Blitz National Guard

Tigers slip past Mavericks

James Monroe (13) vs. Princeton (21)
Written: Nov 08, 2014
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By BRIAN WOODSON

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — Jay Palmer didn’t fall backwards into the end zone like Graham great Ahmad Bradshaw did in Super Bowl XLVI for the Giants.

But, much like Bradshaw, who was expected to stop short of the goal line to keep the ball from the Patriots, Palmer’s late touchdown gave James Monroe just enough time to drove the ball down the field.

They did it too.

“We were trying to get a first down there at the end of the game and we scored and really put ourselves in a bind,” Princeton head coach Randy Peak said. “We could have run out the clock, but you can’t tell a kid not to score.”

Jordan Jones saved the Tigers, picking off a pass into the end zone by Reed McNeer on the game’s final play, enabling Princeton to escape with a 21-13 season-ending victory over James Monroe on a cold Friday night at Hunnicutt Stadium.

Princeton, which won three of its final four games, finished the season with a 4-6 record.

“Four and 6, with all the adversity we have been through,” Princeton head coach Randy Peek said. “I am not making excuses, but we have had ups and downs. It is just good to finish off the year with a win.”

Peek never meant for the Mavericks to get a chance at the end of the game, but Palmer scored from 9 yards out with 44.6 seconds left on the clock, giving James Monroe one more chance with the ball.

The left-handed McNeer led the Mavericks down the field, completing four passes — all to Josh Dransfield — to get the ball to the Princeton 41-yard line. On the game’s final play, McNeer’s pass landed in Jones’ hands, sending the Mavericks (3-7) to another close loss.

James Monroe lost five games this season by a combined 31 points.

“One of our coaches talked to them about remembering this feeling and taking it and running with it in this offseason and hopefully building on it for next year,” James Monroe head coach John Mustain said. “It is potentially a good future. I always like say potentially because there are a lot of things that need to happen, the kids have got to work and get better.”

McNeer and the Mavericks controlled the first half, outgaining the Tigers 214-45, but managed to score just once on an 11-yard pass from McNeer to Landon Shires on the second play of the second quarter. Lance Wilson converted the extra point for the 7-0 lead.

McNeer threw for 148 yards, Dransfield caught 10 passes for 109 yards, and Grant Mohler ran for 75 yards and a score.

“I thought the first half we bent, but we didn’t break, we gave up seven,” Peek said. “Their quarterback does a heck of a job, he is lefthanded, he hit that out all night, and we were just afraid to jump it.

“No. 20 (Mohler), he was player of the week last week, he runs hard for a ninth grader, and Coach Mustain and his staff did a great job.”

The Mavs had other chances, losing a fumble on the game’s opening possession at the Princeton 6, and also turned the ball over downs in the second when McNeer was sacked on fourth down by Isaiah Edwards, who lived in the backfield for much of the game.

James Monroe had another chance on the final play of the half — a possession set up by a fumble recovery at the Princeton 36 — but the Mavericks faked a field goal, and McNeer’s pass was picked in the end zone by Jacob Whittington.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times there that really hurt,” said Mustain, whose Mavericks will lose 10 seniors to graduation. “These kids have played hard all year, you just hate it for these seniors more than anything. We have a lot of other kids coming back, you just always hate it for your seniors if you don’t win that last game and make the playoffs. All in all, we had a pretty good season.”

Princeton was held to 45 yards at the break, including 29 for Palmer and eight for Jordan Jones, who returned from injury, but didn’t carry the ball after the break. The Tigers threw just one pass in the game.

“They had a great game plan,” Peek said. “They pressed the line of scrimmage and we didn’t do a very good job up front on the edge, but we made some adjustments at halftime. The kids did a nice job in the second half and we were lucky to win. James Monroe fought hard.”

Finally, the Tigers got on the board on the opening possession of the third period when Palmer was able to stay up long enough to make a late pitch to Kevin Phillips, who dashed 35 yards down the left sidelines for a touchdown. Whittington’s extra point made it 7-7 with 8:57 on the clock.

