Princeton delivers early knockout blow against Peotone in Class 3A

PRINCETON – Peotone scored early in the second quarter to cut Princeton’s lead to 14-7 in Friday’s Class 3A playoff opener at Bryant Field.

Perhaps needing a little nudge, the Tigers responded with the knockout blow.

Princeton answered with three touchdowns to take a 35-6 halftime lead and added three more touchdowns in the third quarter en route to a 56-28 victory.

“We truly felt we could get a ‘W’ if we came out and executed,” Tigers coach Ryan Pearson said. “Our kids have pretty lofty goals. They aren’t satisfied just getting in the playoffs. They wanted to do some damage once they got there and focus on the task at hand, which was Peotone.

“The bottom line is, we’re moving on to the Sweet 16. We’re going to enjoy this one tonight. Hopefully our kids get rested up and get their bodies feeling up. We do have one extra day of rest than our opponent. That’s a huge help.”

The No. 1 seeded and Class 3A third-ranked Tigers (10-0) will draw the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 9 Elmwood-Brimfield (6-3) at No. 8 Genoa-Kingston (7-2). Princeton would host Genoa-Kingston, but face a trip to Elmwood-Brimfield. The Tigers played at Elmwood in the first round of the 2018 playoffs, winning 39-12.

Princeton senior Augie Christiansen, who rushed for 56 yards and two touchdowns, said it was nice to open the playoffs at home again.

“Especially here on Friday night. It doesn’t get better than this for a playoff game. It really doesn’t,” he said.

Quarterback Teegan Davis got the Tigers Express rolling with a 17-yard touchdown pass to 6-foot-4-inch sophomore Noah LaPorte with 7:25 left in the second quarter.

Christiansen scored on a 6-yard run four minutes later, and Davis streaked untouched on the left edge for another touchdown with 32 seconds left in the half to put the Tigers up 35-6.

The intermission did little to cool down Davis and the Tigers’ offense. After recovering an onside kick to open the second half, Davis connected with LaPorte for a 33-yard TD strike.

Davis played another game of catch with LaPorte, this time good for a 24-yard reception to make it 45-6 with 5:54 left in the third quarter.

Davis passed for 251 yards and four touchdowns.

“I say this all the time, we’re a man offense. We try to get our men the ball. They make us look good at times,” Pearson said. “I thought we were very balanced. We were able to run, we were able to pass. And that’s important in moving on in the playoffs. You can’t be one-dimensional.

“The name of the game is survive and advance, and I’m glad we did that.”

The Blue Devils (5-5) cut into the Tigers’ lead with a 17-yard touchdown run by Dylan Sroka. That only allowed sophomore Ace Christiansen to make good on his promise to his teammates on the sidelines that “I’m going to take the kickoff to the house.”

He did exactly that, racing 85 yards for a quick six, putting the Tigers ahead 56-14.

Peotone had success with its run game early.

Trailing 14-0 with the Tigers scoring on a 25-yard run by Augie Christiansen and a 47-yard pass from Davis to Danny Cihocki, the Blue Devils mounted a methodical 13-play, 77-yard scoring driving from the end of the first quarter into the second. Dawson Piper cashed in a 2-yard run to make it 14-6.

“That type of offense is so hard to keep behind the chains,” Augie Christiansen said. “They want 3 or 4 yards a pop. It took us a little bit to start playing downhill like we wanted to, and once we got there, it was game over. We shut them down.”

“I thought once our guys weathered the storm a little bit and settled down and started focusing on reading their keys,” Pearson said. “I really felt like we had a great game plan. It’s a credit to our defensive staff for putting that defensive game plan together.”

“They’re a big, hard-nosed team. They’ll punch you in the mouth,” Davis said. “They’re going to be tough to stop, because they’re always going to come out at ya.”

The Tigers totaled 397 yards offense on the night while recording 17 first downs. Peotone had 300 yards of offense.

Pearson was pleased to be able to once again rest his first team for most of the second half and to give his underclassmen playoff experience.

“Not too often freshmen and sophomores get an opportunity to play basically a whole second half in a first-round playoff game. What better reps for those kids against the No. 1 offense of a playoff team?” he said.