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A Frustrating End
Princeton unable to score in second half, but still beats Kewanee 23-0
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
KEWANEE – For those in attendance at Kewanee High School for the annual
Kewanee-Princeton game on Friday night, it was an experience that they didn't
want to see end.
The Kewanee Boilermakers didn't want it to end with the 23-0 deficit they had at
halftime. Princeton didn't want it to end this way after winning the game, and
permanent rights to the Traveling Trophy, by the same score.
Princeton coach Dave Moore didn't want it all to end, either. In fact, he made his
players go through a long post game meeting on the field when many Boilermaker
players were starting their vehicles.
The agenda? Not being able to score in the damp and foggy second half,
committing four personal foul and unsportsmanlike penalties, and among other
things dealing with the consequence of one of their main ball carriers not being
able to play in the last quarter-and-a-half of the game.
“We can't make stupid penalties or stupid mistakes,” said Moore. “We should have
scored a lot more points than what we did. We just can't shoot ourselves in the
foot.”
The majority of the issues occurred in the third quarter. The Tigers committed a
personal foul on both offense (on a fourth-and-one) and defense (wiping much of
a second-and-22). After a pass completion from Brik Wedekind to Brock Schmidt
at the Tiger 24, a flag was thrown due to a Princeton player doing a clap and a yell
toward a Kewanee player. That resulted in a fifteen-yard unsportsmanlike penalty,
which got runningback Dylan Olson riled up. Olson slammed his helmet on the
steel bench and the coaching staff benched him for the rest of the game. Olson
had nine carries for 26 yards before sitting out.
“We have to play hard, clean football, and we can't have personal fouls and have
people running their mouths and stuff like that,” said Moore. “I can't stand that. It's
going to be cleaned up, or some people won't be playing.”
The troubles were almost enough to overshadow what made the Tigers win the
game in the first place.
Kewanee received the opening kickoff and went just more than half of the quarter
in possession before punting the ball at the Tiger 33. After a four-yard run by
Olson and a six-yard loss that followed, Wedekind ran a rare play-action pass to a
wide open Schmidt on his left-middle of the field for a 78-yard touchdown
completion.
“If you can run the football, you can set up the play-action pass,” said Moore. “We
have ran the football the last four games, which is good. When you run play action
and everyone bites on it, you go over the top.”
Kewanee could only run three plays, after getting the ball back, before fumbling on
the Tiger 46, where the ball was recovered by Tiger lineman Kale Sprouse.
The Tigers scored twice in the second quarter: the first by Drew Compton two
plays after partially blocking a Boilermaker punt on their 23, and the second was
on a one-yard leap by Wedekind.
Even though the Boilermakers were aided by Tiger penalties, they were able to
force turnovers at their own eight- and four-yard lines in the second half. They
may not have put points up themselves, but showed a sign of life heading into the
heart of the NCIC Lincoln schedule.
“I told the kids that I'm proud of their efforts and playing hard for 48 minutes, “ said
Kewanee coach Chris Waca. “That was our goal all week: to play for 48 minutes
and play with passion. I thought our kids played with that kind of passion all night
long.
“We gave up one big play and a couple of short fields, but our defense played our
hearts out, and played physical.”
Compton led all rushers with 21 carries for 149 yards while Wedekind threw for
109 yards. Dontae Pryor led the Boilermakers with 16 carries for 30 yards, and 13
tackles.
Princeton has a tough load of games remaining in the regular season. They play
at Hall next week, followed by a road game at IVC, and home games against
Mendota and Orion. Kewanee will try to extend their scoreless streak of one whole
half at IVC next week.
“We can't do this anymore if we're going to win the big, close games,” said Moore.
“On the other hand Kewanee played hard, and you can't take anything away from
them.”
Kewanee's sophomore team won their first game of the season, beating Princeton
32-14. Ryan Matuszyk ran for the Riveters' first two touchdowns: a 56-yard run in
the first quarter and a 30-yard run in the second quarter. Joey Karau added the
other Riveter touchdown with a seven-yard run in the fourth quarter.
The first Princeton score came off of the second Matuszyk touchdown when Alex
Rico returned the kickoff for an 81-yard touchdown. A third-quarter pass play from
Southern Foster to Earl Towne resulted in the other touchdown. The Riveters
recovered five fumbles in the game.
Not too long after Princeton finally walked off the field, trophy and all, the lights
shut off and the fog took over at a place where a storied rivalry took shape. The
Kewanee-Princeton high school football rivalry, which began in 1897 and played
every year since 1919, had it's last chapter written.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns
about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com.
KEWANEE – For those in attendance at Kewanee High School for the annual
Kewanee-Princeton game on Friday night, it was an experience that they didn't
want to see end.
The Kewanee Boilermakers didn't want it to end with the 23-0 deficit they had at
halftime. Princeton didn't want it to end this way after winning the game, and
permanent rights to the Traveling Trophy, by the same score.
Princeton coach Dave Moore didn't want it all to end, either. In fact, he made his
players go through a long post game meeting on the field when many Boilermaker
players were starting their vehicles.
The agenda? Not being able to score in the damp and foggy second half,
committing four personal foul and unsportsmanlike penalties, and among other
things dealing with the consequence of one of their main ball carriers not being
able to play in the last quarter-and-a-half of the game.
“We can't make stupid penalties or stupid mistakes,” said Moore. “We should have
scored a lot more points than what we did. We just can't shoot ourselves in the
foot.”
