IN HINDSIGHT: Princeton High football player Ellington Hinds surveys the scene in a game earlier this season. Last Friday, junior star Hinds made five catches for 112 yards and one TD and a 17-yard run on a sweep as PHS topped Ewing 20-13 to notch its first win of the season. The Tigers, now 1-2, play at Hamilton West on September 21. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

With the Princeton High football team having started 0-2, Charlie Gallagher decided that it was time for some trickery as the Tigers played at Ewing last Friday night in their West Jersey Football League (WJFL) Valley Division opener.

“We started with a little bit of dazzle dazzle, and it paid off,” said PHS head coach Gallagher.

“We threw a little halfback pass to Ellington [Hinds]. We put Brady [Collier] in the backfield, he took a handoff from Travis [Petrone] and rolled around to the side and aired it out and connected with Ellington. He still had some work to do because he had to get to the end zone. He made a little cut to come back for the ball and then was off to the races for 64 yards for a touchdown. It was a good way to start.”

Setting the tone with that early gamble, PHS kept Ewing off balance for the rest of the half as it built a 14-0 lead by intermission.

“Carmine [Carusone] punched in from seven yards in the second quarter which was great,” said Gallagher. “The defense just played really, really good football.”

Ewing played some good football as it narrowed the gap to 14-6 in the third quarter. PHS responded by going up 20-6 as QB Petrone scored on a one-yard run in the fourth quarter. Unfazed, the Blue Devils drew within 20-13 on a 50-yard punt return for a TD and then gained possession in the waning seconds of regulation after recovering an onside kick.

PHS, though, held the fort and hung for the win by that margin to improve to 1-2.

Gallagher acknowledged that there were some anxious moments down the stretch for the Tigers.

“We are talking dicey,” said Gallagher. “Ewing got the ball around the 50. They got one first down and I think they had three or four incompletions in a row.

We put a lot of great pressure on them which was great to see. A lot of guys stepped up.”

The return of senior star linebackers Elisio Moncada and Joe George from injury helped PHS put pressure on Ewing.

“We got both interior linebackers back, Moncada, and George,” said Gallagher. “They are great, they make a difference. They had 140 tackles between them last year. They just played some really great ball. The run game for Ewing is good, they don’t really go to the air. They got some yards but nothing like we gave up in the past two weeks. Joe and Elisio and that interior line with Sean Wilton and Zyair Mackey-Wright really locked it down.”

The Tiger offense played some good ball as junior Carusone rushed for 114 yards on 23 carries for one TD while junior Hinds made five catches for 112 yards and one TD, adding a 17-yard run on a sweep. Petrone connected on 5-for-8 passes for 53 yards and rushed for 30 yards on six carries for one TD.

“It is the first time in a long time that we had a 100-yard receiver and a 100-yard rusher in the same game,” said Gallagher. “Carmine had a great game. He is kicking, he is playing defense. If you are in the business world, he is a multitasker. If it’s in football, he is an ironman. He got off on a couple of big runs. Travis did a great job of getting him the ball. We talked to Ellington on Saturday and we said we need a few more of those and he agreed. He has a nice 17-yard run on a sweep, it got us down to the one-yard line. He had five catches with the big one from Brady. We need to do a little bit more of that. He was great, he caught passes underneath.”

The Tigers were hungry to get on the winning track after the disappointing start.

“We had two games that we would have like to have back,” said Gallagher. “We started our division play and the goal since the very beginning has been to win our division. Needless to say in the first game we want to be 1-0 in the division and we were able to get that so we are real happy. Being 0-3 would have been really tough. At the same time we were just really focused on Ewing.”
With PHS playing at Hamilton West (0-3) in another Valley Division matchup, Gallagher believes the Tigers will keep their focus.

“Hopefully we will feel real confident going into next week,” said Gallagher. “The goal is to be 2-0 in the division, that is where we are at.”