Field position and a strong Marionville performance proved too much for the Princeton Tigers in the Class 1 State Football Championships on Saturday as the Tiger fell to Marionville, 19-0.
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Field position and a strong Marionville performance proved too much for the Princeton Tigers in the Class 1 State Football Championships on Saturday as the Tiger fell to Marionville, 19-0.
?I am not going to make any excuses,? Head Coach Dave Cavanah said. ?That was a pretty darn good football team and today (Saturday) they beat us.?
The Tigers spent the whole first half in the shadow of their own goal post. The Tigers forced Marionville to punt on their opening possession, but muffed the punt and gave the Comets the ball back on the Princeton 31-yard line.
?We had a couple of mistakes that we could not overcome. The fumbled punt put our backs against the wall,? Cavanah said. ?We don?t have the type of the team that can overcome those kinds of mistakes.?
Princeton?s defense rose to the Comets’ challenge, holding Marionville out of the end zone after the Comets had a first and goal. The Tigers then had to punt four plays later.
This time the Comets? drive started on Princeton?s 35-yard line. Again Princeton?s defense held, forcing Marionville to turn the ball over on downs. The Tigers? offense continued to struggle and four plays later punted back to the Comets.
Marionville mounted an 11-play drive that took the ball down to Princeton?s one-yard line. The Tigers’ Brett Cavanah forced a fumble that Chris Johnson was able to recover.
?Our defense kept us in the game in the first half,? Cavanah said.
Once again Marionville forced Princeton to punt after three plays. The Comets started their drive on Princeton?s 38-yard line and this time Marionville turned that field position into points. Marionville scored eight plays later on a two-yard run by Ryan Wilson.
?I just kept the pressure on their defense,? Marionville Head Coach Will Christian said. ?I think our team speed was the deciding factor in this game. Our defense did a nice job of flying to the ball and tackling.?
The Tigers offense final got their first first down and looked to be getting on track before time expired in the first half. The first half statistics were dismal for the Tigers as PHS managed 44 total yards, including 16 yards rushing and 28 yards passing. The Tigers also managed just two first downs.
By contrast ,Marionville finished its half with 140 total yards, including 132 yards rushing. The Comets had the ball for 16 minutes compared to the Tigers, who had the ball for just under eight minutes.
Halftime adjustments proved useful for the Tigers on their second drive on the second half. Princeton drove the ball 27 yards on nine plays before Blake Slater picked off a John Goodin pass to kill the drive.
The Comets moved the ball 64 yards on eight plays before quarterback Nick Smart scored on a seven-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
Princeton started a key drive with just over 10 minutes to play in the game. The Tigers picked up three first downs and faced a fourth down and 10 on the Marionville 44-yard line. The Tigers gained three yards and turned the ball over on downs.
The Comets gave themselves some breathing room, thanks to 50-yard touchdown run by Wilson.
?They gave us a bit of our own medicine,? Cavanah said.?They ran power football right at us and we could not stop it.?
The Tigers finish the season with a 13-1 record.
Princeton 0 0 0 0 – 0
Marionville 0 7 0 12 – 19
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
Second Quarter
M ? Ryan Wilson 2-yard run (John Holder kick).
Fourth Quarter
M ? Nick Smart 7-yard run (kick failed).
M ? Wilson 50-yard run (run failed).
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TEAM STATISTICS
P M
First Downs 7 15
Rushes-yards 30-71 53-293
Passing Yds. 36 8
Comp-Att-Int 3-10-2 1-4-0
Total Yds. 107 301
Punts-avg. 5-38.8 2-34.0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-1
Penalties-Yards 7-45 4-30
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing ? Princeton, Brett Cavanah, 10-38; Nate Craft, 13-19; Brandon Parsons, 5-12; John Goodin, 2-2. Marionville, Nick Smart, 28-177 1 TD; Ryan Wilson, 14-92 2 TDs; Josh Holder, 4-12; Paden Grubbs, 5-11; Grady Suneson, 1-2.
Passing ? Princeton, Goodin, 3-10-2 36 yards. Marionville, Brown, 6-14-0 -149 yards, 2 TDS.
RECEIVING ? Princeton, Craft, 2-33; Cavanah, 1-3. Marionville, Wilson, 1-8.
PUNTING ? Princeton, Cavanah 5-38.8. Marionville, 2-34.0
DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
Princeton ? Craft, 11 solo tackles, 3 assisted tackles; Parsons, 7 solo, 5 assisted; Johnson, 6 solo, 3 assisted, 1 fumble recovery; Cavanah, 7 solo, 1 assisted; Wes Lowrey, 6 solo, 1 assisted; Brock Donelson, 6 solo, 1 assisted; Jason Estes, 2 solo, 2 assisted; Clint Moore, 2 solo; Tyler Roberts, 1 assisted, 1 tip; Mitch Reger, 1 assisted.
Marionville ? Grubbs, 7 solo, 2 assisted; Holder, 4 solo, 3 assisted; Chris Eubanks, 4 solo, 1 assisted, 2 tips; Jesse Kanne, 4 solo; Suneson, 3 solo, 1 assisted; Larsan Metcalf, 3 solo, 1 assisted, 1 INT; Blake Setzer, 1 solo, 3 assisted, 1 INT; Kelby Parks, 2 solo; Brick Wrath, 2 solo; Wilson, 1 solo, 1 assisted.