STAYING IN THE GAME: Travis Petrone gets ready to fire a pass last fall during his senior season for the Princeton High football team. Petrone, who also starred in basketball and baseball at PHS, is getting ready to play football at the next level for Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham. He will be starting preseason camp this week for the Devils. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
By Bill Alden
Travis Petrone gave everything he had last fall in his final campaign for the Princeton High football team.
Petrone starred at quarterback for PHS, passing for 1,013 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for 190 yards and six TDs. When he wasn’t playing QB, Petrone came up big at defensive back, making 33 tackles and grabbing one interception.
“I started both ways, I never wanted to get off the field,” said Petrone, who helped the Tigers win four of their last five regular season games on the way to making their first trip to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) playoffs since 2014.
In reflecting on the program’s playoff breakthrough, Petrone pointed to a total team effort as a key factor.
“It was the dedication from all of the guys on the team and the bond of all of the captains to keep everybody going,” said Petrone, who scored the lone TD for PHS in a 69-6 quarterfinal loss to eventual state champion Winslow that left the Tigers with a final record of 5-5. “We proved that PHS football is back. At practices, it was always locking in with all of the guys, listening to our coaches and then when it got to Friday night or Saturday morning putting it all out on the field.”
This week, Petrone will be taking the field for a new team as he starts preseason practice for the Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham Division III football program.
Having starred at basketball and baseball at PHS in addition to football, Petrone decided that he wanted to continue his athletic career in college.
“There was a thought that maybe I just go to a school and put my head into the books have a little fun,” said Petrone. “I have been in sports for the past 10-12 years of my life and I couldn’t let it go. At the end of my junior year, I really thought that I might be able to take this thing to the next level and play the game that I love the most which is football.”
Playing three sports helped Petrone grow as a teammate. “I would say it definitely did help me; a lot of perseverance goes with playing quarterback,” said Petrone. “If you win a football game, the quarterback gets a lot of glory. If you lose, the quarterback gets the blame for it. You always have a leadership attitude through all of the sports with the captain mentality. It is not just strive for me to be better but for everybody else.”
Petrone and his fellow seniors strove to help get Tiger football back on the winning track.
“One of our coaches, Brandon Williams, came into PHS with my class when we were freshmen,” said Petrone. “He said he always had a feeling that our grade is going to be the grade that turns the wheel in the right direction. Just having a bond with those guys for the four years through practices, through weight room, the summer, we always remembered what our coaches tell us. It was all right guys, this is on us, we have to bring PHS back.”
That bond helped keep the squad focused as it overcame a shaky 1-3 start to make its playoff run.
“Football tied everyone together,” said Petrone. “When August rolls around, it is football, football, football, you have to click your mind. The summer is over and you have to focus on one thing if you want to be great. That is what we all had in common. We wanted to be great and prove to our school and all of the schools around the county that we mean business now and we are here to play.”
Throughout his football career, Petrone has enjoyed playing on both sides of the ball.
“As a young kid, I would play quarterback in flag football and I feel like I was always good with seeing the field,” said Petrone. “I also played defense and I always felt like I had a knack for the game to see the ball. “
Over the years, Petrone worked hard to improve his game at quarterback.
“My brother Jaxon was a quarterback and I watched him play his sophomore, junior and senior year,” said Petrone. “It seemed like what you really have to do is to put yourself out there as a quarterback to lead a team. From a technical standpoint, it is taking a snap, throwing the ball, throwing guys open, and throwing to where the guys are going to be. It was a lot of practice, working in the offseason strengthening my arm, strengthening my legs. It was strengthening what I could do with an O-line, learning what the right call is, what the right play is.”
As Petrone went through his recruiting process, he got a strong feeling that FDU-Florham was the best fit for him.
“I just really bonded with the guys when I visited in mid-March,” said Petrone, who also considered Moravian, The College of New Jersey, Ursinus, and Springfield College. “I thought it was great what they had going on. The coaches and players preach on it, not only are they building
football players for the future from freshman to senior year, they are also building good young men for the next 40 years, setting them up. I bonded with the guys a lot. I love what they had going on through the weight room and the football. The coaches were very outgoing in the process.”
This summer, the versatile Petrone juggled playing with the Princeton Post 218 American Legion baseball team with training for his college football debut.
“We had three phases of our workout packet- in the weight room, on-field sprints and other conditioning,” said Petrone. “Legion could be back-to-back-to-back. I always tried to make time to go to the weight room.
I got a Y membership for the summer and I am always in there. I have put on some muscle.”
That added muscle will come in handy as the FDU-Florham coaches are looking at Petrone to play in the secondary.
“The whole recruiting process was though my defensive side,” said Petrone, who moved into school on August 12 and starts preseason camp on August 14. “I am playing safety. I am nervous but I am pretty pumped up and amped up for it.”
The example of Petrone’s older sister, Eva, a former multi-sport athlete for PHS who went on to become a starter for the Fairfield University women’s lacrosse team, will help inspire him as he goes through the ups and downs of college sports.
“She was at a whole other level than I am; I look up to her as an athlete and as a person,” said Petrone. “She had a lot of hardships in college but she fought through them all. Just seeing how she started her college career, she wasn’t the best but she kept grinding, kept fighting and finally pushed through. The coaches realized how much of a great athlete she was and what a great player she was. She finally got what she wanted, she was on the circle starting as a midfielder in D-I women’s lacrosse. Out of the five years she was there, she has four rings to show for it. She is not even playing any more and is still working out.”
Looking ahead to this fall, Petrone will be working hard to make an impact for the Devils.
“I was told when I went on one of my visits there that they graduated over 40 seniors this year,” said Petrone. “I want to make my parents proud and show them I am playing and you are going to be seeing me play a lot. As a freshman, I am not just going to be thrown in as a starter. I will be working out, getting bigger, getting stronger, getting faster, learning the game, and hopefully getting on the field.”