James Monroe responded with their own score, after getting the ball back when the punter was hit by Palmer. Mohler completed the short drive from 11 yards for the touchdown. Wilson’s extra point missed its mark for a 13-7 lead.

“(Mohler) runs hard, he has good vision, deceptive speed, he is not super fast, but he has got a little bit of speed about him,” Mustain said. “He is a hard-nosed kid and a good kid too.”

Princeton then made a key play on defense, when McNeer attempted a pass from his own 15, but it was deflected and picked off by William Nelson. Three plays into the fourth quarter, and Palmer scored from 5 yards, and Whittington’s kick gave the Tigers its first lead with 10:52 left to go.

James Monroe was forced to punt on its next possessions, and McNeer didn’t complete another pass until the final drive.

“They really started putting a good rush on us and we weren’t doing a very good job of picking it up so that really hurt our passing game there in the second half,” Mustain said. “Again, we did a lot of good things, but we shot ourselves in the foot just a little bit too much.

Palmer and Christian Shafer helped drive the ball to the James Monroe 9 with a 3rd and 4 to go with under a minute to play. The plan appeared to be to get the first down and run out the clock, but Palmer may not have gotten the message, and pushed his way into the end zone, finishing his career for the Tigers with a touchdown. Shafer had 76 yards for the Tigers.

“I think (Jay) needed 75 yards to get a thousand yards and we were wanting to get him that,” Peek said. “Jay ran hard, he gives us everything he has got, Shafer came in and did a nice job, ate the clock up.

“Jay is a great leader and he has been a great football player for Princeton High School.”

James Monroe got the ball back, with McNeer going to the air, but his final pass was picked off by Jones as time expired.

“We are pretty happy with this season, but you can’t be anywhere near satisfied when you only win three ball games so there is definitely a lot of work we have to do in the offseason,” Mustain said. “We need to make some decisions about how we are going to do this and do that next year, but I like our chances over the next couple of years.”

bwoodson@bdtonline.com

/ Twitter @bdtonline.com

at Hunnicutt Stadium

James Monroe.....................0 7 6 0 — 13

Princeton.............................0 0 7 14 — 21

Scoring

Second Quarter

JM—Landon Shires 14 pass from Reed McNeer (Lance Wilson kick) 11:17

Third Quarter

PR—Kevin Phillips 35 run (Jacob Whittington kick) 8:57

JM—Grant Mohler 11 run (kick failed) 4:35

Fourth Quarter

PR—Jay Palmer 2 run (Whittington kick) 10:52

PR—Palmer 9 run (Whittington kick) 4:46

———

Team Statistics

First Downs: JM 16, PR 12. Rush-Yards: JM 30-126, PR 45-247. Pass Yards: JM 175, PR 0. Comp-Att-Int: JM 17-33-3, PR 0-1-0. Fumbles-Lost: JM 3-1, PR 1-1. Penalty-Yards: JM 8-68, PR 6-55. Punts-Avg: JM 3-35.7, PR 4-35.3.

———

Individual Statistics

Rushing: JM Grant Mohler 14-75, Reed McNeer 13-50, Landon Shires 2-1. PR Jay Palmer 24-137, Christian Shafer 15-76, Kevin Phillips 1-35, Jordan Jones 6-8.

Passing: Reed McNeer 16-33-3 int-148-1 td, Grant Mohler 1-1-0-27-0. PR Jay Palmer 0-1-0-0-0.

Receiving: JM Josh Dransfield 10-109, Grant Mohler 2-23, Landon Shires 2-18, Tyler Sams 1-13, Evan Beasley 1-9, Conner Boothe 1-3. PR none.

Take-aways: JM Landon Shires fr. PR Jay Palmer fr, Jacob Whittington int, William Nelson int, Phillip Jones int.
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GAME SCOREBOARD
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
James Monroe 0 7 6 0 0 13
Princeton 0 0 7 14 0 21
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