Tigers tangle with the G-Men

By JONATHAN GREENE

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — After facing back to back top five teams in AAA, the Princeton Tigers will venture out of state and into Virginia.

The Tigers (2-3), who are coming off a 20-8 loss to second-rated George Washington, visit Mitchell Stadium tonight to face the Graham G-Men (2-2).

“I was pleased with both sides of the ball,” Princeton head coach Ted Spadaro said. “I thought coach (Randy) Wilson did a great job with the defense and coach (Keith) Anderson with the offense. We made a couple mistakes their on offense that hurt us.

“All in all, I was pretty well pleased except with the end of the first half. I was pleased with our improvement, not the loss. But, we’re improving.”

Princeton has faced a difficult start to the season with games against Woodrow Wilson (4-1, No. 5 in AAA), Bluefield (2-3), Oak Hill (2-3), Capital (5-0, No. 4) and George Washington (5-0, No. 2).

“It’s difficult for us because we’re a small AAA in the MSAC,” Spadaro said. “Our kids are learning the hard way that you have to play every Friday night in the MSAC. Everyone has a good line, everyone has an outstanding running back and they usually have a good quarterback.

“You can’t let up. It’s no different this Friday night with Graham and those kids are going to be sky after coming from behind to beat Marion. We’ll have our hands full.”

The G-Men rallied to defeat Marion last Friday, 28-26 and feature small, but speedy athletes on both sides of the ball.

Spencer Sheets (5-7, 132) mans the quarterback position while Cody Hatfield (5-8, 158) and Cory Coppola (6-1, 188) will handle the running back duties with Aderrius Jackson out.

“They all run hard,” Spadaro said. “Their offense line gets off that ball. Sheets can scramble and throw the ball well. You’re talking about containing and keeping them between the tackles. That won’t be easy.”

The Tigers have speed of their own and dangerous threats coming out of the backfield.

Tahj Sho-Johnson (5-7, 180) has galloped for 595 yards and seven scores. Tre Hopkins (5-11, 187) has paced Johnson’s effort with 308 yards and three touchdowns.

Storm McPherson has been solid at the quarterback position for the Tigers throwing for 385 yards. He has three touchdowns, but three interceptions.

“You try use it the point where you control the ball,” Spadaro said. “Field position and turnovers are usually what wins you the ball game or loses you the ball game. They’ve had their share as well as we have. The team that doesn’t make the mistakes will be the one that comes out as a winner.”

In addition to those backs, Princeton should have the advantage on the line in terms of size as Graham has only three players on their roster bigger than 230 pounds. Still, the Tigers will be facing a G-Men squad that will be coming at them from all angles.

“They attack from a four-front,” Spadaro said. “(Graham head) coach (Mike) Williams does a great job sending those blitzes. If you recognize the blitz, you’ll be okay.

“If not, you’re going to see (Lamont) Edwards, (Jacob) Tibbs and guys like that in their blitzing on you and they’ll be your backfield before you know it. Our offensive line has to be real concerned about gap protection.”

Spadaro is not underestimating Graham in any way even though the G-Men have only defeated Tazewell and Marion who have combined for one win and fell to Bluefield 51-14 in their opener while Princeton defeated the Beavers 35-21.

“They are the most improved team on the schedule,” Spadaro said. “ Each time I’ve seen film on them, it doesn’t take long to see the improvement they’ve made over the last three or four weeks. They’re a team that’s believing they can win.”

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Mitchell Stadium.

— Contact Jonathan Greene

at jgreene@bdtonline.com