TOO MUCH ‘HART’

Princeton’s Hartley Carves Up Bulldogs

Early in the second half of Friday night’s game, with his team clinging to an 8-7 lead, Princeton Head Coach Thomas Hotmer sent in a play for his offense.
It was fourth down and the Tigers were sitting on their own 33-yard line.
When Princeton’s offense failed to fabricate the three yards necessary for a first down, turning the ball over, there were undoubtedly those in the stands wearing the home team’s Blue and White who would call into question their coach’s actions.
But Hotmer had faith in his defense – and with good reason.
The Trenton Bulldogs, who have seen all too many valleys this season and precious few peaks, fell into yet another basin, turning the ball right back over with a backward pass that fell incomplete for a fumble. Princeton pounced on the ball and, just like that, the Tigers had their opportunity.
That would be all they needed.
Princeton scored touchdowns on its next three possessions, building a 28-7 lead, then hanging on for a 28-21 victory in Grand River Conference play at Eddie Allen Field.
“Other than our first game, our defense has held up really well,” Hotmer said following his team’s third win this season. “Ever since then they have been awesome.”
Trenton had opportunities with short fields from the onset. Princeton opened the game with a failed onside kick attempt, giving Trenton the ball near midfield. When Trenton had to punt on the opening possession, Princeton muffed the kick, giving Trenton the ball at the 21-yard line. Again, Trenton couldn’t capitalize.
It wasn’t until Trenton’s third close-range opportunity that the Bulldogs finally cashed in. Princeton shanked a punt attempt and Trenton got the game’s first touchdown on a 29-yard Mark Trump run. That would be Trenton’s only score until 11 minutes left in the game.
“Our run defense has been very stout,” Hotmer said. “There are a few things that we need to clean up on the back end, but our front seven has been very strong for us. Relying on them, especially offensively, we haven’t been able to run the ball and establish a lot of that, so being able to get those red zone stops and playing with a short field and trusting them – that has really helped all of our kids, knowing that we can be really good if we put it all together.”
When Princeton finally broke through against the Trenton defense, it did so in a big way. Quarterback Cam Hartley was surgical in his dissecting of the Trenton secondary. The Tigers stuck to mostly vertical routes in the third quarter and the Bulldogs paid the price as their secondary simply couldn’t get back far enough to cover the big arm of the quarterback in the number three jersey.
“Trenton has some big guys up front and we really couldn’t establish a run game on them,” Hartley said. “They were pretty physical, but we figured out that we could gash them through the air pretty good, so we went to that game.”
Hartley would finish a very efficient 11-of-14 passing for 202 yards and three touchdowns. Including one 38-yard pass from Cam Jones out of the Wildcat formation, Princeton torched Trenton for a whopping 20 yards per completion.
“That kid, he’s just a gamer,” Hotmer said of his quarterback. “It’s just football to him and he loves to have fun. Three, he plays fearless, he trusts his team and he trusts what he is doing. These kids, they’re all just calling out ‘Coach, vert is wide open.’ I said ‘gosh dang it let’s just run vert then.’ So, those kids, they are calling the game, they are getting after it and just playing football. I think when they do that, rather than thinking so much, that’s when we can be a really good team like I think we have the opportunity to be.”
Trenton’s advantage in the running game was the only area Friday night that the Bulldogs dominated. Princeton managed just 92 yards rushing in the contest, while Trenton piled up 226 yards on the ground. In fact, Trenton had two players individually who out-rushed Princeton’s entire team as the Bulldogs controlled the line of scrimmage for most of the night.
But, it was the ill-timed, ill-fated turnover that once again left Trenton to ponder ‘what if’ as they trudged off the gridiron at the end of the night.
Jadan Whitney, who finished with 103 yards on 11 carries, and Mark Trump, who had 107 yards on 21 carries, pulled the Bulldogs down the field on two long drives in the second half. Both ended with turnovers inside the 30-yard line on fumbles. Princeton, though needing to go 70 yards or more after each turnover, delivered, making the turnovers hurt even more.
“I don’t know where to start,” Trenton Head Coach Brandon Boswell said. “The self-inflicted wounds – they are what they are – but, in terms of drive killers, there is just getting behind the chains and not being able to get the movement we wanted to. And, I will say this, Princeton is not terrible, they are a good team. We gave them opportunities and we are at their place and they beat us last year and that gave them all kinds of confidence. It is what it is.”
Trenton continued to ride its horses despite facing a 28-7 deficit and the Bulldogs got a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns by quarterback Sam Schilling, each set up by Whitney and Trump runs. The final score came with just over one minute remaining, however, and Trenton’s onside kick was covered up by Princeton, ending the comeback threat.
Hartley backed up his incredible performance on the offensive side of the ball with another stellar night on the defensive end. From his middle linebacker position he almost single handedly shut down the middle of the field, forcing Trenton to the outside. He would finish with a team-high 14 tackles, one for loss, and a fumble recovery.
“Cam Hartley looked like an all-state linebacker tonight and he probably is,” Boswell said. “We just struggled to get him blocked at all. So when he shut it down in the middle, they just overloaded on the edge and we just couldn’t really do much.”
Trenton stumbled to 1-4 overall on the season and 1-2 in the Grand River Conference while Princeton moved to 3-2 and kept its head above water in the conference race, improving to 2-1 in the league.
Trenton returns home next week, but it will be no small task at historic C.F. Russell Stadium as the Bulldogs host undefeated Milan – the only team to hand Princeton a conference loss this year. The Tigers, meanwhile, are at home on Eddie Allen Field again, this time playing host to Putnam County. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. kickoffs.

