BREAKING THROUGH: Princeton High football player Jaylen Johnson fights for extra yardage in recent action. Last Saturday, senior star Johnson rushed for 77 yards and two touchdowns to help PHS defeat Cherry Hill East 21-14, snapping a 21-game losing streak. The Little Tigers, now 1-3, play at Lawrence High on October 5. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Locked in a 14-14 tie against Cherry Hill East with 9:06 remaining in the fourth quarter last Saturday, the Princeton High football team got the ball at its 29-yard line and was primed to end its 21-game losing streak.

Starting just his second game at quarterback, junior Judd Petrone was sticking to basics as the Little Tigers started the possession. “It was just score a touchdown,” said Petrone.

When the PHS drive stalled with a third down and 11 at its 28, Petrone took matters into his hands, lofting a pass to senior receiver Tyler Komis for a 26-yard gain.

“I saw the corner come up and I told him to go back,” recalled Petrone. “I threw it up and he caught and he made a good play.”

Petrone made two straight good plays, hitting senior running back Jaylen Johnson for a 14-yard gain on a pass play and then gaining nine yards on a scramble as the Little Tigers advanced to the Cherry Hill East 23.

From there, senior Stephen Hennessy made a pair of six-yard runs to the five and then Johnson did the rest, bulling into the middle of the line for three yard and then two and the go-ahead touchdown.

Stopping the Cougars after they advanced to the PHS 26, the Little Tigers ran out the clock to prevail 21-14 and improve to 1-3, celebrating their first win since beating Hightstown 33-0 on September 16, 2016.

“Jaylen gave a great effort,” said Petrone. “The whole team gave a great effort; it was a good team win.”

For Petrone, who began the season at receiver after losing a battle for the starting quarterback spot in preseason, getting switched into the signal caller role after the first two games has turned out well.

“It has been good; coach [Charlie] Gallagher gave me the opportunity,” said Petrone, who completed 8-of-9 passes for 91 yards in the victory. “I knew the offense because I ran quarterback all summer. I was comfortable.”

PHS head coach Gallagher liked the good character displayed by his squad as it overcame an early 7-0 deficit, facing a determined Cherry Hill East squad that entered the game mired in a 31-game losing streak.

“We preach to the guys every week; it is one play, we forget about it and we move on to the next play,” said Gallagher.

“They scored but so what? You watch the NFL, you watch college football and people score all of the time. Somebody has to score first but that doesn’t mean they are going to win the football game.”

Johnson’s contribution was key to the PHS win as he rushed for 77 yards and two touchdowns.

“Jaylen is a workhorse; we need him in the game and we just keep feeding him the ball,” said Gallagher.

“It might be two yards, it might be one yard or he might break off for seven. He also had a couple of nice catches. That is the style of offense that we are running We are just going to have keep pounding it and wear down those defense.”

Gallagher likes the way Petrone is running the Little Tiger offense. “Judd is getting more comfortable; what a great throw to Tyler,” said Gallagher.

“We had a great quarterback duel with Jay [Jackson] and Judd. We tried Jay and he did some really nice things and then it was try out Judd. It is all about getting down the field. Judd could do that.”

In the waning moments of the win over Cherry Hill East, the PHS defense came up big as the Cougars drove deep into Little Tiger territory.

“Evan Angelucci coming off the side and hitting that quarterback at the last second was big; Judd had a great breakup,” said Gallagher.

“There were a lot of great individual efforts but at the same time they all pulled together as a team. I am really happy about that.”

While Gallagher was happy to see the program break its losing streak, his sights are set on the future.

“We are just trying to focus on the win; we have been battling and the bottom line is that we got there,” said Gallagher, whose team will go after a second straight win as it plays at Lawrence on October 5.

“There is no doubt that we could use a couple of more bodies, but we are happy with the bodies that we have got. We are going to continue to build this program. We had a lot of fans in the stands today. We brought the Princeton Junior Football League guys in here today and hopefully they stayed for the whole game because it was a great game and that motivates the kids to keep coming out.”

Petrone, for his part, is confident that PHS build on the triumph. “It brings us confidence that we can win a football game,” said Petrone. “I will remember the good effort and how we never quit. Hopefully we can win next week.”