Princeton Takes Zimmerman

Princeton Football Game
Oct. 13, 2009

It was a chilly Minnesota Autumn night last Monday, but that didn’t stop Princeton’s Varsity Football team!

The team’s quarterback, Junior William Soule, started the game against the Zimmerman Thunder with a perfect throw to No. 75, Sophomore Zack Woodman. Woodman leapt into the air to catch the toss and landed on the field already running towards an early touchdown. He didn’t quite make it, however. No. 66 on Zimmerman’s team, Junior Bobby Fleischer, tackled Woodman at the 20 yard line. The number of players who had been running directly behind the two caused a massive pileup on top of Woodman. He suffered a minor sprained ankle, but felt too injured to continue in the game.

“I would never let a little thing like a sprained ankle keep me from playing,” Jason Hanson, a sophomore at Princeton High School who was thrilled to take Woodman’s place in the game said.

As the sky darkened and the air chilled further, Princeton scored another three touchdowns. The student section in the Princeton bleachers was going wild with excitement at the victory they were sure they were headed for. Senior Tom Jarvis said, “The only reason I even go to the high school football games is because of how pumped the students get.”

It was nearing halftime and Princeton was up 28-0. Suddenly, however, Zimmerman was nearing their twenty yard line. No. 23, Ben Howard of the Zimmerman team, scored a touchdown, five seconds before halftime.

“The Princeton fans weren’t discouraged,” Assistant Coach Eric Bjurman assured me. The cheerleaders came out and did a few cheers, and before you knew it, the game was on. Forty-five minutes into the third quarter and Princeton was still in the lead with 28-20. The next hour was a “satisfying and intense battle,” as starting center, No. 58 Reid Atterbury, worded it.

Neither team scored again until the last ten minutes of the game. Hanson said, “I was starting to get worried we were going to have to settle for eight points ahead.” He made it through the wall of blue and white outfitted players, though, and scored the last touchdown for a Princeton win of 35-20.

Zimmerman fought hard, but in the end, Princeton came out on top, winning the last game of their football season.