ON THE BEAM: Princeton High quarterback Dave Beamer fires a pass in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, senior star Beamer connected on a touchdown pass in a losing cause as PHS fell 48-38 to WW/PN. The Little Tigers, who finished the regular season with a 4-5 record, will host Millburn on November 14 in a NJSIAA regional crossover game to wrap up the fall. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Even though the Princeton High football team was trailing WW/P-N 48-38 when it got the ball with 54.7 seconds remaining in regulation, Dave Beamer wasn’t about to give up.

The PHS senior quarterback rushed for 33 yards in five carries on that final possession, which ended with Beamer trying to throw the ball as he was getting buried under a furious pass rush from the Northern Knights.

“I knew we had to make something happen, unfortunately it didn’t happen,” said Beamer, who limped off the field after the final play. “Everyone was a little disappointed that we couldn’t come out on top.”

With the program holding its annual Senior Day ceremony before the game, Beamer and his classmates were fired up to give WW/P-N a battle.

“I remember sitting around thinking that Senior Day is way off, all of a sudden it creeps up on you and you are there, it is sort of surreal,” said Beamer.

“We were all trying to have a good time. We were all really excited to go out and just play the last game at home potentially.”

After PHS dug a 14-0 hole early in the second quarter, it turned into an exciting game as the Little Tigers rallied. Beamer got PHS on the board as he hit classmate Matt Ochoa with a 27-yard TD pass with 10:40 left in the first half.

“That was a broken play,” recalled Beamer. “The center snapped it too early and everyone was freaking out. I ran out of the pocket and found Matt deep, it was nice that he could get open.”

The game became a track meet after that as PHS senior tailback Rory Helstrom ran wild, scoring three touchdowns on runs of 11, 25, and 39 yards to match WW/P-N quarterback Malik Thompson, who had a dazzling 69-yard scoring jaunt and a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as the teams were locked in a 28-28 stalemate nearing halftime.

“It was weird, all I did on offense was turn around and hand it off,” said Beamer. “Rory is a great back and we are lucky to have him.”

The Little Tigers forged ahead 31-28 as sophomore Jakob Green booted a 36-yard field goal with seconds remaining in the half.

“The field goal was huge and since we were coming off that 14-0 hole and erased deficit that gave us a lot of momentum coming out after halftime,” said Beamer.

In the third quarter, Thompson threw a touchdown pass as WW/P-N regained the lead at 35-31. PHS responded with a 41-yard TD run by Helstrom to go ahead 38-35.

The Little Tigers never scored again as Thompson hit a TD pass to John Owens and C.J. Markisz scored on a 19-yard run to get up by the final margin of 48-38.

The loss left  PHS with a regular season record of 4-5 and it will wrap up the fall by hosting Millburn on November 14 in a NJSIAA regional crossover game.

“Malik is a great player, he found a way to beat us,” said Beamer, who also played safety on defense in the contest.

“When we started to shut him down, they started giving it to their running back (Markisz) and he trucked ahead for four or five yards every time.”

For Beamer, his PHS football career has been about finding a way to be at his best.

“Going into freshman year, the only reason I played QB was because my Pop Warner coach said I should,” said Beamer.

“It was crazy what it turned into and all the experiences that I have had going through these four years.”

PHS head coach Charlie Gallagher is proud of his senior class, having gone through a lot with the group which includes Shahieym Brown, Matt Lambert, Kiki Mahiri, Joe Cunsolo, Noah Ziegler, Alex Cortez, Matt Toplin, and Nick Fliss in addition to Beamer, Helstrom, and Ochoa.

“They are real special, “ said Gallagher. “I was their freshman coach and the second year when they were sophomores, we went 0-10 when I got the head job. We have a special bond; they are good kids.”

PHS got a special effort on Saturday from Helstrom, as he ended up with 328 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

“Rory had a monster game, he always does,” said Gallagher. “There haven’t been many people who have been able to shut him down this year.”

In Gallagher’s view, Beamer has been the glue holding the squad together. “He has meant the world to the program,” asserted Gallagher.

“He is a feisty kid. He is one of our team leaders. There is a reason why he is a captain, people gravitate to him. He does a great job.”

Gallagher tipped his hat to WW/P-N, noting that it did a better job than PHS down the stretch.

“They just made more plays than we did, it was a high-scoring game, there was a lot of back and forth,” said Gallagher.

“I expected that kind of game. I expected them to make some big plays and I expected us to ground it out, which we did on a lot of drives to punch it in. We were hoping to get the victory, it just didn’t work out.”

PHS will be hoping to come up big in the finale against Millburn.

“We are disappointed that we couldn’t get a win today,” said Gallagher. “We have got next week, we want to get to 5-5 and be .500 for the season.”

Beamer, for his part, is confident that the Little Tigers will scrap to the end.

“We may not have the most guys or be the best football team but we definitely put it on the line for 48 minutes every Saturday,” asserted Beamer.