Princeton gets its revenge on Newman

STERLING – Tyler Gibson and the Princeton Tigers have had Friday night circled on their calendars for a long time.

They felt like they let one get away from them against Newman in 2019, surrendering a 21-10 halftime lead and losing 25-21. On Friday night, they made sure it didn’t happen again.

Gibson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to lead the No. 2-ranked 3A Tigers to a 28-14 win over the defending 2A state champion Comets.

“Once we knew we got to play Newman, we’ve had it on our list for so long,” Gibson said. “Revenge. We knew it was going to be a dogfight and it wasn’t going to be easy. We didn’t want the same result as last time.”

Gibson made sure the Tigers didn’t falter in the second half this time. He scored on a quarterback keeper, rolling out to his right and bulling his way past the pylon for a Tiger touchdown with 8:23 left to play. That put the Tigers up for good at 21-14 with the conversion pass to Logan Glancy, who flew into the end zone.

“Gibby’s a gamer. There’s nothing else I can say about Gibby,” PHS coach Ryan Pearson said. “He’s a phenomenal leader. Very high-character young man. If I was going to send somebody to represent our program, No. 12 would be top on the list.”

Sophomore Teegan Davis added the game-clinching score, when he raced for a 54-yard quarterback keeper to put the Tigers up 28-14 with 1:54 to play.

The Tigers didn’t take long to strike. Augie Christiansen intercepted a Newman pass at the PHS 44, and on the very first play from scrimmage, Gibson connected for a TD strike to a wide-open Matt Lucas.

Jamie Reinhardt’s PAT kick gave the Tigers a quick 7-0 lead just 1 1/2 minutes into the game.

Newman tied the game at 7 on a 1-yard TD by Jake Ackman with 2:57 left in the first quarter.

Gibson struck again for a 35-yard touchdown pass to Teegan Davis in the right corner of the end zone. This time the conversion failed, and the Tigers led 13-7.

The Comets tried to cut into the Tiger lead, but PHS senior Alex May blocked a Newman field goal attempt.

Princeton mounted a late second-quarter drive, but came up empty as the Comets made a goal-line stand, stuffing the Tigers on three straight plays.

The Comets took their only lead of the game when Ackman tossed to Marcus Williams for a 33-yard TD strike for a 14-13 lead with 2:29 left in the third quarter.

Newman coach Brandon Krezcmer said the game delivered on all expectations.

“Hats off to Princeton. They had a lot of big plays. We knew they had to stop their big plays coming in. We gave up too many,” he said. “Really a fun football game to be a part of it. For the COVID era, the stands were packed. For us, being our last game, you couldn’t ask for anything more. Princeton and us were both looking at this as a playoff game, and it definitely lived up to that.”

The Comets, who are ranked No. 6 in 2A, finish the spring season at 3-1.

Princeton improves to 5-0, facing undefeated Fulton at home next week. Pearson had pegged the Newman game as their “semifinals” and the season finale as their state championship.

Fulton defeated Monmouth-Roseville 49-6 on Friday.

“That’s how we’re approaching it,” Pearson said. “[Fulton’s coming in undefeated], and we have an opportunity to win our third conference championship in a row. I know it’s not a playoffs system, but it’s still a heck of a accomplishment for our kids.”

“It kind of sucks we don’t get a playoffs, but we like to think of it that way for motivation,” Gibson said.