NewsTribune Football Notebook: L-P, St. Bede, Princeton, Fieldcrest playing stingy defense

For first time since 2001, four area teams allow three points or less in same week

Opponents of Illinois Valley football teams may find points hard to come by this spring.

In Week 2, La Salle-Peru, St. Bede, Princeton and Fieldcrest did not allow a touchdown with the Cavaliers, Bruins and Knights pitching shutouts and the Tigers allowing just a fourth quarter field goal in their 49-3 win over Hall.

The last time four area teams allowed three points or less in the same week was Week 5 of the 2001 season when La Salle-Peru beat Sterling 42-0, St. Bede topped Marquette 32-0, Hall blanked Princeton 22-0 and the Marshall County co-op (Henry and Midland) defeated the LaMoille co-op 46-0.

L-P completely bottled up Rochelle’s vaunted double wing, double tight offense in a 29-0 victory in its opener.

The Cavs limited the Hubs to just 40 rushing yards while not allowing Rochelle to complete a pass in five attempts.

St. Bede has been dominant on defense in both of its games.

The Bruins allowed Hall’s Mac Resetich to break free for a 71-yard touchdown on the fifth play of the opener and haven’t allowed a point since.

Against M-R, the Bruin defense twice came up with stops when the Titans threatened to score.

M-R had first-and-goal from the 5-yard line but the Bruins stopped all four attempts, including a pass breakup in the end zone by Tim Croissant on fourth down.

In the fourth quarter, the Titans drove into the red zone but John Brady broke up a fourth down pass to end the drive.

Princeton held the Hall rushing attack — which gained 234 yards in Week 1 — to just 23 yards on the ground on Friday.

Fieldcrest forced four turnovers in its 17-0 victory over Deer Creek-Mackinaw in Week 2.

THREE MAKE FND TEAM

Three area defensive players were voted onto the Friday Night Drive Team of the Week for Week 2 of the spring season.

St. Bede defensive back Noah Setser, Princeton linebacker Drew Harp and Fieldcrest defensive lineman Andrew Perry earned spots.

Setser made six tackles and intercepted a pass in then Bruins’ 27-0 victory over Monmouth-Roseville.

Harp racked up 11 tackles and had a sack in the Tigers’ 49-3 rout of Hall.

Perry, a nose guard, recorded five tackles and recovered a fumble in the Knights’ 17-0 win over Deer Creek-Mackinaw.

La Salle-Peru offensive lineman Carson Mrowicki came up one vote short of Huntley’s Adam Wojnicki for the second offensive line spot.

WELCOME BACK

La Salle-Peru junior Matt Carrico was not on the Cavalier varsity team in 2019.

In fact, he actually left the program that fall.

But he returned for the 2021 spring season, and he certainly made an impact in his first game back with the Cavs.

La Salle-Peru's Matt Carrico runs the ball against Rochelle.

Carrico ran for 118 yards and a pair of touchdowns as he helped the Cavs to a 29-0 victory over Rochelle in their season opener at Howard Fellows Stadium.

“It’s been a while since he played,” L-P coach Jose Medina said. “Last year, he took a step back. He came back this year. I’m pleased with his effort. I think his mindset is correct and he’s on the right path.

“I think he missed it. We sat and talked. I told him he needs to buy in and stay focused on the process. He’s been doing that.”

SHORT WEEK

Due to Good Friday this week, St. Bede and Princeton are in the unusual circumstance of playing on Thursday night.

The Bruins will travel to Erie to face Erie-Prophetstown at 7 p.m. Thursday, while Princeton will play host to Kewanee at 7 p.m. Thursday.

“It’s going to be a crazy week,” St. Bede coach Jim Eustice said after the Bruins’ 27-0 win on Friday. “We’ll have the kids in Saturday and have to do probably a mental day Monday and show them what’s going on. Tuesday will be a big work day, but the kids who play in the (JV) game Monday can only be in helmet and should pads Tuesday.

“Luckily, we are a mature team. We have a lot of good mental reps. We’ve had to do that the last couple weeks. We’ll see how it goes. The kids are having fun, they are working hard and doing everything we ask.”

St. Bede junior Luke Story said he’s not concerned about the short turnaround between games.

“It’s nothing big,” Story said. “We’re used to weird stuff with COVID and playing in the spring. We’ll be ready.”

The Tigers actually have experience playing on Thursday as their game against Sherrard in 2019 was moved up a day due to predicted inclement weather.

Princeton had no trouble with that short week as it rolled to a 49-14 victory.

‘IT’S A PERK’

La Salle-Peru got to play its first game on the new artificial turf at Howard Fellows Stadium.

“It’s a perk,” Medina said. “It’s very nice to have. I can’t say anything but great things about our administration and the community for getting involved and doing what they had to do to get this turf. It gives us the opportunity to be down here (in the stadium for practice) when it’s raining so we don’t have to take time off or deal with facility issues. It’s great to have.”

HONORING MILITARY MEMBERS

Fieldcrest wore camouflage jerseys provided by the National Guard in Week 2 to honor past, present and future military members, in particular past Fieldcrest players in the military and six players on the Knights’ current roster who plan on joining the military next year — Zach Keller (Marines), Zac Cremer (Marines), Skyler Nix (Marines), Clayton Boland (Marines), Isaac Morse (Army National Gurad) and Gage VanCoppenolle (Army National Guard).

“We were just grateful to be able to wear them,” Fieldcrest coach Mike Freeman said. “They looked awesome.”

Freeman said the National Guard has a couple sets of jerseys they allow schools to wear. The National Guard offered them to Fieldcrest in the fall.

“I really wanted to do it and then spring football came along and they had our first home game as an open date for them so I jumped on it,” Freeman said.

MUSICAL JERSEYS

St. Bede senior running back/defensive back Noah Setser is listed on the roster as No. 32.

That hasn’t been accurate for most of the season so far.

Setser’s No. 32 jersey ripped during the first half of the Bruins’ opener against Hall, so Setser switched to No. 3 for the second half.

The No. 3 jersey was too big for Setser, so he switched again for Week 2. He wore No. 3 against Monmouth-Roseville.

DOUBLEHEADER AT MENDOTA

There were two Big Northern Conference games at Mendota on Saturday, but neither involved the Trojans.

Byron topped Oregon 24-16 on Mendota’s artificial turf field Saturday afternoon before Stillman Valley defeated Winnebago 21-10 in Saturday’s second game.

Oregon will return to MHS this Friday to take on the actual home team Trojans.

After opening the season with a 49-7 loss at North Boone, Mendota will play its remaining four games at home.