Since the start of the playoffs, the Princeton Tigers have broken down their huddle with โMartinsburg!โ
They fully anticipated theyโd be paying the Bulldogs in Wheeling for a state championship. They spoke it into existence and now itโs here. The Tigers will matchup with Martinsburg Saturday at noon at Wheeling Island Stadium with the Class AAA state championship on the line.
Itโs a matchup of the perennial power versus the newcomers with the Tigers being the latter.
Prior to this season Princeton hadnโt advanced past the quarterfinal round in itโs 100 year history. Now it gets the chance to make the most of its first opportunity and win a title.
โThey believe in one another.,โ Princeton head coach Keith Taylor said of his players. โThey believe in their community, they believe in themselves and they believe that they can go out there and play with anybody and Iโve said it all year long. When you get a team that believes that they can go out there and compete, and that they can go out there and win, itโs a dangerous combination for people to play. I think thatโs what youโre seeing with our kids. You know, weโve embraced the underdog role pretty much all season. I know thereโs been a couple games weโve been favored in but nobody thought we were gonna beat Parkersburg. We came out and faced adversity and pretty much handled that game at the end and shut them down. And then nobody except us thought weโd beat Bridgeport. When you win games like that when the whole state doubts you, these kids understand because I print off everything I see when people were talking bad about us to show them.
โI want them to play loose because nobody cares about what youโre doing. Nobody thinks you can win when you do win against the team (Bridgeport) that just beat the number one team in the state. Our kids feed off that and our kids arenโt scared of anybody. Now weโre obviously gonna have our hands full with Martinsburg. Theyโre not some pushover and theyโre the best team in the state of West Virginia for a reason. Theyโve proven that over and over and over again. But you know, we get an opportunity to go out there and show them what we got. Our kids donโt know any better so theyโre going to go out there and theyโre gonna think theyโre gonna win on Saturday. And you know, why not?โ
The Tigers will be tasked with slowing down a Martinsburg offense spearheaded by dual-threat QB Murphy Clement, who has thrown for over 1,500 yards with 17-plus touchdown passes. On the ground heโs picked up over 800 yards with running back Koi Fagan over 900 yards rushing on the season.
โThey got dudes everywhere,โ Taylor said. โTheir offensive line is athletic and physical. They have two guys that can possibly play quarterback for other teams and both start. I think the Clement kid is the heartbeat of their team. Heโs one of the most physical runners that weโve watched on tape. Heโs got great moves in the backfield, but he also can sling the rock and all their receivers are incredible. Each one of them are athletic, they block well and theyโre physical. Itโs hard to pick a couple guys out because thereโs so many good guys everywhere on their team. We definitely have our work cut out for us, but you donโt make it to this point in the season playing against people that arenโt any good. Martinsburg, theyโve been the perennial powerhouse, the top dogs, no pun intended, or pun intended, for the last decade.โ
Princetonโs explosive offense will be challenged by a talented group of Bulldogs, particularly in the trenches. Rashad Reid, one of the best defensive players in the state, anchors the Martinsburg defensive line. Heโs joined in the trenches by Xerxees Yancey, a defensive lineman who has three interception returns for touchdowns this season.
The Tigers counter with their own horses.
Eli Campbell is a two-time first-team all-state selection at right guard and the guys he blocks for are pretty good too. Chance Barker has 46 touchdown passes to just two interceptions with his top targets being Dom Collins (1,732 receiving yards, 25 receiving touchdowns) and Brad Mossor (821 receiving yards, eight touchdowns). Rounding out the top-level talent is running back Marquel Lowe with 1,683 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns on the ground. But the Tigers will need contributions from all over the roster to win.
โI think in terms of offense, we have to make plays and guys have to make plays all over the field,โ Taylor said. โIt canโt just be Dom and It canโt just be Marquel. We have guys that have been stepping up in weeks previous, you know, Mikey DiGiacomo, Wyatt Cline and Brad Mossor, who have been making plays all year, but those guys are going to have to raise their game. Theyโre going to have to rise to the challenge and theyโre going to have to play at a level that they havenโt played at yet. Our offensive line, like Iโve been saying, has been continuing to get better each and every week. Theyโre gonna have to up their game raise their level of play to match Martinsburg because Martinsburg not only as a great first group, they are going to have some depth as well. They donโt have a lot of guys playing both ways. All across the board we need to raise our level of play and match them for four quarters. We canโt have turnovers. Weโre gonna have to play a perfect game.โ
Newcomers to the title game and its atmosphere, Taylor doesnโt expect nerves to take hold. With the situations the Tigers have faced thus far โ trailing by nine in a comeback win against Parkersburg and surviving a 73-70 shootout with Bridgeport โ their nerves have been tested and they havenโt blinked yet. Itโs why they welcome the challenge of the best.
โI think our mindset is good,โ Taylor said. โI think our kids are excited for the opportunity, and theyโre just ready to go out there and prove people wrong. We got no chance โ David versus Goliath man, what else did you want? You donโt want to make this kind of historic run and do all these things and break all these records and go play a team that youโre not going to get credit for being the state champion. Youโre playing the best of the best. Youโre playing the best team in the state of West Virginia. And we would have it any other way.โ
