QUARTERBACK SCRAMBLE: Princeton High quarterback Travis Petrone eludes a tackler in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, senior star Petrone had a 4-yard touchdown run and a 28-yard interception return for a TD in a losing cause as PHS fell 42-14 to Allentown High. The Tigers, now 0-2, play at Ewing on September 13. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Even though the Princeton High football team trailed Allentown 42-7 in the waning moments of the fourth quarter last Saturday afternoon, Travis Petrone wasn’t about to give up.

PHS senior quarterback Petrone took matters into his hands, sprinting into the end zone on a four-yard jaunt to cap a 77-yard drive.

“That is definitely something we can build on, that is a great way to end it to get a touchdown in there,” said Petrone. “That was nice to get it. Carmine Carusone had some really good runs and young Truman Arshan had some nice catches.”

It was nice for Petrone to hit pay-dirt with his TD scamper.

“I just pulled it back, I wanted to get into the end zone,” said Petrone, reflecting on getting the final score in a 42-14 loss for PHS which dropped it to 0-2. “I was tired of them scoring.”

Petrone had reason to be tired as he played defensive back and took reps on special teams in addition to playing QB against the Redbirds.

For Petrone, being on the field as much as possible is one of his goals as a senior.

“I just want to be out there on every play,” said Petrone. “I told my coach (Charlie Gallagher), I am willing to do whatever you want because I am playing every down if I can. I will always want to be out there making plays. I love hitting kids and I love making plays on offense and scoring touchdowns.”

As a team co-captain, Petrone is hoping that his attitude rubs off on his teammates.

“I love every second of it, being a leader on the team,” said Petrone. “I just try to keep my guys going and give them the same energy I have for the game and the same love that I have for the game. I am leaving my blood, sweat and tears out here. I try my best.”

With 3:30 left in the second quarter and PHS down 14-0, Petrone produced the best moment of the first half for the Tigers as he intercepted an Allentown pass and raced 28 yards for a TD.

“That was sweet, I knew the pass was coming,” said Petrone. “I told my safety in the back, Ellington [Hinds] get my deep side, I am going. I knew the play is coming. I saw the quarterback fake the run, he passed it out and I jumped on the ball. That was great. I needed that because our offense was struggling so I had to do something on the defensive side.”

Petrone acknowledged that Allentown stifled the PHS offense.

“It is tough, when you go down by that much, 14 early, it is tough to rally back with the squad and putting points on the board,” said Petrone. “They had a really tough defense. They had good linebackers, they have got spies everywhere.

They had guys filling holes.”

The Tigers have some holes in their lineup as some key players have been sidelined.

“We are dealing with a lot of injuries as well,” said Petrone, noting that starting running back Andrew Foreman got knocked out of the Allentown game. “The kids want to play but when they get hurt banged up a little bit and they go down, there is nothing you can really do about it.”

The PHS offense needs to do better. “We definitely had a little trouble, we tried putting in a newer offense this week,” said Petrone, who connected on 5-of-14 passes for 32 yards and rushed for 25 yards on nine carries against Allentown.

“It was working good but on some plays we didn’t execute that well. Some plays worked for 10, 15 yards. Other plays I messed up, I will blame myself for overthrowing guys.”In order to execute better, Petrone believes that Tigers must show more focus during the week.

“It is just 100 percent effort,” said Petrone. “Guys like Carmine, he is showing 100 percent effort. He never steps off the field. It is showing 100 percent effort in practice, you play like you practice.”
PHS head coach Charlie Gallagher likes the effort he is getting from Petrone and wasn’t surprised to see him come up with the pick six.

“You have this kid who has just grown up playing sports, he has older brothers and sisters playing and he has just been around it as the youngest sibling,” said Gallagher. “We didn’t really expect him to be playing DB. We also know that he is a really good defensive player. He is a good tackler, he has a nose for the ball. Who else would you rather have back there at corner or safety. You need those guys because they make plays like that.”

Gallagher acknowledged that PHS got worn down by Allentown as the Redbirds rushed for 243 yards on the day and 287 yards passing.

“I think we will be in better shape next week,” said Gallagher. “We are missing some players and hopefully we will get those guys back this week which I am excited for. We have to get back on the horse Monday, it will be here before you know it.”

In Gallagher’s view, the Tigers can build on their late scoring march.

“It is a feel-good drive, they probably had some second-teamers in there but we executed,” said Gallagher. “We had a freshman out there and we had about four sophomores out there playing so we had some young guys out there. We had about three seniors on the field running that so it is not like we were totally loaded with 11 seniors out there. We were shorthanded and those guys stepped up. They did a nice job.”

With PHS playing at Ewing (0-2) this Friday evening, Gallagher is confident that the Tigers will step up.

“We want to establish the run, you always want to be able to run the ball,” said Gallagher. “We are having fun, we still have big playmakers. We have Ellington, we have Carmine, we have Zyair [Mackey-Wright], a defensive end, and we have Sean [Wilton] on the line. We have guys that can play football.”

Petrone, for his part, believes the Tigers are on the verge of getting on the winning track.

“It is teamwork, everyone has to come together and get that good mesh,” said Petrone. “We don’t have the 100 percent chemistry with the whole squad yet. We just have to get that going. Once that happens, I feel like we have the pieces to be a really good football team.”