Tiger Defense Fires Shutout

The Princeton Tigers’ defensive unit trotted out to the one-yard line on Friday night at home on Eddie Allen Field. Their opponents – the Maysville Wolverines – had just nearly taken an interception to the house. But a touchdown-saving tackle gave Princeton’s defense a chance to do what they had done all night – stop Maysville.
On the Wolverines’ first crack at the end zone, Princeton’s Hunter Coin came up with a hit that jarred the ball loose. An alert Cam Hartley pounced on the ball and just like that, the shortlived Maysville threat was over.
On a night when the Tigers’ offense wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders, the Princeton defense was more than ready to pick up the slack. Maysville wouldn’t score at all against the home team as the Tigers evaded a potential upset, defeating the Wolverines 16-0.
“The defense was stout all night against the run,” Princeton Head Coach Thomas Hotmer said. “We have rallied behind them all year as we look for consistency offensively. Even after turnovers the defense has responded really well to protect us.”
Princeton’s offense scuffled throughout much of the opening half, only getting on the board after Hartley hit Logan Dunkin for a 35-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter to break a scoreless tie. As it turned out, however, that would be all the Tigers would need on this night.
“When we are very sound and good defensively it gives us a lot of confidence to take shots on offense knowing we have a high reward and low risk ratio,” Hotmer said. “No matter what happens we know our defense can get stops like they did tonight.”
Princeton would add another touchdown in the fourth quarter on a one-yard run by Dunkin, who finished the night with 53 yards rushing and a touchdown on 11 carries and 89 yards receiving and a touchdown on five catches. Hartley had a two-point run following the first score and Dunkin added a two after the second to give the game its final score of 16-0.
Princeton turned the ball over twice in the game, both times on interceptions, but the defense continually answered the call, no matter what field position. Hartley led the defense with 17 tackles. Dunkin and Zeb Schwartzkopf each had six tackles.
“When we respond like this, like we have all year, we can be a really good team,” Hotmer said. “Once our offense gets rolling we are hard to stop. We know great defense will help us be successful and it’s been a great thing for us to be able to count on this season.”
With the win, Princeton improved to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the Grand River Conference. The Tigers will travel to Gallatin this Friday for a battle of one-loss teams in the GRC. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.