Ryan Pearson: ‘I think every business in Bureau County should be closed for that one’

It started with a “Rumble and a Roar.” And then after two years, it went silent.

It’s been 23 years since Bureau Valley and Princeton last met on the gridiron.

Twenty three years is a long time between two rival schools in the same county, located just 16 miles apart.

The Three Rivers Conference rivals were all set to play a crossover game as recent as three years ago, but a last-minute switch wiped it all out.

The silence will come to an end Friday night when the now rivals of the newly realigned Three Rivers Conference East Division will battle in Princeton. And no doubt, the “Rumble and a Roar” will return to both sidelines at Bryant Field.

Princeton coach Ryan Pearson, who grew up and played in the shadows of the PHS and BV programs in Toulon at Stark County, said it’s time to play one another.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of emotions coming into that game. I think every business in Bureau County should be closed for that one. Being the proximity that we are and two proud programs, I’m glad to see that game back on the docket,” he said.

Princeton has won both prior meetings with Bureau Valley, 53-16 in 1997 and 40-0 in 1998. Here is a look back:

The Rumble and the Roar

T-shirts labeled as the “Rumble (for the Storm) and the Roar (for the Tigers)” were made by the school booster clubs promoting the first meeting between Princeton and the new kid on the block, Bureau Valley.

Bureau Valley was just in its third year of existence following the newly formed consolidation of the former Manlius, Walnut, Western and Wyanet districts in 1995.

A buzz was created all around Bureau County with high anticipation for the first meeting.

“It was pretty much the talk of both towns,” said Nate Norman, an all-state running back for Princeton. “It was pretty exciting to see where Bureau Valley matched up. We were doing a little better than we had the previous two years. So yeah, they was a lot of excitement about that game.

“I remember the t-shirts, the ‘Rumble and a Roar.’ I wish I still had mine.”

There was very little rumble from the Storm that night and a lot of roar out of the Tigers.

Princeton, toughened up playing in the old rugged NCIC, simply manhandled the Storm, whose players had been playing 1A football leading up to the consolidation and playing as an independent in its infancy.

The Tigers line proved too physical for the Storm, paving the way for 473 yards rushing, led by Norman (6-139), Tony Bonucci (4-96) and Brent Vogel (6-109), who combined for 346 yards rushing and six touchdowns.

Princeton led 25-0 after one quarter and 46-8 at half with the running clock put into play early in the third quarter.

BV coach John McKenzie told the BCR that night that it was a physical mismatch.

“I don’t want to ruin the rivalry. But football’s not like any sport. When you put people on the football field in a physical mismatch, you’re going to get people hurt. And there’s some things that have to be considered about that,” he said.

“Our kids hung in there tough. Bottom line, it was a mismatch.”

The Storm did total 278 yards of offense, but turned the ball over seven times with three interceptions and four fumbles. Clint Masters (9-87) scored the Storm’s first TD with a three-yard run in the second quarter and Chris Heward (10-21-3, 137 yards) tossed a five-yard TD toss to Zach Smith in the final two minutes of the game.

Round two

The Storm had a much better start the second go around, in 1998, back at Bryant Field, holding the Tigers to 14 points in the first half. Bureau Valley, however, never got on the board, surrendering 24 points in the second half, falling 40-0.

Senior Mike Ori led the Tigers in victory with 165 yards rushing with four touchdowns on 16 attempts. Tiger quarterback Jason Norman, made like his brother, Nate, before him, rushing for 143 yards while passing for 27 as the Tigers racked up 506 net yards. Future Tiger standout Cory Scott rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown in the final two minutes.

PHS coach Joe Ryan implemented a platoon system, playing 11 Tigers on offense and 11 different players on defense. It proved most effective keeping all 22 men fresh throughout the game.

“We two-platooned it, with 33 kids (on the team). Imagine that,” Ryan told the BCR. “We had a great week of practice. It puts some ownership on defense tonight and they really played with emotion. And our offense got things rolling for us.

