Princeton head coach Keith Taylor always praises his offensive line.
The group has largely been the catalyst for an offense that leads the area in numerous statistical categories. In Week 8 against Beckley that was on full display.
The Tigers compiled 366 yards of total offenses, rushing for 202 yards and scoring four times through the air in a 55-20 win over the Flying Eagles.
For their efforts, the Tigers earned the Week 8 Lootpress Offensive Line of the Week honors.
The starters in the trenches for the Tigers were Kolton Shockley (LT), Jimmy Bowling (LG), Chase Smith (C), Eli Campbell (RG), Landyn Moore (RT).
By Taylor’s estimation, it was one of the best performances he’s seen from the hog mollies because of how they handled a Beckley defense that threw different looks their way.
“I think when we went back and looked at the tape they were giving us some funky looks up front,” Princeton head coach Keith Taylor said. “I think we knew how athletic they were in the secondary and we knew we probably had the advantage up front and we hung our hats on that we thought we’d be able to mash them around a little bit. I think our guys did a good job of that and if you go back and really watch it Beckley did a great job disguising their looks.
“I don’t even know how they were able to run the defense they ran because they had some many different twists with their linebackers and defensive ends. I told out offensive line this is probably the best game from a line I’ve seen since I’ve been a coach here because of how well you guys picked up exotic defenses. Whoever their defensive coordinator is did a good job because they threw some crazy stuff at us.”
The line is led by two-time all-stater Eli Campbell but he’s flanked by a talented, well-prepped bunch. Because of the offensive playmakers they block for, the line is regularly faced with various fronts aimed at limiting the skill players. Sometimes that includes different alignments or blitzes designed to confuse and slow the offense but coached by former Virginia Tech lineman David Campbell, the front unit is prepared for nearly anything throw its way.
“I think it starts with our offensive line coach (Campbell),” Taylor said. “He does a great job getting our line ready. I always say our offensive line is coached like a college offensive line. A lot of the stuff you see WVU or Virginia Tech doing, it’s how our kids are taught. We dont do exactly the same things they do because we don’t have the same skillsets at all the positions but our guys are very, very smart up front and they understand coverages. They understand how many dudes are in the box, blitzing linebackers and it’s pretty sophisticated system but the way coach Campbell explains it to these guys, they’re so smart when it comes to picking up the gameplan.
“They spend the start of practice working on that. I’ve always said our line is the hardest working group at Princeton Senior High School and it’s been that way since I’ve been a part of it as an assistant coach and those guys work every single day. I’m glad they get some credit because they spend their entire careers blocking for guys and don’t get much credit but our guys are really really good up front and love each other.”
