Princeton grabs early momentum and runs with it against St. Bede

PRINCETON – In a 49-point game, it’s hard to imagine there was one play that changed the momentum of the whole game.

It happened Friday night at Bryant Field.

The St. Bede Bruins drove to the Princeton’s 10-yard line in their first three plays of the game, looking to cash in an early score. St. Bede stalled there, however, when the Tigers forced a turn over on downs.

On the very next play, Princeton senior Augie Christiansen raced 83 yards to pay dirt to give the Tigers a quick 7-0 lead.

Princeton added two more touchdowns in the first quarter and a pair in the second to build a 28-point halftime lead on the way to a 56-7 victory.

“One hundred percent [it was a momentum builder],” Princeton coach Ryan Pearson said. “St. Bede gave us a formation we had never seen before, and it took us a couple of plays to kind of adjust to it. And they were able to pop down some big runs that put them down inside the red zone.

“Our defense has been stellar all year. They made a huge stop and that really gave us momentum. And as soon as we got the ball, we scored on the very first play and recaptured that momentum. When you’re dealing with teenage boys, momentum is certainly huge.

“If St. Bede would have scored and went up 7-0, they would have had all the momentum.”

The win put the Tigers (7-0), ranked No. 4 in Class 3A, in the driver’s seat for the Three Rivers Conference East Division championship at 4-0.

“It was a great atmosphere. Senior Night. Beating St. Bede. Conference champs. It feels good,” Princeton senior Danny Cihocki said.

“One of our goals was to finish the regular season undefeated and win conference. That’s still the goal we have in mind. Once maybe when we achieve that one, we’ll focus on the field of 32 (the playoffs),” Pearson said.

The Tigers struck again for another quick score when senior Teegan Davis raced 60 yards on a punt return to make it 14-0 with 7:43 left in the first quarter.

Davis added a 1-yard sneak to make it 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The 1A No. 6 Bruins mounted a nine-play, 66-yard scoring drive through the end of the first quarter into the start of the second, scoring on an 1-yard run by quarterback John Brady.

St. Bede (6-1, 3-1) wouldn’t find the end zone again, however, against the Princeton defense, which hasn’t allowed a first-quarter touchdown this season and only 14 points the last three games.

“I thought we had our chances early. We didn’t convert in the red zone, what, three times in the first half? We moved the ball real first half,” St. Bede coach Jim Eustice said. “Teegan (Davis) made a heckuva play on the punt. Their kids are good. They’re fast, they’re strong. They’re stronger than us.

“If we could have knocked a couple of them down the first half, might have made a game out of it. And who who knows. When they got up by four scores at half, what can you do?

“We’re 6-1 now and in the playoffs. We’ve got Hall next week and we’ll start to regroup tomorrow.”

CJ Hickey raced for a 73-yard touchdown with 9:44 left in the second quarter and Noah LaPorte outran the Bruins on the right edge to sneak in with a 17-yard run before the half was out to make it 35-7 at the break.

Cihocki got in on the fun for Princeton when he snagged a 14-yard TD strike from Davis in the third quarter.

Christiansen, who rushed for 222 yards, finished what he started with a pair of touchdown runs (11, 28) in the fourth quarter.

“Augie’s a tough kid and I’m very happy to see him have that kind of night on Senior Night,” Pearson said. “This one was for our seniors. Fortunately, in the playoffs, we’re going to get to come back home. But this was the their last regular season home game.”

Pearson said the Tigers’ defense, which held the Bruins to 215 net yards with 138 yards rushing and 77 passing, rose to the challenge.

“We knew St. Bede coming in, they had some nice weapons. The (John) Brady kid had video game type numbers,” he said. “We had to know where he was all the time. I thought our defense did a great job keying on him and taking him away. And I thought we did a good job taking their big receiver away, No. 13, Wallace. He’s a good athlete.

“I thought the guys did a good job understanding the defensive game plan coming in and executing. As coaches, you can only draw the plays. It takes the players to execute.”

“I felt last week we didn’t play as physical as I think Princeton teams should play. So we kind of went back to our old school, under center, power-counter, kind of doing what we do.”

Notes: Pearson tied the PHS record for most coach’s wins at 44 with Joe Ryan, who coached from 1995 to 2003.