The Princeton Tigers will have an unexpected Friday night off.

Princeton athletic director Jeff Ohlson said he has been informed by Sherrard High School that it must forfeit Friday’s scheduled Three Rivers East opener at Sherrard due to an outbreak of illness.

Monday’s frosh/soph game will also be forfeited, Ohlson said.

Princeton has released the following statement:

“Sherrard has forfeited the varsity and sophomore games on Friday, Sept. 12, and Monday, Sept. 15, due to an outbreak of illness among players on their team. We are disappointed to lose the games, but do appreciate [Sherrard] for thinking of the health and well-being of our athletes.”

With the forfeit, Princeton picks up its first win of the season to stand at 1-2. They will host longtime rival Kewanee next week, Friday, Sept. 19.

Sherrard falls to 0-3.

Princeton coach Ryan Pearson was disappointed about the news.

“I feel bad for our kids. They had a great week of practice and now don’t get to play,” he said. “It just stinks. As a coach you hate to lose a game like that because it does make you rusty the following week.

“We’re just going to have to practice like normal, but you you lose that valuable game experience with a very young team. You lose that coaching time because you don’t have film to evaluate to see if you’ve corrected some of the mistakes from the previous two weeks that we made.

“Bottom line, I just feel bad for our kids, especially our seniors because that’s a game that they don’t get to play in their final year as a Tiger.”

Pearson said he will give the team the day off for a night of team-bonding. He and his staff may go to the Monmouth-Roseville at Kewanee game to scout their next two opponents.

This is the second time in 20 years that Princeton will have Week 3 off. In 2005, Chicago Collins elected not to make the trip to Princeton and the Tigers could not find a replacement. They did not receive a forfeit, however, because there was no signed contract. Princeton had played at Chicago Collins the year before and it was planned for Collins to make the trip south in 2005.