However you pronounce it, Hurricane a storm Princeton tasked to tame

Oct. 6—PRINCETON — Last week, Princeton's unbeaten football team enjoyed a jolly 56-7 romp across visiting Greenbrier East.

Tonight's game at Hunnicutt Stadium is probably going to be a bit more of a challenge.

The Class AAA No. 3 Tigers (6-0) will have the opportunity to right one of last season's wrong turns when they host Class AAA No. 9 Hurricane (4-1) in a Class of West Virginia Triple-A behemoths.

The Redskins — who probably ought to consider calling themselves 'Hurricane Football Team' or 'HFT' for short — are coming off an open date, prior to which they thrashed St. Albans 81-0. Not a typo.

Of course, this football game is no laughing matter for Princeton head football coach Keith Taylor who was present as an assistant coach in last year's unfunny 49-13 manhandling at the hands of HFT.

"We're just getting ready for, I guess, they say our biggest game in the last 20 years," said Taylor, who is kidding/not kidding.

"We're seeing if we can get the kids ready to go and handle business Friday night," he said.

Princeton has continued to improve each week. Last week's homecoming blowout provided an opportunity to work in some quality snaps at other spots on the depth chart. The Tigers have gotten so much better as a program in recent years because they seldom waste opportunities to get better.

"We came out there and did some good things right off the bat and took advantage of some matchups [Greenbrier East] gave us. I think it's given a lot of our players confidence. Hopefully we can take it to the next level this week," Taylor said.

He noted that Hurricane boasts NCAA Division I talent at every level on both sides of the football. It's not for nothing that Hurricane opened this season with a 93-7 win at Capital.

Quarterback JacQuai Long, who played two seasons at Capital, and one season at Akron Hoban (Ohio) before landing at Hurricane, is a Marshall commit. Yes — the Marshall that recently beat Virginia Tech.

Running back Noah Vellaithambi is a mega-stud at running back who's got a bright future. Wide receiver Tyshawn "Hellboy" Dues is a WVU commit, pass-catcher Jalei "Waffle House" Burnette has Marshall's attention, transfer defensive lineman Aaron Clark had 4.5 sacks and 26 tackles over his first five games. On and on and on.

Hurricane is tediously loaded with talent and it wastes zero time destroying what's in front of it. It routinely does to opponents' confidence levels what Godzilla did to Tokyo.

"They're very uptempo. They're going to run a play every 17 to 19 seconds. We've got to be ready for that," Taylor said.

On defense Hurricane flies to the football, Taylor said. The secondary is probably one of the best defensive backfields the Tigers can expect to face this year.

"We'll see what we've got ... that's for sure," Taylor said.

Fortunately, the Tigers have got players in house who can play with anyone. Princeton wide receiver Dominick Collins is Southern West Virginia's most prolific pass-catchers and most exciting playmakers on both sides of the football. Chance Barker is the area's most productive quarterback and Marquel Lowe is the area's top running back and his team's top tackler.

There are other key playmakers who can make big plays salted throughout the Tigers' lineup, but the players who'll be most called upon to rise to the occasion are Princeton's offensive and defensive linemen. The line of scrimmage is a brutal and critical environment every snap of every football game. This one will be so more than most.

Other Friday Games

James Monroe (4-0) at Greenbrier West (5-0), 7:30 p.m.

The Mavericks are coming off of a 50-26 win over Summers County. The Cavaliers are coming off a 55-0 win over Shady Spring. James Monroe is tied with Williamstown (6-0) at No. 1 in this week's Class A rankings. Greenbrier West is currently tied at No. 5 in the Class A rankings with Montcalm, as was proclaimed in Thursday's BDT sports section. While the Generals' saber-rattling should not be ignored, this is the most consquential Class A football game in our neck of the woods this week. Last year at Lindside, the Mavs unhorsed the Cavaliers 27-0 on its steady way to No. 1 in the Class A rankings.

PikeView (0-6) at Bluefield (2-3), 7:30 p.m.

The Panthers are coming off a 29-0 loss to Sherman. The Beavers are coming off a 43-32 win over Independence. Last week, the Beavers successfully restored at least some 'Balance to the Force' during the process of toppling the Patriots last week. Bluefield quarterback Sencere Fields passed for 154 yards (he has 191 on the season) and two TD strikes to RJ Hairston (who has caught six on the season). A journey of however many miles it takes to get to Wheeling Island Stadium begins with a single step and that step may very well have been made. For the Panthers, this is a yardstick opportunity that one day might, in hindsight, bear a good deal of fruit. It can happen.

Tazewell (3-2) at Virginia High (1-4), 7 p.m.

The Bulldogs are coming off of a 48-8 win over Grundy. The Bearcats are coming off an open date, which was preceded by a 21-14 loss to Graham. Virginia High's less impressive won-loss ratio notwithstanding, the one TD loss to the G-Men is enough cautionary tale enough to be warily heeded by Tazewell — and at Gene Malcolm Stadium, no less. This could be a very entertaining football game.

Roanoke Catholic (2-3) at Bland County (0-4), 7 p.m.

Roanoke Catholic is coming off a 36-30 loss to Franklin. The Bears lost to Twin Valley 16-14. After having been within arm's length of a victory, Bland County's Wilderness Campaign continues. Bears, go forth!

Parry McCluer (4-1) at Narrows (4-1), 7 p.m.

The Fighting Blues are coming off a 22-7 win over Fort Chiswell. The Green Wave is coming off an open date, prior to which it lost 21-6 to James Monroe. Narrows is the second-rated team in Region 1C behind Mountain Empire juggernaut Grayson County (5-0). Following close behind Narrows are Pioneer district rivals Bath County (5-0) and Parry McCluer. It may seem as if district championships may not count for as much these days. It counts for an awful lot in this district.

Giles (2-3) at George Wythe (2-3), 7 p.m.

The Spartans are coming off of a 63-21 win over Auburn. The Maroons are coming off of a 34-19 loss to Galax. This may very well be the week Giles single-wings its way back into break-even territory. After this one: Galax at Steve Ragsdale Field, then at Tazewell, then at Bluefield before wrapping up regular season play versus Ft. Chiswell.

Tug Valley (4-2) at River View (2-3), 7 p.m.

The Raiders are coming off an open date, previous to which they defeated Van 38-14. The Panthers are coming off a 35-8 win over Tolsia. Bradshaw not an insignificant waypoint on the Class A football map these days.

Trinity Christian (??) at Mount View (1-4), 7:30 p.m.

Not happening. Trinity Christian's football program folded after the schedule was set. Next Friday the Golden Knights will take to the field at Vic Nystrom Stadium in a homecoming clash with Tug Valley. Mount View will be led by brand-new interim head coach Will King, a 1990s player alumnus of Capital High School and Marshall University who has previous coaching experience at the college level. Previously acting head coach Maurice Gravely turned in his resignation on Monday with no further comment from Mount View officials. Principal Tim Kennedy said there is considerable "excitement" and optimism at the school in connection with King's sudden battlefield promotion.

In the meantime...

Graham (5-1) which is open this week, is just two steps behind top-rated Union (5-1) in the VHSL Region 2D rankings. Also open is Richlands (0-6) which is dead last in 2D— a fact that makes some folks feel old.

Elsewhere in Virginia, Central-Woodstock (5-0) is at the top of the Class 2 statewide heap, followed by Riverheads (4-1), Clarke County (5-0) and Radford (6-0).