Princeton players, alumni help build the future of Tiger football

On Friday nights, Casey Etheridge scores touchdowns for the Princeton Tigers football team.

The rest of the weekend and throughout the week, he is helping build touchdowns for future Tigers teams.

Etheridge is one of a handful of current and former Princeton players helping coach in the Princeton Youth Football program this fall.

PHS senior Cade Odell helped with the seventh grade team, coaching the linemen along with Princeton alumni Evan Driscoll, Brady Piacenti, Jimmy Kurth and Nathan Cook.

Former PHS players Augie Christiansen (head coach/offensive coordinator) and Carson Etheridge (defensive coordicator) coached the eighth grade team.

“I had a lot of fun coaching them, because they really listen and look up to you.”

—  Casey Etheridge

Casey Etheridge said he enjoys helping coach youth football.

“The kids love it so much. They like the influence,” he said. “The parents I help coach are great dudes. I had a lot of fun coaching them because they really listen and look up to you. And when they look up to you, it kind of goes hand and hand, they listen.”

Eric Waca, one of those “great dudes” Etheridge talks about it, along with coaches Eric Johnston, Rob Comer and Derek Drinkwine, said Etheridge was a big influence on the sixth grade kids.

“Having Casey help out has been great. He has great insight and patience with the kids. He will push them, yet knows when to have fun,” Waca said. “Having a role model like him helping out has done more for these kids than any ‘dad coach’ can do. The boys and him can relate being he is only five years older.

“What he is doing at 16 years old is definitely having a positive impact on these boys. It just shows his dedication, passion and hard work he puts into football. However, he has gone from ‘celebrity status’ with the boys to being more of a big brother to them, so that may be a drawback.”

Waca, who was a member of Princeton’s 1993 playoff team, said Etheridge has been good for the coaches, too.

“I have asked him numerous times this year about how does varsity do this or that, about different drills, and so on. Probably to the point where I’m annoying him, but it’s great having him there to add insight,” Waca said.

“He has even told me, ‘We are good,’ to help calm me down during a game.”

Although the sixth grade team finished 2-6, four of the losses were close games, two by less than a touchdown and the other two they lost late in the fourth quarter.

“We easily could have been 6-2, but that’s football,” Waca said.

The seventh grade team finished 7-2. Driscoll and Odell said they really enjoyed coaching.

“It gave me a way to still be a part of the program after I graduated,” Driscoll said.

“It was awesome. I really enjoyed helping with the kids and teaching them what Tiger football is,” Odell said.

While the eighth grade team had a .500 record at 4-4, they finished strong with a 14-0 win at Byron, knocking the host Tigers out of the playoffs.

PHS assistant coach Nick Lower, who is actively involved with Princeton Youth Football and will be taking over as president, said the Princeton eighth graders really came to play.

“Augie completely managed the game perfectly, and Carson’s defense showed up big,” said Lower, a former Hall Red Devil. “Shutting out Bryon shows that getting these young men involved that know coach [Ryan] Pearson’s system, was well worth the learning curve all new coaches go through.”

The fifth grade team went 5-3 under the direction of Tigers alumni Justin Johnson, Erk Ellberg, Nathan Cumpton, Dustin Seidel and Brandon Nyman.

The Etheridge brothers have a little competition at home about their teams.

“I mess with [Carson] about games. He messes with me to see how our teams perform,” Casey said. “But that eighth grade team has really stepped it up at the end of the season. They even beat Byron. And Byron as you can see is always a good team. Watching them play against Byron, they did an amazing job, and the coaching at the eighth grade level was awesome.

Tigers head coach Ryan Pearson is pleased to see his players give back to the game they love.

“It’s pretty cool to see a lot of the former Tigers giving back to the youth. They just love Tiger football,” he said.

Pearson knows the touchdowns of today will help make touchdowns for tomorrow.