Q-FACTOR: Princeton High quarterback Quinton de Faria looks to fire a pass in a game earlier this season. Last Friday night, sophomore de Faria connected on 13 of 22 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 57 yards as PHS defeated Holy Cross Prep 19-14. The Tigers, now 5-1, host Nottingham (1-5) on October 11. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
As the Princeton High football team won four of its first five games this season, it displayed a penchant for edging its foes.
Two of its wins were by a total of three points as PHS beat Allentown 7-6 on September 4 and then nipped Hamilton West 16-14 on September 20.
Last Friday evening in its annual Homecoming game under the lights, PHS followed a slightly different blueprint as pulled out a 19-14 win over Holy Cross, overcoming a 14-6 halftime deficit on the way to improving to 5-1.
“We have battled through some adversity,” said PHS head coach Charlie Gallagher. “We have won some close games. I don’t think we won any close games per se by coming back as much as we needed to for this game but obviously that paid dividends.”
The halftime message revolved around playing sharper over the last 24 minutes of the contest.
“The idea was we put our offensive game plan in and we hadn’t executed it as well as we would have liked,” said Gallagher. “They got us out of some things. But again our defense continues to play well. Giving up 14 points in the first half is not all bad but scoring only six in the first half is not good.”
Still trailing 14-6 heading into the fourth quarter, senior transfer Jheki Gordon came up big, catching a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Quinton de Faria and then making 20-yard TD reception on a gadget play throw from fellow receiver Ellinton Hinds which provided the margin of victory.
The Tigers had the trick play from Hinds up their sleeve for weeks.
“We practiced that play, it was developed early this season for [Ellinton] Hinds to [Langsdon] Hinds but Langsdon is out right now so we ran it to Jheki,” said Gallagher. “It was like a double pass, a flea flicker kind of thing. Our running backs ran hard at the end of the game. Andrew [Foreman] and Carmine [Carusone] put us in a great position to win the football game.
We needed a field goal and in the end we got a touchdown to cement it.”
Gordon made three catches for 44 yards and the two touchdowns and added two tackles and one interception on defense as he made a major impact in his second appearance for PHS this fall.
“He came up big, he is a football player,” said Gallagher. “He has got great hands. We are excited to have him. We have to get him the ball. Now we just have another weapon.”
Senior star Hinds has been a weapon on both sides of the ball for the Tigers all season. On Friday, he contributed three catches for 44 yards and one TD, went 1 for 1 passing for 20 yards with the TD to Gordon and made two tackles and one interception.
“He is just super talented; you have those wide receivers, you have those DBs and nowadays they are designating those super talented players with ‘ATH,’” said Gallagher. “I think it is just athlete, he is the athlete of the team. He plays all of those positions. We are going to need more of that. He had another pick, he now has seven. I think he leads the state.”
Sophomore QB de Faria showed his athleticism against Holy Cross, connecting on 13 of 22 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns and also rushing for 57 yards.
“I am excited, he is getting better each and every game,” said Gallagher. “He is able to run for some yards. He is able to keep us in the game. He is a good manager right now. We are not asking him to do too much but at the same time we have to be balanced. We have to be able to throw the ball. He has shown flashes. He doesn’t let things phase him, this is not too big for him. He keeps an even keel. He loves the position and being coached. He throws a great ball, he can spin it.”
Having surrendered just 62 points so far this season, the defensive unit has been a constant for the Tigers.
“Our defense has been clicking since the very beginning; we lost both of our linebackers and we put Nathan Christoper in and he is doing a great job,” said Gallagher. “We slid Carmine into a linebacker spot. We put Sam Raymond out at corner and he is doing a great job. He has played really well. We slid Andrew into that strong safety spot. You have Jheki back there, you have Ellington back there and you have got Anderson [Potter] back there. We have a lot of experience there.”
On the other side of the ball, the PHS offense is finding a rhythm.
“I am getting happier with the offense, I see a lot of potential,” said Gallagher. “Our offensive line is getting better. We have five guys up there and that is a good crew. We took our center Rio Giamarese and moved him out to right tackle. We put this kid Eddie Del Cid in at center. I am seeing great growth in him from the Robbinsville game (a 14-0 win on September 27) because we had some issues. We saw him getting better in a week so I am happy about that.”
Hosting Nottingham (1-5) this Saturday as the program holds its annual Senior Day celebration, Gallagher is looking for his team to turn the tables on the Northstars who topped PHS 28-14 in 2024.
“They have a good football team, I saw them play Hamilton, they were winning the entire game until they lost at the end,” said Gallagher. “They have really talented football players, it would be a big statement win for us. They have some team speed. Their defensive backs are really good. They have a lot of skill guys and they have some big guys up front. They don’t have a lot of players who go both ways, which we do, so that is always a little bit of a concern. We have to be in great shape come Saturday. We have got a lot of work to do this week.”