Welcome back to The Deep Post, a weekly column diving into the storylines from the week past and ahead!
This week’s column highlights Princeton’s defensive effort through the first two weeks and the 2-0 standouts.
Game Plan Consistency
Princeton’s defense looked great Friday and the numbers reflected that, holding Bluefield to 1-of-10 on third down conversions while forcing five turnovers (and a sixth on special teams).
They did that by generating pressure and loading the box to make Bluefield one dimensional.
Let’s start with how Princeton arrived at this point. The Tigers ran a four-down front last year with the state’s best pair of edge rushers in Kalum Kiser and Daniel Jennings. Nate Tanner took over and shortly after Jennings decided to graduate early and head to Penn State.
The switch to a three man front changes allows you to do a more in disguising pressure and where you bring it from. Princeton wasn’t super interested in disguising it, though, as the Tigers brought it from everywhere, constantly blitzing Beavers QB Max Simpson. The 10 percent conversion rate on third down was the final result of a chain reaction.
Bluefield doesn’t currently have a healthy h-back, sniffer, fullback or whatever you want to call it to help in protection or run blocking and as a spread offense without a tight end attached, that regularly meant the Beavers were outnumbered in the box. You can scream about running the ball more but almost every run call would’ve been a waste of a down with Princeton regularly stacking the box with six or seven defenders. You’re minus-two in the run game to start.
The Beavers did attempt horizontal sweep runs to try and stretch the defense but Princeton’s outside linebackers profile more as safety types, thus have the athleticism to contain those runs. So if we can’t run on first or second down, we’re constantly forced into passing situations and each incompletion adds up. Before you know it first-and-10 becomes third-and-10. And Princeton wasn’t shy about blitzing on every down.
It worked to eliminate Bluefield’s rushing attack while also targeting an inexperienced part of Bluefield’s roster – its offensive line. The Beavers are replacing most of their starters up front a year ago and they’re protecting a talented quarterback who’s still just a sophomore. Bluefield’s answers against the blitz were good ones and worked at times. They hit on deep completions on their first couple drives, exploiting one-on-one matchups but the offense became dependent on them because they struggled with execution errors – offline throws, miscommunications, an interception on a screen pass, etc. – on their shorter routes.
On Princeton’s end, the coaching staff showed a lot of belief in their gameplan and personnel. When you’re regularly blitzing and loading the box, you’re putting a lot of responsibility on your secondary and coverage players. That’s not an easy ask against a Bluefield team that has athleticism and explosiveness at the receiver spot. But those players rewarded their coaches’ confidence by making plays. Alex Cox had two interceptions and broke up a one-on-one pass on a deep post route that likely would’ve resulted in a touchdown.
I thought after the first two or three deep completions we might see Princeton back off but the defense never let Bluefield score, reinforcing the strategy. The boxes never loosened up and as a result Bluefield had only seven true rushing attempts on 30 plays in the first half with three of them coming in the final minute when the Beavers were attempting to run the clock and get to the break.
I wouldn’t be concerned if I was a Bluefield fan. The final score may not indicate so but the performance was worlds better than last year’s matchup. It was just a matchup of a veteran team that knew how to weather the early storm and a younger team that’s still learning.
For Princeton I’m interested in whether or not this strategy was game specific or if it is the identity of this defense on full display. Given that Tanner said after the game that his team’s motto is, “Pressure either bursts pipes or it makes diamonds,” I’m inclined to believe this is who they’ll be. If so, the matchup with Oak Hill next week will be a fascinating one.
The Red Devils boast a more seasoned group of receivers that play well at the catch point, a veteran offensive line and an unseasoned quarterback unafraid of launching the ball down the field. On the other side of the ball Oak Hill head coach Davon Marion usually puts together one of the best defensive game plans in the area, limiting an offense’s best player. But his defenses have yielded points against Tanner’s offenses. In his four matchups as the defensive coordinator against Tanner’s Parkersburg South teams, Marion’s defenses struggled against Tanner, yielding 40.5 point per game in four head-to-head matchups.
That’s probably not the most fair metric as South had an explosive outlier offense in 2022 and Princeton was still rebuilding in 2019 but the same could be said for the 2020 iteration of South which was reloading. Either way from a schematic standpoint I believe this will be one of the matchups of the year and could lay an early blueprint for how to play both teams. Specifically, all eyes will be on how Marion defends all-stater Brad Mossor. The dilemma he’s had the last two years is any iteration of the Collins-Lowe-Mossor-Jennings offenses have had three skill guys that are an explosive play waiting to happen.
Hone in on one and two more are waiting to tear you apart. This Princeton offense has good skill players but isn’t loaded with three first-team all-state skill players. That’s not a slight, it just speaks to level of player the Tigers have had and the problems it creates for a defense.
This could be a breakout spot for another Princeton skill player.
2-0
The 2-0 club is full of teams optimistic after a strong start, and rightfully so.
PikeView, Midland Trail, James Monroe, Oak Hill, Independence, Greenbrier East and Princeton are all riding high a fifth of the way through the year.
But the three sitting highest are James Monroe, Greenbrier East and Independence.
Independence will reap a ton of points from its win over Hoover but I want to focus on Greenbrier East and James Monroe.
East’s offense seems to have found a legit rushing threat in A.J. Godfrey, taking pressure off of the passing attack. Protecting QB Brody Hamric was a struggle at times for the Spartans last year, specifically in their matchup against Beckley. Hamric was dinged up throughout the year and ended up missing two games. Godfrey posted his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game. But the bigger storyline is the outlook of East’s season improves after surviving a pair of matchups with Class AAAA teams.
I still believe the best teams on East’s schedule still lie ahead – Nitro, Princeton and Oak Hill are all challenges – but the Class AAAA bonus points the Spartans will nab from their 2-0 start will help them come November when the final playoff ratings drop.
James Monroe is in a similar boat. Not only did the Mavericks best a preseason top 5 in Williamstown, they picked up a big win against Shady Spring, worth Class AAA points.
They stifled a Shady offense that was without its leading rusher but the wins count the same. I said last week each win carries weight for James Monroe because the best of the schedule is still ahead of it.
Bluefield comes to town this week in an early matchup that will garner statewide attention and with Greenbrier East and Tug Valley still ahead on the slate, each win is a step closer to the postseason, an achievement considering how perilous the path there projects to be for the Mavericks.
Game Balls
- Jake Belcher, Princeton – The ultimate utility man compiled 90 yards of total offense, rushed for a touchdown, threw a touchdown pass, registered a sack, recovered a fumble and kicked an extra point.
- Zander Ooten, Midland Trail – After a 2.5 sack performance on Friday, Ooten pushed his season total six for the 2-0 Patriots.
- Peyton Mounts, PikeView – A complete performance with impact plays in all three phases, Mounts registered over 100 yards of total offense, returned a kickoff for touchdown and picked a pass.
- Nate Suttle, Greenbrier East – A game-changing 101-yard interception return touchdown broke a tie and set the Spartans on the path to victory.
- Brock Green, Independence – Green had as many incompletions as touchd0wn passes (three), adding another with his legs.
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