CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Jordan Price’s 28-yard field goal with 44 seconds left and an interception by Hayden Hatfield sealed a 31-28 win for No. 5 George Washington over No. 12 Princeton in the Class AAA first round.
With the game tied at 28 in the final minute, the Patriots (9-2) faced fourth-and-5 at the Princeton 11-yard live. Price calmly split the uprights as he did on his previous four extra point attempts.
“To tell you the truth, I didn’t know what the range was,” said George Washington head coach Steve Edwards, Jr. “I knew we were going to have to attempt it. The kid has had some adversity that he fought through this year. He pulled the plug tonight and did a heck of a job. It was huge.”
GW led 14-0 after the first quarter thanks to a 6-yard touchdown run from Anthony Valentine and a 13-yard connection from Abe Fenwick to Keegan Sack.
Princeton answered with a 21-point second quarter. Grant Cochran rushed for a 5-yard touchdown and he tossed scoring strikes to Bradley Mossor and Dom Collins. The game was tied at 21 at halftime.
“We mixed it up pretty good in the first half. I thought we got good protection. We made a lot of mental mistakes. We gave them a couple touchdowns and some field position on penalties. When you can fight through adversity like that, I can’t ask for anything more than that.”
The teams traded scores in the third quarter. Princeton took the lead on a Cochran touchdown toss to Carter Meachum. GW responded with a scoring strike from Fenwick to Hatfield. The game was tied at 28 at the end of three quarters.
“We talked about playing four quarters. You’ve got to play it. I knew they weren’t going to quit. They’re a good ball club and well-coached. We knew we were going to have to keep playing.”
Princeton’s season ends at 6-4. The Patriots will travel to face No. 4 Hurricane in the quarterfinals.
“It is awesome. I just really enjoy it for the kids. These seniors and this team, it is a special team. ‘Team 58’, that’s what we are, the 58th team at GW. They’re going to try to leave their own mark and see how long they can go.”
