pass and everyone would say the receiver broke tackles to make it happen. John still had to hit the pass."
PHS does have some holes to fill in its receiving corps with the graduation of Ben Guervil, Frank Giacalone, and Marc Andre.
Everette believes that seniors Tyler Moni and Sascha Hopson together with junior John Miranda, Jr. can do the job.
"Tyler is probably our No. 1 receiver right now; he's elusive," asserted Everette, who will be using junior Alex Bozich and sophomore Brandon Merrill at tight end.
"Sascha has been our starting safety the last two years and we didn't need him at receiver. He is big; he has really stepped up. John Miranda keeps making one big play after another; he made a diving one-handed catch for a touchdown in a scrimmage the other day."
Mitko has worked hard to establish a rhythm with his new receivers. "John had the group coming in over the winter at 6 in the morning to do passing drills," said Everette. "He knows what they can do."
PHS appears to have the foundation on the offensive line to let the offensive skill players do their thing. "We have about eight kids in the mix on the line; it's good to have that kind of depth," said Everette.
The PHS offensive line will feature seniors Peter Asmuth and Chris Clark together with juniors Jordan Simpson, Peter Murphy, Tamai Young, and Matt Young.
Along the defensive front, senior James Broadway should wreak some havoc. "James is a very underrated player," said Everette of the 5'11, 185 pound Broadway.
"He's not the biggest kid in the world but he really has a motor. If you try to block him with just one player; he can cause a lot of problems."
PHS, which will be using a 4-4 defensive scheme this fall, will also look to Merrill, Bozich, Simpson, and Justin Hulick to beef up its line.
The linebacking corps figures to be a strength of the PHS defense, led by Borchert, senior Elliott Schreffler, and juniors Luke LaVoie and Joe Cifelli.
"Borchert was our leading tackler last year," added Everette. "Luke LaVoie really did well on special teams; he hit the weight room and we really have to get him on the field."
In the secondary, the Little Tigers will be depending on senior star Hopson to dominate the field. "Sascha has come along so much," said Everette. "He can do so many things; he's like a coach on the field. We're trying to utilize him in different ways in coverage and coming up on the run."
While PHS's ultimate goal is to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 1990s, Everette knows his squad has to take things one step at a time.
"I think our first goal is to win the division," explained Everette. "We've moved up; we're playing Steinert, Nottingham, and Hightstown. We definitely want to get to the playoffs; we think that we can compete and make some noise if we do. We have to take the steps to get there; we know it's tough."
Right now the Little Tigers are focused on Steinert, their first hurdle in the playoff drive. "We had a nice little road game with them last year," recalled Everette, referring to Princeton's dramatic 26-20 win over the Spartans last September.
"They have one of the best backs in Jimmy Costello and a lot of people are looking at this game as a battle of two of the best running backs around. We get them at home so that's good."
If PHS star Henriques wins that battle, PHS could be well on its way to putting up some good numbers in the win column.
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