The majority of the issues occurred in the third quarter. The Tigers committed a
personal foul on both offense (on a fourth-and-one) and defense (wiping much of
a second-and-22). After a pass completion from Brik Wedekind to Brock Schmidt
at the Tiger 24, a flag was thrown due to a Princeton player doing a clap and a yell
toward a Kewanee player. That resulted in a fifteen-yard unsportsmanlike penalty,
which got runningback Dylan Olson riled up. Olson slammed his helmet on the
steel bench and the coaching staff benched him for the rest of the game. Olson
had nine carries for 26 yards before sitting out.
“We have to play hard, clean football, and we can't have personal fouls and have
people running their mouths and stuff like that,” said Moore. “I can't stand that. It's
going to be cleaned up, or some people won't be playing.”
The troubles were almost enough to overshadow what made the Tigers win the
game in the first place.
Kewanee received the opening kickoff and went just more than half of the quarter
in possession before punting the ball at the Tiger 33. After a four-yard run by
Olson and a six-yard loss that followed, Wedekind ran a rare play-action pass to a
wide open Schmidt on his left-middle of the field for a 78-yard touchdown
completion.
“If you can run the football, you can set up the play-action pass,” said Moore. “We
have ran the football the last four games, which is good. When you run play action
and everyone bites on it, you go over the top.”
Kewanee could only run three plays, after getting the ball back, before fumbling on
the Tiger 46, where the ball was recovered by Tiger lineman Kale Sprouse.
The Tigers scored twice in the second quarter: the first by Drew Compton two
plays after partially blocking a Boilermaker punt on their 23, and the second was
on a one-yard leap by Wedekind.
Even though the Boilermakers were aided by Tiger penalties, they were able to
force turnovers at their own eight- and four-yard lines in the second half. They
may not have put points up themselves, but showed a sign of life heading into the
heart of the NCIC Lincoln schedule.
“I told the kids that I'm proud of their efforts and playing hard for 48 minutes, “ said
Kewanee coach Chris Waca. “That was our goal all week: to play for 48 minutes
and play with passion. I thought our kids played with that kind of passion all night
long.
“We gave up one big play and a couple of short fields, but our defense played our
hearts out, and played physical.”
Compton led all rushers with 21 carries for 149 yards while Wedekind threw for
109 yards. Dontae Pryor led the Boilermakers with 16 carries for 30 yards, and 13
tackles.
Princeton has a tough load of games remaining in the regular season. They play
at Hall next week, followed by a road game at IVC, and home games against
Mendota and Orion. Kewanee will try to extend their scoreless streak of one whole
half at IVC next week.
“We can't do this anymore if we're going to win the big, close games,” said Moore.
“On the other hand Kewanee played hard, and you can't take anything away from
them.”
Kewanee's sophomore team won their first game of the season, beating Princeton
32-14. Ryan Matuszyk ran for the Riveters' first two touchdowns: a 56-yard run in
the first quarter and a 30-yard run in the second quarter. Joey Karau added the
other Riveter touchdown with a seven-yard run in the fourth quarter.
The first Princeton score came off of the second Matuszyk touchdown when Alex
Rico returned the kickoff for an 81-yard touchdown. A third-quarter pass play from
Southern Foster to Earl Towne resulted in the other touchdown. The Riveters
recovered five fumbles in the game.
Not too long after Princeton finally walked off the field, trophy and all, the lights
shut off and the fog took over at a place where a storied rivalry took shape. The
Kewanee-Princeton high school football rivalry, which began in 1897 and played
every year since 1919, had it's last chapter written.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns
about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com.
Add PHS 23, KHS 0 to the Traveling Trophy (Photo by Cody Cutter)
More on the
Princeton-
Kewanee
Rivalry:
Kewanee/Princeton,
Princeton/Kewanee
– Whatever You
Want to Call It
Conference Musical
Chairs X: The
Kewanee-Princeton
Edition
Princeton-
Kewanee
Rivalry:
Kewanee/Princeton,
Princeton/Kewanee
– Whatever You
Want to Call It
Conference Musical
Chairs X: The
Kewanee-Princeton
Edition
Princeton 23 Kewanee 0 P K First Downs 15 4 Total Yards 305 42 Rush Yards 196 42 Pass Yards 109 0 Pass: C-A-I 3-10-0 1-6-0 Fumbles-Lost 5-1 5-1 Penalties-yards 10-100 7-32 Punts-average 1-45 6-21 P 7 16 0 0 - 23 K 0 0 0 0 - 00 P -Brock Schmidt 78 pass from Brik Wedekind (Wedekind kick) P - Drew Comption 18 run (Schmidt pass from Wedekind) P - Wedekind 1 run (Olson run) Individual Statistics Rushing - Princeton: Compton 21-149, Tyne 1-(-5), Olson 9-26, Wedekind 9-26, Griffin 1-5. Kewanee: Prior 16-30, Hart 10-(-1), Thompson 4-10, Inocencio 2-7. Passing - Princeton: Wedekind 3-10-109-0. Kewanee: Hart 1-6-0-0. Receiving - Princeton: Kewanee: Returns - Princeton: Compton 1-8, Schmidt 2-101. Kewanee: Prior 1-0. Records: Princeton 4-1 (2-0 NCIC Lincoln), Kewanee 0-5 (0-2). |
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