The Princeton offense was expected to take on a different look this year and through two weeks it had.
Despite having an all-state player at quarterback, the Tigers pounded the rock, rushing for over 400 yards through the first two weeks.
Week 3 was the passing attack’s time to shine.
Quarterback Grant Cochran led the charge, completing 19 of his 23 passing attempts for 269 yards and three touchdowns. Five of those completions went to sophomore receiver Dominick Collins who compiled 68 yards through the air to go along with a score. He also added six more points when he returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown in Friday’s 55-30 win over Oak Hill.
For their efforts, Collins and Cochran have been named the Week 3 Loopress Players of the Week by the Lootpress sportswriters. The award is sponsored by Bodyworks and the Law Offices of Brandon Steele.
Cochran and Collins were also the winners of the fan vote which broke the tie between them and Midland Trail’s duo of Ayden Simms and Josh Dickerson.
After two weeks of pounding the rock with success, the Tigers knew they’d have an opportunity to air it out against the Red Devils and they did.
“Really we knew (Oak Hill) was going to plan against the run,” Cochran said. “But on film we saw some press corners and they’d load the box a lot to give us some different front looks, so we knew they’d be more focused on stopping the run. So knowing that, it made it a lot easier.”
Airing the ball out was common for the Tigers last year. With Moss Award winner Ethan Parsons and another talented receiver in Josiah Honaker, Cochran could throw the ball vertically on every play and let the two go up and get it. The player he shares POTW honors with is a little different.
Smaller in stature, Collins’ calling card is his speed and explosiveness as a player with the ball in his hands.
“Dom worked really hard in the offseason to get faster,” Cochran said. “He was in the weight room and he’s good at getting open against coverages. He’s also good at getting the yards after the catch. I just have to get it out to him and he’ll do the rest from there. He’s a playmaker.”
Princeton head coach Chris Pedigo agreed.
“He’s a smart kid,” Pedigo said of Collins. “He’s fast and might be one or two on the list of straight line speed guys for us. He does everything we ask of him and works hard every day. The kid played basketball last year as a freshman and didn’t miss a day in the weight room. He proved you can do both. The weight room and his work ethic are what have got him out here on the field. His work ethic has been second to none, so I’m really proud of him and proud he’s really able to enjoy some of the fruits of his labor.”
Pedigo echoed similar sentiments about his QB who has been patient in taking on the leadership role after the program graduated several talented seniors from last year’s playoff team. He led by example Friday night, completing his first seven passing attempts and tossing all three of his touchdowns before the break.
“He’s smart with the football and he’s still got some things he can clean up,” Pedigo said. “I think he was 14-of-16 in the first half. We run what’s called our chevron, which is a three-man snag. He got to the fourth and fifth read and he’s the first quarterback we’ve had get to those reads. We talked about his maturation process in the offseason and how far he’s come. He had great footwork on that play and he’s doing good things. We knew we’d be able to throw the football, it just takes time to gel. We still think we’ve got work to do, but we hit eight different receivers, so we’ve got a lot of good pieces and that’s fun for an offense.”
Contact Tyler Jackson at tylerjackson@lootpress.com, call/text him at 304-731-5542 and follow on Twitter @tjack94