The Trenton and Princeton high school football teams are no strangers, having met in each of the past two seasons. In week four of the 2016 high school football season the two squads will meet once again, however, this time they meet as Grand River Conference mates.
Not only do they share a conference, the two teams share the top spot in the conference standings, along with Maysville and Polo, after both teams opened GRC play with wins last week. Trenton topped Putnam County 32-14 at home, while the Tigers picked up a 20-14 win on the road in Milan.
Key in Princeton’s victory, the Tigers’ first win in over a calendar year, was quarterback Andrew Smith. Milan was able to get to Smith, but getting to Smith and dragging him down were two different things. The junior quarterback eluded the Wildcat defense for much of the night slipping past would-be tacklers before making plays both with his arm and with his feet. Containing Smith is priority number one for the Bulldogs this week.
“Contain (Smith) and not give up the deep ball are our biggest two things this week,” Trenton Head Coach Brandon Boswell said. “If you can contain him, it’s going to be hard for him to throw the deep ball, I think. Our ends will have to be disciplined, looking at last year and how we contained him for the most part. We kind of limited them and what they could do, so we are looking to do the same thing this year with our ends.”
Last year, Trenton was able to sack Smith six times and intercept two passes. Trenton also recovered a pair of fumbles for a total of four turnovers as the Bulldogs won the game 48-16.
Offensively, Trenton showed last week they can pass if necessary. That doesn’t mean the Bulldogs will be looking to pass this week. Trenton is still a run-first team and Boswell will look to establish the rushing game early on.
“We ultimately want to establish the run, but if teams are going to put 10 in the box against us then we have to throw,” Boswell said. “It is nice to know that (quarterback) Lathan (Croy) and (receiver) Colton (Colston) are on the same page and (tight end) Connor (Cotton) is catching the ball well, too. Our offensive line blocked well last week too, so it is definitely nice to know we can go to that if we need to, but we want to be as balanced as possible.”
The Trenton-Princeton game takes on a new meaning after both schools scored victories in the opening week of the Grand River Conference schedule last week. The winner of Friday night’s match-up will be 2-0 and guaranteed at least a share of first place in the conference standings. Mays-ville, which hosts South Harrison, and Polo, which hosts Gallatin, are also 1-0.
“Both teams are 1-0 and we are going there,” Boswell said. “They got a win and are feeling pretty good about themselves. We have to go on the road and take on a team that, we feel like, is playing pretty good right now. We can’t just think that we are going to go in and win and that everything is good now. We have to make sure we are disciplined and take care of our business.
Trenton and Princeton will kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday at Eddie Allen Field.
A pregame tailgate sponsored by the Princeton Booster Club will run from 5:30-6:30 p.m. All fans from both teams are invited to attend. The meal features a smoked pork loin and requires a $5 minimum donation.