BCR Week 5 capsules

Princeton (4-0) at Newman (3-0)

Game time: 7 p.m. Friday, Sterling High School.

Last meeting: Newman 25-21 (2019).

About Princeton: The Tigers are ranked No. 2 team in 3A. ... They are treating the last two weeks as their playoffs. “It’s disappointing we don’t have a playoff system. We end our schedule with two very good football teams with Newman and Fulton, so we’re kind of treating this as our playoff system. We’ve kind of talked about how this is going to be a our semifinal game and next week with Fulton’s going to be our state championship game. That’s the way we’re approaching it,” PHS coach Ryan Pearson said. ... PHS has scored 43 or more points in each of the last three games, including last week’s 48-7 win at Orion. ... For the season, the Tigers are winning by a 43.8 to 7.8, including the 35-14 opener over No. 1 1A ranked and defending champion Lena-Winslow. ... PHS last beat the Comets in 2015 at Sterling 14-0, a rare shutout loss for Newman.

About Newman: The Comets are ranked No. 6 in Class 2A. They are the defending state champions, winning the 2A title in Brandon Krezcmer’s first year as head coach taking over for longtime coach Mike Papoccia. ... “Not very much has changed in the passing of the torch from coach Papoccia to coach Krezcmer,” Pearson said. “They’re going to hang their hat on playing smash-mouth football up front. They’re going to get out of their bone at some points of time. The bottom line is, you have to stop their run game and you can’t give up the big play when they do decide to pass. They don’t pass for short yardage plays. They pass for affect. They throw for touchdowns.” ... Newman has outscored its three foes, 91-13 (30.3 to 4.3), including Saturday’s 35-6 rout over St. Bede. They held the Bruins to just 32 yards of total offense,... When the teams last met, the Comets rallied from a 21-10 halftime deficit, benefiting from five PHS turnovers to turn the tables on the Tigers, 25-21. “We’ve definitely have this one circled for some time. We feel like we let one get away last year. To get the opportunity to go back and play them again, and go up and fix the things we didn’t do well last year, and hopefully come away with a win,” Pearson said. ... The Comets have won the last four meetings by a combined margin of 149-29, including shutouts in 2017 and 2018.

FND pick: Princeton.

Rockridge (3-0) at Hall (1-3)

Game time: 7 p.m. Friday, at Nesti Stadium.

Last meeting: Rockridge 40-26 (2016).

About Rockridge: The Rockets will have a quick around with only three days rest having Friday’s game with Riverdale postponed by the weather to Monday. ... The Rockets’ 60 points Monday (60-25) is their most since scoring 62 in 2013. .... Rockridge won the last meeting with Hall 40-26 in 2016.

About Hall: The Red Devils scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Gabe Lucas to Otto Franczke as time expired in the first quarter to pull within 14-7 Friday at Kewanee, but then surrendered a subsequent 85-yard kickoff return and never challenged the Boilermakers the rest of the night. It lost 44-14. ... Hall holds a 11-4 series edge. ... This will be the Red Devils’ last game of the spring season.

FND pick: Rockridge.

St. Bede (3-1) at Bureau Valley (0-3)

Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday.

Last meeting: SB 41-33 (2018).

About St. Bede: The Bruins lost for the first time this spring Saturday at Sterling to Newman, 35-6. The Bruins, who are battling a rash of injuries, will continue to take a next man up approach. ... BV coach Mat Pistole is impressed what he’s seen out of the Bruins. “They are physical on defense and their QB makes them go on offense. We are going to have to tackle in space on defense and we have to stay away from negative plays offensively,” he said. ... In common opponents, the Bruins stand 2-1 having defeated Hall and E-P and losing to Newman while BV is 0-3. ... St Bede leads the all-time series 12-10.

About Bureau Valley: The Storm will wrap up the spring season by hosting the Bruins at Storm Stadium, looking for its first win. They will need to get their offense going, which stalled out in the rain at home Saturday in a 44-0 loss to Erie-Prophetstown. ... “It would mean a tremendous amount obviously to come out with a win, but that isn’t our focus,” Pistole said. “We want to send our three seniors out with a tremendous experience and build positive momentum heading into this 13 week off season we have.” ... BV is allowing a limited number of visiting fans.

FND pick: St. Bede.

Amboy-LaMoille (1-2) at Milledgeville (3-1)

Game time: 7 p.m. Friday

Last meeting: Amboy-LaMoille 25-6 (2019)

About Amboy: A-L earned its first win under new coach Scott Payne with a 16-8 victory over West Carroll last week. … RB Sean Fitzpatrick ran for 166 yards and both touchdowns against West Carroll. He has 365 yards and three TDs on 74 carries through three games. … A-L had 231 rushing yards on 39 attempts last week.

About the Milledgeville: QB Nick Smith threw a touchdown pass to Daniel Lohnes with 13.2 seconds left in the first half last week to give Milledgeville the lead for good in a 22-12 victory over Eastland-Pearl City. … Smith was 5 of 8 for 19 yards. He also scored on a 1-yard QB sneak. … Damon Miller ran for 80 yards and a TD on 19 carries, while Ryan Kendall ran for 54 yards.

FND pick: Milledgeville.