Will Lott up for the challenge at Princeton

Will Lott has some pretty big shoes to fill.

The junior quarterback has the task of taking over for all-state quarterback Teegan Davis at Princeton, who moved on to the University of Iowa to play for the Hawkeyes on a full-ride scholarship.

Lott, who received extensive playing time as Davis’ understudy last year because of the many blowout games, is up for the challenge.

“It’s a big step, but I’m trying. Doing my best,” he said.

He said Davis always was a big help.

“I look up to Teegan a lot. He helped me with my footwork and everything like that,” he said.

Davis has confidence that Lott will take the ball and run with it.

“Will is gonna do great, just gotta step into that leadership role like I know he will. Just gotta be a coach on the field, all the players are gonna look to him, and he’s gonna produce, he’s a great kid ready to see him progressively get better throughout the year,” he said.

Princeton coach Ryan Pearson said Lott only has to fill those big shoes with his own feet.

“Will’s been tremendous. I don’t want him to be Teegan Davis. I want him to be Will Lott,” Pearson said. “We try every year to adapt our offense to what our kids do well rather than try to fit a square peg into a round hole. Certain kids are going to be better at certain things and other kids kind of struggle in other areas.

“We’ve really tried to build around what we feel are Will’s strong suits. He’s had a tremendous summer. He had perfect attendance all the way through the summer as far as strength and conditioning. Did very, very well in our 7 on 7s. I really think his confidence has been growing since we started the summer.”

“He’s done a great job reading things as we’ve presented them to him. We tried to go maybe a little slower since he is going to be a first-year starter. Keep in mind, I don’t know how many quarters he got to play last year. I’m pretty sure with us being up big Will pretty much got to play the equivalent of six full games. He does bring back more experience than what people realize.”

Simply put, Pearson said Lott is a football player.

“He is a tough, hard-nosed runner. He’s not afraid to put his head down and get the extra yard,” he said. “He’s a great blocker, so we’re able to utilize him even though he’s a quarterback We don’t put pink jerseys on our quarterbacks. We make sure those kids are just as physical as everyone else.”

The playing time he got last year will only help ease Lott into his role as the starting quarterback this season.

“I got in there and ran a few plays. All of the second team got to play a lot. I’m not going to be as nervous as I was since I got to do that when I was younger,” he said.

While he saw a lot of playing time, Lott did not attempt a pass last season. When he was put in, the games were well out of hand and Pearson simply called for him to hand off and run the clock out.

That doesn’t mean he can’t throw the ball, Pearson said.

“If he was put in different situations, I would have had no problems calling his number to put the ball in the air,” he said.

When asked what his job will be as the quarterback this year, Lott didn’t hesitate.

“To win,” he said.

Come fly with me

Princeton senior lineman Bennett Williams had a long list of offers to play college football next year, several at the Division I level. After all the visits and camps, he recently chose the Air Force Academy.

Williams liked everything about Air Force on his visit to the academy campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“When I went up there, it really felt like home,” he said. “The academics that are available, the opportunities after college, just the program itself. The coaches are great. [Head coach] Troy Calhoun is an amazing coach. He really sits on family and taking care of the kids. And outside of that, [it was] just the whole culture of the Air Force program.”