Charleston – Princeton concluded its season the same way it started it – with a win at Laidley Field.
The No. 2-seeded Tigers scored 23 fourth quarter points, overcoming a nine-point deficit in that same frame to secure the program’s first state championship in season No. 102 with a 36-35 victory over No. 5 Nitro Saturday evening in the Class AAA title game at Laidley Field in Charleston.
It was a night to remember for Princeton receiver and Kennedy, Moss and Walker Award contender Brad Mossor who finished with 247 yards of total offense (132 receiving, 115 rushing), all five Tiger touchdowns and a pair of 2-point conversion runs to boot, earning MVP honors.
An offensive explosion in the second half keyed by Mossor highlighted a game that was tied at 7-7 at the break, but it was a pair of fourth quarter defensive plays by senior linebacker Landon Crane that made the difference. Crane intercepted Nitro QB Eian Duffy at the Nitro 33 with 4:55 to play in the game to set up the go-ahead score and broke up a pass on a 2-point conversion attempt that would’ve given Nitro a 37-36 lead with 1:17 remaining.
The pass breakup that cemented the game proved to be an improvisation by Crane.
“Honestly they called a blitz right there and I’m not too fast of a guy and I don’t blitz that well so I just dropped back in coverage,” Crane said. “(Duffy) threw it my way and I just came in and tried to make a play and hey Hootie – Alex Cox – he made a great play too. That just wasn’t me.”
The win seemed unlikely following a Malik Brown interception of Princeton QB Chance Barker on a miscommunication with 8:32 to play. The Wildcats cashed in on the turnover with an 18-yard touchdown run by Chris Radcliffe on the following play, bumping their advantage to 29-20. But it was charted territory for Princeton’s senior class which finished its career 3-1 over the last three seasons in playoff games it trailed in by 10 or fewer points in the second half.
“I think as coaches and teachers of the kids and I think about it at the house with my youngins, however we act and respond is how the kids are going to act and respond,” Princeton head coach Nate Tanner said. “In moments like that when the momentum swings that way, we threw a pick, it’s not looking bright but you can’t pout your way into success. There’s still time on the clock and we talk about how you get 48 minutes to do it.
“Whether it be five or eight minutes left, keep fighting and keep digging. We got a stop, got a score and got a stop again and it’s a testament to our kids and our character. I told the kids yesterday they were prepared for this moment and to win on this stage you have to have good people and these kids are really, really good people.”
In appropriate fashion, Tanner’s Tigers needed 1:40 to go 80 yards, pulling to within a point when Barker found Mossor from 37 yards out and the latter punched it on the ensuing two-point try.
“They changed up their defense,” Barker said. “They went Cover 2, Cover 4 (in the fourth half) and they went man for some reason with one high safety and they let a lot of open space win the field and we had to attack it. That’s what we wanted – them to come down to the box and play our run and they did and just a simple mistake by the coaching there.”
Crane’s interception on Nitro’s following drive gave the Tigers prime field position and they capitalized, requiring seven plays to find pay dirt on a 3-yard run by Mossor who followed with his second successful two-point rush of the night.
“We told them all week with the pressure that we bring, to be weary and aware of a potential screen,” Tanner said. “Landon, he’s a heady kid. If you think back he’s had a couple picks on screens. Against Bluefield he had a pick. Against Hampshire they ran a slip-screen on their sideline and there was nobody but Landon who broke it up. Tonight I think he had two picks on screens so we told the linebackers if you feel it and you’re going, try and make a play and he did great.”
Nitro responded with a 90-yard scoring drive, the big play coming when Duffy, who threw for 275 yards and a trio of scores, scrambled and hit Radcliffe for a gain of 54 yards. That was followed by a 3-yard touchdown run by Takye Porter and the eventual game-winning pass breakup by Crane.
“Earlier in the game when they went for two, I sprinted down the sideline and tried to call a timeout but (the official) didn’t hear me,” Tanner said. “Missed that so there at the end in the huddle we said, ‘They come out for a field goal, we’ve got to block it.’ If they come out on offense, I’m not going to tell you the play call but it’s what we hang our hat on and that’s pressure and just locking down.”
The second half proved pivotal for the Tigers who found success running the ball in the first quarter but stalled out in the second, netting just 30 total yards in the frame.
Leading 7-0 late in the first quarter, Princeton saw a potential scoring drive come to a close when a high snap on the Nitro 31 was recovered by the Wildcats. They knotted the game in the second quarter when Duffy connected with Ja’Lei Burnette for an 8-yard touchdown catch.
That score held until the third quarter when Duffy connected with WVU signee Malachi Thompson, who finished with 114 yard receiving, for the first of two touchdown grabs Saturday en route to MVP honors for his team.
The Tiger ground game got on track in the third quarter, picking up 73 yards and bringing them to within a point following a 26-yard touchdown run from Mossor after which the PAT was missed.
They held early in the final frame when Mossor scored his third rushing touchdown on a 4-yard plunge.
“In the second half we came in and looked at the iPad to see what they were doing,” Tanner said. “I thought they were going to be a four-man front, like a traditional over front and they came out and it was kind of a hybrid. we had seen it at Capital, Graham did it a little bit and Greenbrier East a little bit but it was even different. They had a 4i, a 0, a 5 and a 9. They had two guys on the edge and they were doing some stuff where they were aligning away from Brad.
“So I asked, ‘What’s going to happen if we stick Brad in the backfield?’ So we came out the second half and did that and talked about what we were going to do if Brad wasn’t in the backfield and we moved him around and got him going in the run game. We motioned him out of the backfield and had some big pass plays then at the end they went to a five-man front once we had kind of asserted our will in the run game and we started going empty and they were playing some (cover) 0 so from they’re we’re playing two-on-two. It was Mossor and his guys vs Chance and whoever was coming after him.”
The Tigers took what they were given, piling up 110 yards passing in the fourth quarter alone after netting just 127 through the first three frames.
“They played a lot of man,” Mossor said. “When I was in the backfield they came up and it was one-on-one if we went empty so that’s what we did.”
The win caps a 14-0 season, the first under Tanner’s watch, while simultaneously washing away the sting of the 2023 title game loss to Martinsburg. It also concludes the career of the most successful senior class in school history, highlighted by Mossor, Barker and all-state defensive lineman Kalum Kiser. This senior group led the program to a 9-3 postseason record with three state semifinal berths (the only three in program history), a runner-up finish and now a title.
“It’s a Cinderella story,” Mossor said. “It’s what a kid would dream of. I’m glad I was able to do it.”
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