{"id":14489,"date":"2025-10-25T05:32:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T05:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/14489\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T05:32:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T05:32:16","slug":"tigers-blank-erie-prophetstown-to-earn-sixth-win-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/14489\/","title":{"rendered":"Tigers blank Erie-Prophetstown to earn sixth win \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Princeton<\/a> football team had a tough start to the season, losing three of its first five to state-ranked teams.<\/p>\n

The last two weeks, the Tigers started slowly before pulling away in the second half.<\/p>\n

On Friday in the regular-season finale at Bryant Field, the Tigers put everything together.<\/p>\n

Princeton scored on all five of its first-half drives – two set up by interceptions – and the Tigers rolled to a 48-0 rout of playoff-bound Erie-Prophetstown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the most complete game we\u2019ve played all year,\u201d Princeton coach Ryan Pearson said. \u201cIt\u2019s really a testament to our kids. We felt like we\u2019ve played really, really well the last couple weeks in the second half, and our challenge to them was to come out of the gate and play four full quarters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really thought our kids answered the bell tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Princeton's<\/p>\n

Princeton’s Casey Etheridge runs the ball during the Tigers’ 48-0 win over Erie-Prophetstown on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 at Bryant Field in Princeton. (Mike )<\/p>\n

The victory locks up Princeton\u2019s seventh consecutive playoff appearance with its sixth win of the season and its fourth in a row.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Princeton football,\u201d senior lineman Grady Cox said. \u201cWe were waiting on this all season. We had a slow start to the season, but we got it together. We\u2019re ready for playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Panthers (6-3), who will head to the playoffs for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not play too well,\u201d E-P coach Tyler Whitebread said. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t match their physicality, so you have to give them credit for that. I was a little disappointed that some of our defensive struggles led into offensive issues, or some of our offensive struggles led into defensive issues. I think our guys were holding onto plays that happened prior, and it just affected them. Our first half all around wasn\u2019t very good.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, this game doesn\u2019t matter. Nothing that happened in the past matters. We have to refocus, regroup and play better and figure out who we\u2019re going to play and get a new game plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tigers received the opening kickoff and needed just six plays to score.<\/p>\n

QB Gavin Lanham handed to Brennen Emmett, who flipped it to Jack Pester coming around the other way. Oester took it around the left side for a 14-yard touchdown.<\/p>\n

\"Princeton's<\/p>\n

Princeton’s Deacon Gutshall makes a tackle during the Tigers’ 48-0 win over Erie-Prophetstown on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 at Bryant Field in Princeton. (Mike Vaugh)<\/p>\n

The Princeton defense then forced a three-and-out, but the Panthers\u2019 punt snap sailed out of the back of the end zone for a safety.<\/p>\n

The Tigers scored again when Casey Etheridge dropped the snap, picked it back up and got outside for a 7-yard TD.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought this was the best game we\u2019ve played,\u201d Etheridge said. \u201cWe came out a lot better in the first half than we have in previous games, and I thought that showed for the rest of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rest of the first half continued the same way for the Tigers. E-P pinned Princeton on its own 4-yard line on a punt, but Etheridge broke free and raced 87 yards for a score.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had great blocks up front, even my quarterback Gavin Lanham had a great hit on their quarterback, and that allowed it to open up,\u201d Etheridge said. \u201cThey gave me great space. I just had to finish the run. They did all the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back-to-back picks set up two more scores for Princeton.<\/p>\n

Cox got a hand on a screen pass and corralled it to set up the Tigers on the E-P 20, which led to a 3-yard TD by Lane Goskusky.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my second one,\u201d Cox said. \u201cThey ran that screen play. It\u2019s the same screen play I feel like every team runs. You just have to sit on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really boosted everyone\u2019s momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abe Longeville intercepted a pass at the 36 and returned it to the 5. Princeton had first-and-goal at the 10 after a false start. The Tigers fooled the defense as they ran a fake reverse, but actually gave it to Emmett up the middle for the score with 5 seconds left in the first half for a 35-0 lead.<\/p>\n

The running clock started when Etheridge scored a 15-yard TD on Princeton\u2019s first drive of the third quarter. He finished with 213 yards and three TDs on 14 carries.<\/p>\n

Princeton, which racked up 416 rushing yards on 36 carries and didn\u2019t attempt a pass, added a 41-yard TD by Ayden Agushi in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

The Tigers held E-P to 2 rushing yards and 43 passing yards in the first half. Noah Wetzell finished with 62 rushing yards on 14 carries, while Keegan Winckler was 2 of 7 for 43 yards and two interceptions while running for 29 yards on 11 attempts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a lot of film this week,\u201d Etheridge said. \u201cWe knew their key players. They had some really talented backs, but I thought we did really well rallying to the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Princeton’s Casey Etheridge runs the ball during the Tigers’ 48-0 win over Erie-Prophetstown on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 at Bryant Field in Princeton. (Mike )<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Princeton football team had a tough start to the season, losing three of its first five to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137,982,6340,6341,10988,304,10986,6357,10985,10987],"class_list":["post-14489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-erie-prophetstown-preps","tag-fnd-illinois-valley","tag-fnd-sauk-valley","tag-friday-night-drive-front-headlines","tag-high-school-football","tag-newstribune","tag-premium","tag-prep-sports","tag-princeton-preps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}