STATISTICS
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
First Quarter
T – Mark Trump 29-yard run (Connor Crawford kick).
Second Quarter
P – Cam Hartley 34-yard pass to Mitchel Hydorn (Hartley pass to Hydorn).
Third Quarter
P – Hartley 6-yard pass to Hydorn (run failed).
P – Hartley 4-yard run (pass failed).
P – Hartley 40-yard pass to Logan Dunkin (Hartley pass to Hydorn).
Fourth Quarter
T – Sam Schilling 2-yard run (Crawford kick).
T – Sam Schilling 1-yard run (Crawford kick).
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TEAM STATISTICS
THS PHS
Rushes-Yards 46-226 33-92
Passing Yards 75 240
Comp-Att-Int 4-12-1 12-15-1
Total Yards 301 332
First Downs 12 9
Penalties-Yards 2-15 2-25
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 1-1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Trenton, Mark Trump, 21-107; Jadan Whitney, 11-103; Carson Radcliff, 7-17; Matt Sibbit, 1-6; Sam Schilling, 6-(-7). Princeton, Cam Jones, 16-46; Logan Dunkin, 11-35; Cam Hartley, 6-11.
PASSING – Trenton, Schilling, 4-12-1, 75 yards. Princeton, Hartley, 11-14-1, 202 yards, 3 TDs; Jones, 1-1-0, 38 yards.
RECEIVING – Trenton, Dalton Burchett, 1-50; Jaren Whitney, 3-25. Princeton, Mitchel Hydorn, 6-155; Dunkin, 4-62; Owen Schreffler, 2-23.
DEFENSE – Trenton, Jadan Whitney 19 tackles; Isaac Harris, 10 tackles, 2 TFL; Carson Burchett, 10 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack; Jaren Whitney, 9 tackles; Sibbit, 7 tackles; Noah Lewis, 5 tackles; Dalton Burchett, 3 tackles, 1 fumble recovery; Jerrick Stotts, 3 tackles; Hunter Trask, 3 tackles; Radcliff, 2 tackles; Tyler Siemer, 1 tackle; Quincy Griffin, 1 tackle; Schilling, 1 tackle; Nick Shields, 1 tackle, 1 interception. Princeton, Hartley, 14 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 fumble recovery; Dunkin, 9 tackles, 1 interception; Jones, 7 tackles, 1 TFL; Hunter Boxley, 5 tackles, 1 TFL; Hydorn, 5 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery; Brayden Summers, 4 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 forced fumble; Soyer Wimer, 4 tackles, 1 TFL; Nick Grooms, 4 tackles, 1 forced fumble; Dalton Fischer, 3 tackles; Andrew Birge, 2 tackles; Eli Henke, 2 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack; Zeb Schwartzkopf, 2 tackles; Logan Krohn, 1 tackle; Konnor Cowin, 1 tackle.