Hamilton blanks Princeton in season opener

PRINCETON » There were no surprises or noteworthy developments in the season opener between the Hamilton and Princeton football teams on Saturday.

This was simply a matter of a capable team having its way with an overmatched opponent and the result was a predictable 39-0 Hamilton Mercy Rule victory.

There was very little chance Princeton was going to hang with Hamilton in the first place. The Little Tigers’ hopes became even slimmer when the injuries started piling up, beginning on the very first play from the line of scrimmage when senior quarterback Vince Doran was knocked out of the game with a collarbone injury.

His replacement, freshman Jake Renda, actually did a credible job by completing 11 of 24 passes for 133 yards, but Princeton was never able to establish any kind of running game against the physical Hornets.

On the other side of the ball, after throwing an interception on his team’s first possession, Hamilton senior quarterback Hezekiah Patterson, lit up the Princeton secondary with three touchdown passes. He finished 5-for-8 on the day with 142 passing yards.

“Considering we were a week behind (starting the season a week early), I thought our (offensive) execution was pretty good,” said Hamilton coach Tom Hoglen.

“I also thought our special teams did well. We made all our extra points, had a punt return (for a touchdown) and had the kick return (for a touchdown). I was worried about our special teams coming in.”

Hamilton opened the scoring when Jon Piotroski sacked Renda in the end zone for safety. Following the free kick, Hamilton struck on the very next play when Patterson threw a 17yard TD strike to Barry Ndeh on a crossing pattern in the end zone.

Before the first half was over, Patterson also threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Chris Charles and a 46-yard scoring bomb to a wide open Ndeh.

Hamilton also scored right before the half when Charles fielded a punt and raced his way through a host of would-be Princeton tacklers for a sensational 85-yard return for a touchdown.

With the score 30-0 at the half, it was only a matter of time before the Mercy Rule would kick into effect. This came early in the third quarter when Ryan Hogan returned a free kick 41 yards for a touchdown. The kick came after a second safety when a Princeton punt snap rolled out of the back of the end zone.

It was all downhill from there as Princeton suffered more injuries, including a player being taken away in an ambulance, and still had trouble pass protecting despite Hamilton inserting its subs.

Coming off a season in which it posted a winning record and won a playoff game, Hamilton has the size and speed to potentially have a very successful year.

As for Princeton, its focus will be on improving from week to week.

Hamilton (1-0) Princeton (0-1) First Quarter H— H— Second Quarter H— H— H— Third Quarter H— H— 9 0 21 0 9 0 0 — 0 —

Safety, Piotroski tackles quarterback in end zone Ndeh 17 pass from Patterson (Cooper kick)

Charles 49 pass from Patterson (Cooper kick) Ndeh 46 pass from Patterson (Cooper kick) Charles 85 punt return (Cooper kick)

Safety, punt snap out of end zone Hogan 41 kick return (Cooper kick)

39 0