With no solid scouting report, Minor takes simple approach
By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on September 5, 2014 1:49 PM
aetzler@newsargus.com
PRINCETON -- They've never met in the regular season.
Game film is grainy and low quality.
There's no roster available online -- anywhere.
Princeton head football coach Derrick Minor struggled this week to prepare his team for North Edgecombe, a perennial heavyweight on the 1-A level. The teams meet tonight at the Fred Bartholomew Jr. Athletic Complex. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.
With no notes on the Warriors, Minor took the simple approach.
"We're just going to prepare like we're playing the best team we're ever going to play," Minor said. "We're trying to gameplan and we don't even know who kids are, how big they are. We can barely see who the kids were. It's a tight situation."
The matchup is a curious one.
It came about when Dixon chose not to renew its contract and left Minor with a bye week on the schedule. Minor searched and was willing to go as far as Charlotte to find an opponent to fill the open date.
"I got a text that North Edgecombe was looking for a week three game and I jumped on it," Minor said. "We were looking for a tough, athletic opponent. They agreed. So, it worked out."
Princeton and North Edgecombe met in the second round of the 2012 N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A (small-school) playoffs. The Bulldogs won 43-12 and advanced to the eastern regional championship.
Minor's squad enters the game ranked No. 3 in the initial Associated Press 1-A prep poll. He appreciates the notoriety and wants the team to celebrate the accomplishment. And he said the Bulldogs -- after two weeks of good, but not great football -- are starting to put things together.
"It's nice to get the notoriety, it's nice to get the praise, but as long as we continue to stay humble and hungry," said Minor, whose team beat East Carteret 56-42 and upended Midway 28-7.
"We emphasize that the prideful are going to fall. If you get too big or too high somebody is going to sneak up on you and beat you."
The Princeton passing attack has flourished and surprised some people this season. The Bulldogs aren't one-dimensional with Florida State commit Johnny Frasier in the backfield.
Quarterback Mike Wooten has emerged as the area's top passer during the first two weeks. The senior has completed 67 percent of his passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns.
"How do you gameplan against a true passing threat and a true running threat?" Minor said. "It's something I've never coached before, but this year it seems like we have the total package. Mike has been awesome."
A pleasant surprise on defense has been linebacker Codi Bryant. Bryant made the jump from the JV to varsity as a sophomore, and has flown around the field during the first two games.
Still, there's no room for satisfaction.
"It's all about cleaning up the details," Minor said. "We expect to be playing a long time this year, so focusing on the details and techniques is big for us."