“But our defense was the ones that kept us in the game early, because they wouldn’t let Bureau Valley score.”

As a result, the Storm was held to 119 net yards offense, just 59 rushing and 60 by passing.

Dave Moore, presently an assistant coach at PHS, has the unique perspective as head coach at both programs - BV (2005-07) and PHS (2008-11), winning a state title with the Storm in his first year as head coach. He was an assistant at Bureau Valley, first to his father-in-law, Kenny Bourquin, and then under McKenzie, and said the Storm just weren’t ready to match up with the Tigers at that time.

“We were down kids, eventually that built up. We had lot of young kids coming up. We had a bright future coming up,” he said. “I think the rivalry was there no matter what. The first part it was probably a mismatch. Princeton was a lot bigger (enrollment) than we were then.

“As teams come around, you get a cycle where one team’s up and one team’s down. If you’re in it long enough, you’re going to get where both teams are going to have good players and it’s going to be one helluva rivalry.”

What might have been

The 1998 game proved to be the last meeting in the rivalry with Bureau Vally moving into the Three Rivers Conference the next year which called for five conference games and four cross-overs, leaving no room for nonconference games.

One can only imagine what might have been had the Bureau County rivalry continued into the early 2000s.

It didn’t take Bureau Valley very long to become a force to be reckoned with around the state. The Storm reached the playoffs for the first time in 2001, reaching the 2A quarterfinals, falling to Forreston 43-20.

BV reached the playoffs in 2002 and 2003, before breaking out with a run to the state championship game in 2004, falling to Addison Driscoll 37-14.

In 2005, Moore’s first as head coach at, BV was truly the “Perfect Storm,” finishing as undefeated 14-0 state champions in 3A, defeating Tolono Unity, 34-7.

The Storm won their first 12 games in 2006, running their winning streak to 26 straight, before falling to Plano, 49-7, in the 3A semifinals.

BV reached the playoffs nine out of 10 times in the decade, compiling a 17-8 postseason record.

Princeton had its own breakout season in 2002, reaching the 4A semifinals, falling to Addison Driscoll, 23-3, to finish 12-1. PHS reached the first round in 2003 and then went on a 12-year playoff dry spell, until returning in 2015.

PHS assistant coach Patrick Smith, who was a standout receiver on the Storm state finals squads, said he would have definitely liked to have played the Tigers in his day.

“I knew a bunch of those kids over there at Princeton. It was the kind of thing, we hated them on the field or on the court, but when we just saw them and hung out with them, played summer ball together,” he said. “It was a friendly rivalry, but they were the team we probably wanted to beat the most when we played in basketball or any other sport, so I definitely would have liked to play them in football.”

Smith, who went to college with PHS quarterback Ben Schmidt, said he’s not sure how the game would have came out, but “I think it would have been a fun game for sure.”

It’s not really a rivalry for Moore, who will now experience from both sides of the fence.

“It’s hard not to say you don’t like Bureau Valley. You won a state championship there. I coached and taught there since the opening of Bureau Valley. They have a lot of great people. There’s a lot of great memories there. ... I look forward to just playing football,” he said.

Moore understands Friday’s game will create a lot of excitement, but he said it’s just another football game to him.

“To me you go out, put your equipment on and play football and do your best,” he said.

And surely, there will be a “Rumble” or two and few “Roars” Friday night.

Did you know?

* Princeton has outscored Bureau Valley 93-16 in two previous meetings

* Princeton beat BV 53-16 in 1997 and 40-0 in 1998

* PHS assistant coach Dave Moore has been head coach at both BV (2005-07) and PHS (2008-11) and assistant at both.

* Former Storm standouts Nathan Black and Patrick Smith are assistant coaches at PHS.

* As a precursor to the Bureau Valley consolidation, PHS had played previous schools of the new district 22 times. The Tigers stood 14-4-2 vs. Walnut (from 1929-57) and 1-0 each vs. Sheffield (33-0 in 1933) and Manlius (37-6 in 1937).