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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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PHS Football Accelerated Rebuilding As Skilled Offense Led to 5-5 Mark
By Bill Alden
When it comes to his plans for rebuilding the Princeton High football program, Steve Everette is well ahead of schedule.
Taking over a program that went winless in 2001, Everette led PHS to one win in 2002 and doubled the win total a season later.
This fall, the Little Tigers accelerated their improvement as they went 5-5 and came within a win of making their first appearance in the state playoffs since 1994.
The upbeat Everette acknowledges that even he is a bit surprised by how far the program has come in the last three seasons.
"I told John Curtis [former athletic director] when I took the job that I would need five years to win five games," said Everette in reflecting on the 2004 season. "We definitely got better. We had a shot at making the playoffs with two weeks left in the season."
In Everette's view, the crucial factor in the Little Tigers' solid season was the performance of senior quarterback Vinny Giacalone. The strong-armed 6'3 Giacalone passed for more than 1,700 yards and 16 touchdowns this fall.
"The development of the quarterback was key," asserted Everette, whose club ended its season on a down note as it fell 39-13 to Nottingham last Saturday.
"Vinny ended up with the best passing numbers in the CVC. We were much better offensively because of the things he could do. We had the ball more and that helped our defense as well."
Giacalone's success in the air stretched out defenses, allowing the Little Tigers' ground game some daylight. "Between Alexz Henriques and Mike Vieten, we had a 1000-yard rusher," said Everette, noting that sophomore Henriques rushed for more than 750 yards while Vieten totalled about 370 yards. "We split their carries down the middle. The development of our offense caught people off-guard."
While PHS may have snuck up on some of its opponents, Everette knew that his seniors had gone beyond the call of duty in their efforts to improve the program's fortunes.
"Each class lends something to the foundation of the program," explained Everette, whose senior group included Will Borchert, D.J Boyer, Henry Powell, T.R. Johnson, and Vance Slocum in addition to Giacalone and Vieten.
"These kids have been with me the longest. They did everything I asked and more. They made the younger kids feel welcome; they helped create a family atmosphere around the program."
The younger players have quite a task ahead of them as they look to build on what PHS achieved this fall. "Each class wants to do better than the last," said Everette.
"They have some work to do to match what the seniors did this year. We have to find a way to stop the turnovers. We will have to replace some key players on the line. It's going to be tough to replace Vieten and his 90 tackles at linebacker."
Before Everette dwells on the challenges ahead, he is savoring the progress the PHS program made this fall on the scoreboard and in how it's perceived by its foes.
"It was great to start the season 2-0, particularly with the way we won those games," said Everette, whose club opened the season by crushing Allentown 41-12 and then edging WW/P-S 20-14 in overtime.
"Beating Trenton to keep our playoff hopes alive was a big highlight. We changed the impression of the team and the view of how important football is around here."
