It was a packed house at Princeton's Pat Mancuso field for Friday's Greater Miami Conference affair between Colerain and Princeton. The game, however, was decided well before the final buzzer sounded.
The Colerain offense, an option-heavy scheme run through junior quarterback Zae Jennings, struggled all game. They weren't helped by four fumbles, and there were times when everyone in white just looked dejected. Colerain finished with zero passing yards and managed only 116 rushing yards in the 28-0 loss.
Princeton, on the other hand, got hot on offense early.
Princeton's senior quarterback RJ West made possible all three of their first-half touchdowns with impressive plays.
In the first quarter, West kept the ball himself on consecutive seemingly broken option plays and made positive gains out of nothing. Two plays later Princeton scored. On the next touchdown, West spun between defenders in the backfield and rolled right before finding junior receiver Tyson Beach wide open in the middle of the end zone.
"Sometimes it's just working for you and everything clicks," West said after the game. "Tyson found the perfect spot on that touchdown. He's a genius."
The third touchdown was a beautiful throw down the right sideline for a 65-yard score.
"We wanted to start off with the run game," West said after the game. "Just beat them down a little bit. We opened it up once we established that and good things happened."
Princeton went into the intermission with a 21-0 lead.
The teams traded sloppy punches to start the second half. Princeton had a big gain taken away due to holding. Colerain finally seemed to find a seam on an option play but muffed the transfer and the ball ended up on the ground.
Even down three scores, Colerain didn't throw its first second-half pass until two minutes had already ticked away in the fourth quarter.
Princeton seemed content to sit back and let time melt off the clock, and early in the fourth the Vikings finally found the end zone again.
It was an uncharacteristic performance from the Colerain Cardinals. When Princeton was going well on Friday, the team absolutely dominated. Even when they weren't, Colerain couldn't put anything together.
Princeton head coach Andre Parker was impressed with his team's effort, but he knows their work is only starting.
"This is just the beginning. We're going to continue to get better," Parker said. "Continue to put our foot on the pedal. We're not near satisfied and we have another great opponent and a great coach on the schedule next week."
