PRINCETON — Last Friday’s 41-13 loss to top-ranked Class AAAA George Washington wasn’t necessarily a catastrophe for Class AAA defending state champion Princeton, but it was the second loss in a row for a team that had previously gone 18-straight without experiencing defeat.
Likewise, the Tigers (4-2) falling short in this week’s collision with area Class AAAA rival Woodrow Wilson (3-4) wouldn’t put an end to Princeton’s post-season ambitions. But it sure would be disappointing on homecoming week.
“There is still a lot of the season left. We’re 4-1 and lost to two really good teams.
We have a tough schedule,” said Tigers enigmatic rock star head coach Nathan Tanner.
“This week will be our first time at home since Capital. So we’re looking forward to that. We’ve just got to learn from our mistakes and continue to get better and try to get into the tournament at the end.”
George Washington is one of those Class AAAA elites that have worked hard to dislodge Martinsburg from its singular dominance and in large part have done just that. This week, the Patriots are the highest-rated team in all of WVSSAC.
“GW is a really good team and they proved that on Friday. I thought our kids played pretty well for about three quarters and we had some opportunties to win. But we had some costly mistakes at inopportune times that ended up costing us the game,” Tanner said, who noted his team gave up a cheap touchdown at the end that made it 31-14 instead of 24-14.
“GW ran the ball extremely good … they were very good up front. They’ve got some good ball carriers as well. Defensively they made stuff tough on us at times. It was tough to find a rhythm at times. I thought it was a pretty competitive game. They just played a little better than us. They executed better in all three phases of the game,” said Tanner, who noted that in some ways his kids were playing better than they had been prior to the bye week after the Graham loss.
The Flying Eagles are this week ranked No. 10 in Class AAAA, which does not make them any less of a challenge for the Tigers, who this week must shrug it off and put together a strong ending to the regular season.
“They’re a typical Woodrow team. They’ve got good size and good speed. They’ve got good athletes. If you don’t execute well they’ll make it extremely tough on you and beat your tail,” said Tanner.
“This will be another week where we have our hands full and have to play well,” he said.
Two Flying Eagles skill players that have very much caught Tanner’s attention are Gage Burdette and Javontae Wynes.
In Woodrow’s season-opening 55-26 win over Washington [not to be confused with George Washington] Burdette rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown while returning two kickoffs for touchdowns. He also performed well versus Hoover and Huntington.
Wynes rushed for over 100 yards and two touchdown runs in the opener, also scoring on a touchdown reception. He had a 56-yard scoring run against Parkersburg South and had a 26-yard TD run against Huntington.
“I think they’re both pretty good players. We’ve got to find ways to neutralize them. They’re really dynamic and among the best we’ve faced,” Tanner said.
Losing is no fun, but it can be instructive. When put to good use, it often results in more winning.
“Every time you lose it causes you to reflect and I’ve learned a ton about this team. You see what you’re good at and you see what you need to work on or change as well,” Tanner said.
“We’re in the thick of it. It’s been a challenging road so far. I’m proud of the kids. They still show up and come to work and try to do what they need to do to get better and try to do what they’re coached to do. We’ve got really good kids. There’s a reason we’ve won more than we’ve lost,” he said.