Tigers don pads for spring practice

The football team has taken the field again for its spring season, but unlike previous years when a starting quarterback has yet to emerge, this year’s squad has a relative dearth at the position. With a disappointing 4-6 record this past fall and the pending graduation of senior quarterbacks Greg Mroz and Bill Foran, Princeton is looking for a player to step up.

 

    Currently, junior Brian Anderson is the only player on the roster with a collegiate start at the position and seems to be the team’s most likely candidate for the starting spot. He played every snap in the season’s final game against Dartmouth. He completed his first 11 passes and ran for a touchdown to lead the team to a 17-14 overtime victory. He also played in the second half in the Tigers’ loss to Harvard.

 

    “I certainly have the experience factor [over others vying for quarterback],” Anderson said. “But [sophomore Dan Kopolovich] is a very athletic player. He started for two years at corner, and it’d be hard to keep someone with his talent and speed off the field.”

 

    Kopolovich — who played QB in high school and was named to the first team all-state in Pennsylvania his senior year — is trying to return to his old spot. Nevertheless, he is optimistic about the team’s options next year.

 

    “Brian Anderson looks like he’s going to do a great job next year,” Kopolovich said. “I’d prefer to start [at corner or quarterback], but whatever works for the team, I’ll be more than happy to go along with it.”

 

    Freshman quarterback Brett Kan got injured this fall but will return for the 2008 season. Freshman Andrew Dixon will also try his hand throwing the ball during the next few weeks.

 

    In the receiving corps, Princeton has Depth — juniors Will Thanheiser and Adam Berry are among several returning players — but not one big star, which Anderson sees as a positive.

 

    “Some teams have one go-to guy, we have five or six,” Anderson said. “It doesn’t allow defenses to key in on one guy.”

 

    The team will have 13 practices over the next three weeks and will lift on the off days. The main goal of spring practice is to improve on fundamentals, a difficult task during the rough-and-tumble fall season.

 

Princeton’s spring season will culminate in its annual Spring Game on April 12.