New energy surrounding PHS football program after 2014 playoff run

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Brandon Harrison
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New energy surrounding PHS football program after 2014 playoff run The 2015 team is hoping to make another run to the postseason By MIKE MONOSTRA The Sun 50% OFF RIDING LESSON Bring a friend to your

A handful of players were instead wearing maroon-colored headgear. The helmets didn t carry a special designation or meaning.

We were lucky enough that assistant coach (Rashone) Johnson s brother teaches and coaches up in Wayne Hills, third-year head coach Charlie Gallagher said. We ran out of equipment.

The surge of interest in Princeton football coincides with one of the biggest turnarounds in the state in 2014.

Division title. When you go from 0-10, you usually are only going to win a couple of games, Gallagher said. We had a great start, the kids believed in themselves and it started to snowball for us.

2 New energy surrounding PHS football program after 2014 playoff run The 2015 team is hoping to make another run to the postseason By MIKE MONOSTRA The Sun 50% OFF RIDING LESSON Bring a friend to your riding lesson, receive the second lesson half-off. During the early days of Princeton football s preseason practice, not all of the players in camp were wearing the team s normal blue helmets. A handful of players were instead wearing maroon-colored headgear. The helmets didn t carry a special designation or meaning. The players were wearing the maroon helmets simply because there weren t enough blue helmets to go around. We were lucky enough that assistant coach (Rashone) Johnson s brother teaches and coaches up in Wayne Hills, third-year head coach Charlie Gallagher said. We ran out of equipment. We didn t have enough. We certified 47 helmets last year because we finished with 35 or 40 kids. This year, we had 60 kids. The surge of interest in Princeton football coincides with one of the biggest turnarounds in the state in After suffering through an 0-10 season in 2013, Princeton improved to 8-2 in 2014, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2009 and winning the West Jersey Football League Valley Division title. When you go from 0-10, you usually are only going to win a couple of games, Gallagher said. We had a great start, the kids believed in themselves and it started to snowball for us. Senior defensive lineman Noah Ziegler said the level of interest in Princeton football both on the field and in the community is at its highest point in the past few years. I d say the energy is a lot different, he said. Coming into last year, we were We were a little down. We knew we had to get it going and then we went 8-2. It was a great year. This year s team will be younger than the 2014 squad. Princeton graduated starters on both sides of the ball and will be looking to new leaders to step up. MIKE MONOSTRA/The Sun The Princeton football team works on blocking and pass rushing during a drill at an August preseason practice. The Tigers are hoping to return to the playoffs in 2015 after going 8-2 last year. One of those leaders will be senior quarterback Dave Beamer, who returns after a solid junior season in which he threw for 18 touchdowns. Gallagher is looking to Beamer to be a leader on offense. We re just looking for him to take command in the huddle and getting those guys to follow him, Gallagher said. Beamer led by example during the offseason. He started training for 2015 shortly after Princeton s 2014 season ended and made sure his teammates started getting back into football shape early in the summer. I m trying to fill the position our seniors left last year, trying to make sure everyone is on top of everything, getting into their playbooks, getting into the weight room during the summer, Beamer said. Defensively, Princeton lost a chunk of its interior front seven. The team is relying on junior Kyle Angelucci and seniors Ziegler and Kiki Mahiri to be forces on the defensive line this season. Ziegler said the team s returning starters helped the younger players since day one of training camp. We have a lot of new guys who we needed to train up, he said. Before the preseason started, we really hit the weight room hard. So we got strength and now we re working on the technical side. Princeton s expectations are greater than in previous years. Gallagher doesn t like to give his team a certain number of wins to achieve before the season, but he believes the Tigers have what it takes to not only make the playoffs again, but also play competitively. Princeton s 2014 playoff run ended in the first round as the Tigers lost to Brick Township, We don t just want to show up and get mercy ruled, Gallagher said. Now we want to get to the playoffs and be competitive in the playoffs. Beamer said the team is also looking forward to being competitive in the WJFL Valley Division again this year. We re looking to win the division again, he said. I think we can definitely do that. Last year s season will be remembered for a long while as the year Princeton turned its football fortunes around. However, the 2015 team is ready to turn the page and make winning and postseason trips an annual occurrence. We don t want to focus on last year, Ziegler said. This is a new year.

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