Hightstown batters Princeton with rushing attack
PRINCETON » Hightstown’s single-wing offense has the potential to cause headaches for Mercer County defenses this year.
The Rams showed as much in their season opener Saturday, bludgeoning Princeton with nearly 300 yards rushing for a 52-0 victory in head coach Ryan Fullen’s debut.
Six different Hightstown players scored touchdowns, and seniors Michael Quigg and Tairiq Clopton combined for 175 yards.
“We have a bunch of backs that all contribute, so you can’t really choose one of us,” Quigg said. “There’s three, four other guys that also run, so it’s really hard defensively to prepare for us.”
This is Hightstown’s second year running single-wing plays under offensive coordinator Paul Shanklin. The formation deceives defenses through misdirection, spinning and motion in the backfield, creating advantageous angles for the Rams.
“It’s very fun,” Clopton said. “I know me personally being on defense, teams like these where you can’t look in the backfield and see where the ball is going, it’s hard to read against it. Coach put in a very good offense. We’ve been doing it for only two years now, but it’s very effective.”
On Hightstown’s first series, a 19-yard run by Quigg plus a personal foul on Princeton set up the Rams inside the 5-yard line. Quarterback Liam Monahan rushed up the middle twice for the first of four Rams touchdowns in four drives before halftime.
Quigg, Emmanuel Mikros and Jarrett Justice all reached the end zone on runs of at least 10 yards behind an offensive line featuring players such as Stephen Rice, Brendan Defoe, Will McDade and Jefferson Martinez.
Clopton scored touchdowns on runs of 19 and 20 yards in the third quarter. Sophomore Jason Kollman plunged into the end zone twice in the fourth quarter.
“The o-line, they’re great,” Clopton said. “Me and Quigg, we can’t do this without the o-line. It starts up front, and we just feed off of what they give us.”
Defensively, Hightstown set the tone by limiting Princeton to three first downs in the first half.
Quigg had two sacks. Tayo Isadare added another plus a fumble recovery. Martinez also recovered a fumble.
Fullback Jaylen Johnson was the only Little Tiger to find much traction with 30 yards on 11 carries.
“The front four I think did a really good job nullifying their running attack,” Fullen said. “Brendan Dafoe, Will McDade, Tayo Isadare, Steve Rice, Kyle Reiss did a really job up front. Jefferson Martinez as well was part of that. Pierce Schweitzer, our inside backer, probably had his best day since I’ve become head coach. He read the guards really well, he was in the right gaps. He did a phenomenal job.”
Fullen took the reins of the program just prior to training camp after Ethan Jeros stepped down due to family reasons.
Fullen assisted at Monroe High last year and has experience that includes various college stops, so his eagerness to become a first-time high school head coach made for a smooth transition this summer.
“Practices have been very effective,” Quigg said. “I feel like we’ve gotten so much more done, and I feel like everyone’s always being incorporated into every drill and stuff. There’s no one waiting around, and we’ve just been really crisp this year for sure.”
That will certainly continue this week leading up to a tough home opener Friday against Allentown, one of the top teams in the area. Fullen said the Rams were undisciplined at times with penalties against Princeton, so they’ll strive to minimize those mental mistakes in practice.
But as far as debuts go, Fullen could not have scripted Saturday much better.
“If you wanted to pen it, how your opening game went, I think it would be pretty close to this,” Fullen said. “I’m really happy with the way we played. I couldn’t have pictured a better start.”
Hightstown (1-0) 7 21 12 12 — 52 Princeton (0-1) 0 0 0 0 — 0
First Quarter
H — Monahan 3 run (Minzie kick)
Second Quarter
H — Mikros 12 run (Salter kick)
H — Quigg 20 run (Minzie kick)
H — Justice 24 run (Salter kick) Third Quarter
H — Clopton 19 run (kick failed) H — Clopton 20 run (run failed) Fourth Quarter
H — Kollman 1 run (kneel)
H — Kollman 21 yards (kneel)
*** BRISTOL 28, PENNINGTON 26 BRISTOL TWP., PA. » The Warriors scored on a Hail Mary with 3.9 seconds left to stun the Red Raiders.
Brandon West completed 15of-28 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns for Pennington (0-1).
Ricky Eng had 135 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while Dante Wilson carried 19 times for 134 yards and a touchdown.
PEDDIE 42,
BISHOP SULLIVAN 7 HIGHTSTOWN » Maurice Belland threw two touchdowns, ran for one more and the Falcons cruised past the visitors from Virginia.
Bellan finished with 242 yards in the air. Marlyn Johnson caught six passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns.