Princeton – The Princeton football team made history last year, hosting three playoff games en route to a Class AAA state championship game berth.
The Tigers fell short of their ultimate goal, finishing as the state runners-up.
What that team did was prove the program could reach new heights and compete with any school, no matter the size.
Now in his second year as head coach, Keith Taylor is honest about the expectations for the upcoming season.
“I think the standard is a state championship,” Head coach Keith Taylor said. “You know, that’s where we landed last year. We didn’t handle business. You know, 57-13, or whatever the score was, stays on your mind, and that’s what drives you through. It’s a little different this year. Last year we surprised people. People didn’t really think – they thought we’d be okay. But now, I don’t think there’s any surprises. I think people expect us to be good and you better believe that everybody that we played last year and we play this year is going to have us circled on the calendar. They’re wanting to get their get-back, but you know, that’s where we want to be. You want to be a program that plays for state titles. We’ve been to the playoffs, however many years in a row, but you get to a point where playoffs are just playoffs, and we’re looking for championships.”
Gone are Kennedy and Moss Award winner Dom Collins as well as three-time first team all-stater Eli Campbell, both playing at DI schools now.
But the cupboard is far from bare.
In fact the Tigers come into the season firmly in the title hunt, bumping down from the state’s largest classification after the expansion to four classes. They now sit in the new Class AAA as one of the biggest schools. And while they have graduated some of the most talented players in program history, they also return all-staters Marquel Lowe (RB), Kalum Kiser (DL) and Chance Barker (QB) as well as standout receiver Brad Mossor. Joining that quadruplet is Penn State commit Daniel Jennings who transferred from Graham, Va. after growing up in the Princeton area.
“We have a lot of guys that played 14 games and started 14 games for us last year,” Taylor said. “So we have a good core that’s got a lot of playing time under their belt. I think offensively, you’re going to see the ball distributed more. There’s a lot of playmakers. Daniel Jennings is new. You got Marquel and I think we’ll go as far as Marquel will go. You got Brad Mossor out wide. You got Garrett Mays stepping in, and Amarvion Howard. Wyatt Cline stepped up. So I think the offense is still going to be explosive.
“Now, I don’t know if you can throw a screen pass for 90 yards, for a touchdown every play like we used to but I think it’s you’re going to see a different offense. The ball is going to be more well-distributed. Defensively I think you’re going to see a much better defensive team from front to back. Obviously, last year was not a good defensive year for us, but I think this year, that’s where we’re going to hang our hat. And I think defense is going to be one of the strongest parts of our team.”
The trenches should be reinforced as well with numerous starters back along the offensive line with impact players on defense as well.
“We lose Eli and Chase Smith to graduation but we’re fortunate to have three starers that started 14 games,” Taylor said. “Jimmy Bowling, Kolton Shockley, Landyn Moore, Damian Thomas are all good. Riley Bell is the strongest and biggest dude on the team. He squats 600 pounds and benches 320. We’re hoping some of our young guys, Keimani Singleton, will get in there and mix it up. So we got to got a good core group of guys that we’re going to try to rotate as much as we can.”
The challenge for the Tigers is to not look too far down the road. Their schedule features a load of talented teams including Bluefield, Independence, Winfield, Oak Hill, Capital and Parkersburg South.
Taylor doesn’t worry too much about that though, citing one fact that puts everything into perspective.
“Well we’d never been (to a championship game) in 100 years so our kids can’t think that the next time that’s going to happen is this year,” Taylor said. “We have to take it one day at a time, one practice at a time, one scrimmage at a time and into the games. You know, our kids understand that they have an opportunity to go out there and showcase their gifts and their talents that the good Lord’s given them every day. And you know, you don’t know when that’s going to happen again. You might go out there and you can’t play more than one game for whatever reason. And I think that’s what our kids understand. They bought into it. They’re not looking down the road and playing in Charleston. They’re looking for our scrimmages or Week 1. Â I don’t think they’re looking down the road. And if they do, they’ll take their fair share of losses, because when you start looking ahead you don’t take care of business, you find yourself in situations you don’t want to be in.
“That’s something that’s different. People ask me what’s different? Everybody in this community who backed us last year, they are expecting nothing but the same thing as last year. So that’s going to be interesting to see how our kids respond to that. You know, I don’t go in for wins and losses anyway. I’ve always expected to have pressure and that kind of thing, but, but having that on the team will be a different dynamic, because in years previous, 6-4 has kind of been where Princeton goes and you kind of just roll on through there and hope to make the playoffs, and you’re excited. And now that is not the case, so it’ll be interesting.”
Princeton will open its season Thursday Aug. 29 at home against Capital.
