In light of recent history, Gallatin and Princeton find themselves in unchartered waters. Their resurgence has both in the thick of the league race as they turn the corner on the first half of the 2017 season.
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This Friday’s football match between GRC co-leaders promises a classic battle of an unstoppable offense against a top notch defense.
Princeton, 6-0 overall and ranked eighth in the Class 1 state poll, comes in averaging over 50 points per conference game. Gallatin, 5-1, with its only loss to state-ranked Hamilton, has allowed only one touchdown thus far in beating four league opponents.
The Tigers bring a dominant, multi-faceted offense into play, but an automobile accident late last week has changed the football landscape for the Tigers on both sides of the ball.
Leading running back Calvin Berwanger was hospitalized as the result of a late Thursday night crash after coming home from a Princeton-South Harrison volleyball match. (He was not thrown from the vehicle as falsely reported on social media.) He was scheduled to be released from the hospital on Saturday, but his near-term athletic future is in doubt.
The Tiger offense is still formidable. Quarterback Andrew Smith has thrown for 1,350 yards and 18 touchdowns while rushing for 542 yards and 12 more scores. He represents a dual threat the Bulldogs haven’t seen since Hamilton’s Latroy Harper in week two.
Gallatin has struggled on offense at times, but not on the defensive side of the ball. In five of six contests, the varsity defensive unit has not allowed more than a touchdown.
Gallatin did give up a big play to Milan last Friday on the second play of the game. The Wildcats broke a long run on the outside and took an 8-0 lead but that was their lone highlight of the night as Gallatin scored six touchdowns and a field goal to close out a 45-8 conference win.
Quarterback Cole McBee had one of his best nights as a Bulldog, throwing touchdown passes of 67 and nine yards to Caleb Boyd and tossing a third TD pass of 27 yards to Gaven Gray. McBee also rushed for 131 yards. Boyd scored on a jet sweep in the second quarter.
Corbin Toney gained 95 yards on the ground and scored a third quarter TD on a 40-yard run that was set up by Tom Crouse’s recovery of a muffed punt. Crouse scored his first ever offensive points with less than a minute to play when he caught a two-point conversion pass from Boyd following a Drayton Harris to Aidan Adkison 37-yard touchdown pass.
Adrian Hernandez kicked four extra points along with a 35-yard field goal. He missed a pair of long field goal tries, including a 40-yarder that missed clearing the crossbar by less than three feet.
Gray and Jared Williams each intercepted passes for the Bulldog defense. Boyd recovered a fumble.
Picture: Corbin Toney breaks loose for a long gain against the Milan Wildcats.