Prep football: Winless Middies, Vikings looking to break out

Two very similar prep football teams will meet on Cris Carter Field at Middletown’s Barnitz Stadium on Friday when Princeton and the Middies meet in a Greater Miami Conference game.

Both teams are 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the GMC. Both will be in the middle of unusual season-opening schedules – Princeton with four straight games and five of the first six on the road, Middletown with four straight games and five of the first six at home.

None of that matters to Middletown coach Lance Engleka and his staff. They spent this week trying to keep their players’ minds focused on the Vikings, a process that started immediately after the Middies’ 38-7 loss to Colerain last Friday.

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“That’s the thing we’ve kind of stressed this week,” Engleka said. “We talked about it the minute after the game was over on Friday. Each week, we prepare for a new opponent and a new challenge. We told the kids the entire focus this week would be dedicated to Princeton. Everything we do should be dedicated solely to them.

“If you’ve watched our games, we’ve played some very good competition. Against Colerain, we were down 3-0 at the end of the first quarter. We tried a field goal on the second play of the second quarter and missed it. The next thing you know, the halftime score is 38-0. Colerain is a very good team, but we did a number of things that didn’t help our cause. Coaches call it beating yourselves.”

Middletown’s breakdowns often lead to big plays that have allowed opponents to score at least 34 points in each of the Middies’ three games this season. Colerain, traditionally a team that depends heavily on the run, scored four passing touchdowns on Friday. Princeton, like Middletown, also counts on big plays.

“When you look at Princeton and then you look at us, you notice a lot of similarities,” said Engleka, whose team lost 49-14 to Princeton last season but has won nine of the last 13 games between the two teams. “Offensively, scheme-wise, they’re pretty similar to what we do. We both have the same types of athletes and skill players. They have guys going both ways, just like we do.

“If you look at their results early in the season, they lost by three to a really good Springfield team. They opened the season with a loss to the new West Clermont school, and last week they lost to an undefeated Lakota East team. They’ve played some pretty good competition.

“We’ve got to be sound in the special teams department and, defensively, we have to stop the big play. Teams like them and us, we’re kind of predicated on getting big plays and big chunks of yardage at a time. We have to make them grind out drives.”

Junior quarterback Hosea Hairston and senior wide receiver Rafael Floyd lead Princeton’s offense. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Hairston ranks third in the GMC with 361 passing yards, and the 5-11, 175-pound Floyd is fifth with 140 receiving yards.

The secondary is the backbone of the Vikings’ defense, led by 5-11, 175-pound senior Jaidon Seay and 6-0, 175-pound senior cornerback Jared Thomas. Both have two interceptions, tied for first in the GMC.

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Middletown was getting inspired play from two senior defensive linemen, 6-2, 260-pound Ayron Thompson and 6-1, 260-pound Keion Williams. Thompson goes into Friday’s game with two sacks.

“Last week, they really played as well on the defensive line as anybody I’ve seen in 20 years of coaching,” Engleka said. “We held Colerain under 200 yards rushing. They threw four touchdown passes, which is odd for them.”

The Middies go into the game at full strength, Engleka said.


Friday’s game

What: Princeton (0-3, 0-1 GMC) at Middletown (0-3, 0-1 GMC), 7 p.m.

Where: Cris Carter Field at Barnitz Stadium, 1211 S. Main St., Middletown

Last year: Princeton won 49-14

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