Princeton’s Ryan Pearson finds 100th career win refreshing

PRINCETON - Taking a cold bath never felt so good for Ryan Pearson.

The Princeton Tigers scored 36 points on five touchdowns in the second quarter on the way to a 57-20 runaway win over Mercer County in a Three Rivers Conference crossover game Friday at Bryant Field.

The win was the 100th career win for Pearson, now in his eighth season at Princeton. To celebrate the moment, Pearson was doused with an ice-cold water bucket compliments of his players as the final second ticked off.

Pearson was shivering, but loving it.

“This might be the coldest I’ve ever been,” Pearson said. “It’s very, very cool. I’m honored. I’ve been blessed with really, really good kids, good families. This is a great community. Wouldn’t have wanted to do it anywhere else.”

Princeton players Casey Etheridge and Noah LaPorte were happy to deliver Pearson’s milestone victory.

“It’s awesome. He’s led us and turned us into great young men. The work he does with all of us is amazing,” Etheridge said. “He’s an amazing coach and I would not have anybody else.”

“There’s no other feeling like that getting a coach his 100th win in this program and doing it on senior night as well. Just all the fans out there supporting us,” LaPorte said. “We jumped on them the first half. We all knew this was Coach Pearson’s 100th win. That might have given us a little extra motivation.”

LaPorte said he was more than happy to provide Pearson with a cold shower.

“I heard about (the 100th win) two days ago and I thought about the ice bucket and pouring the water on him,” he said with a big smile.

Pearson now stands 100-37 in his career in 13 seasons, 65-18 at Princeton, including stops at Gilman Iroquois West, Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland and Canton.

Mercer County (3-5) pulled within 14-6 on a 1-yard run by quarterback John Baldwin with 2:42 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers (7-1) answered with a 1-yard touchdown by Common Green with 29 seconds left to go up 21-6 at quarter’s end.

Then it was off to the races.

Before the second quarter was over, the Tigers scored five times, three touchdowns by Etheridge on runs of 18, 85 and 35 yards. He said he was a little worried he was going to get caught from behind on his 85-yard TD, but was able to take it to the house.

Alex Winn (9 yards) and Ace Christiansen (7) also scored as the Tigers raced off to a 50-12 halftime lead, including two PAT kicks by Ian Morris and conversion runs by Etheridge and Christiansen.

Etheridge finished with 261 yards rushing on 14 carries, all in the first half.

The Tigers offense racked up 411 yards rushing with 33 yards passing with the first-string taking the second half off.

“Our line did an amazing job up front. Our playbook doesn’t have much, but we’re still moving the ball. We’re hurrying up. Our line is getting great push, great play calls and overall it’s awesome,” Etheridge said.

“Our running backs are studs and our line was blocking great. One play and we’re scoring. We scored like every drive first half. That was a great feeling,” LaPorte said.

It meant a lot to get the win for the seniors on senior night, Pearson said.

“This was about our seniors. We really wanted them to come out and play inspired ball,” he said. “You get in the postseason, you never know if you’re going to get to host a game or not. I think Rockridge last year was 8-1 and they had to travel to another 8-1 team.

“You just never know. We just wanted to make sure our seniors got another opportunity to get a huge win on senior night. I’m so happy for them.”

“It was a great win for the seniors tonight and they deserve it because they’re a great group of kids,” Etheridge said.

Princeton fans hardly had time to take their seats before they were up on their feet to celebrate the Tigers’ first score.

Jace Weyer recovered a Mercer County fumble on the game’s opening kickoff and Christiansen took in a 29-yard TD run on the Tigers’ first play from scrimmage just 10 seconds into the game.

LaPorte found his way through a handful of Mercer County defenders, many pulling on his jersey, determined to score on a 24-yard pass from QB Will Lott to give the Tigers a quick 14-0 lead with less than four minutes gone.

Princeton looks to improve its seeding for the postseason in its final regular season game at Erie-Prophetstown next week.