Princeton Remains Perfect With 62-7 Win

Friday night was the perfect opportunity for the Princeton Tigers to kick back, relax and celebrate a lot of things.
And Princeton has a lot to celebrate.
The Tigers honored their seniors Friday night and celebrated a season that has seen them roll through every opponent they have faced.
The downtrodden Polo Panthers provided the perfect punching bag for the regular season finale and Princeton took advantage, turning the contest into a coronation with a 62-7 victory – an exclamation point on a remarkable run through the Grand River Conference.
“Our kids have done a great job all year finishing games and this was another statement they made to close out the regular season with a lot of confidence,” Princeton head coach Thomas Hotmer said. “They played great in all three phases of the game and were having a lot of fun in doing so.”
From the onset, Princeton looked like a team on a mission. The Tigers punched the ball in the end zone twice in the first quarter, getting a nine-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Smith to Clayton Sweeten and a two-yard rushing touchdown by Smith.
Smith would have his way with the Polo defense, adding four more touchdown passes in the second quarter – a frame that saw Princeton score five times. One more touchdown pass by Smith in the third quarter and a five-yard scoring run by Garrett Enright in the fourth capped the scoring for the Tigers.
Smith, the Tigers’ senior gunslinger, would finish the night completing 18-of-25 passes for 323 yards and six touchdowns. He added 40 yards on the ground, carrying the ball just three times and adding one rushing score to push his overall total to seven touchdowns on the night.
Senior tight end Blaine Millburn caught six passes for 107 yards and a score and Sweeten, also a senior, caught three passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Enright had six catches for 78 yards in addition to his rushing touchdown on his senior night.
“Our seniors have been great leaders for our program,” Hotmer said. “They have bought into the commitment and work it takes to be great in the weight room, community and at practice. They have been a great example to our underclassman and shown them how to do things the right way to be great every day. This has been a great group to coach and set the foundation of our program with as we continue to chase and sustain excellence.”
The game was only in question once after the kick off. Polo managed a touchdown early in the second quarter to cut the Princeton lead to 14-7. That’s when the Tigers responded with their barrage of points in the second quarter to squash out any hopes the Panthers may have had of pulling off the unthinkable.
While this was senior night for the Tigers, it was hardly their final home game. Princeton’s tremendous season has earned the Tigers home-field advantage throughout the Class 1, District 8 tournament. That begins Friday night as the Tigers host eighth-seeded Maysville in what should be another lop-sided bashing. Princeton torched the Wolverines 54-14 in the two teams’ regular season meeting back on Sept. 22.
“Having the season we have had helps with our confidence as we head into postseason, but from the beginning of the year to this point this is what we expected of ourselves,” Hotmer said. “It has been great to meet those expectations. We are on a mission for more and believe we can still do great things. We have to continue to get better every day and we should give ourselves a great opportunity.”
Princeton and Maysville will kick off at 7 p.m. Friday on Eddie Allen Field.
STATISTICS
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
First Quarter
PR – Andrew Smith 9-yard pass to Clayton Sweeten (conversion failed).
PR – Smith 2-yard run (Smith pass to Sweeten).
Second Quarter
PO – Polo 21-yard run (kick good).
PR – Smith 25-yard pass to Cameron Gittings (Smith pass to Garrett Enright).
PR – Tanner Coffman 10-yard run (conversion failed).
PR – Smith 64-yard pass to Sweeten (Smith pass to Blaine Millburn).
PR – Smith 34-yard pass to Coffman (conversion failed).
PR – Smith 25-yard pass to Gittings (conversion failed).
Third Quarter
PR – Smith 14-yard pass to Millburn (conversion failed).
Fourth Quarter
PR – Enright 5-yard run (Austin Kelly pass to Preston Thomas).
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Tanner Coffman, 6-51; Austin Kelly, 2-45; Andrew Smith, 3-40; Soyer Wimer, 5-37; Garrett Enright, 3-35.
PASSING – Smith, 18-25-0, 323 yards, 6 TDs; Kelly, 4-4-0, 46 yards.
RECEIVING – Blaine Millburn, 6-107; Clayton Sweeten, 3-100; Enright, 6-78; Cameron Gittings, 2-50; Coffman, 1-34.
DEFENSE – Drew Dailey, 13 tackles, 1 TFL; Cam Hartley, 10 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack; Coffman, 8 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 fumble force, 1 fumble recovery; Wimer, 8 tackles, 1 TFL; Jamie Weathington, 7 tackles; Sweeten, 6 tackles; Logan Bates, 5 tackles; Cameron Jones, 5 tackles, 1 TFL; Mitchell Hydorn, 4 tackles, 1 fumble forced; Trey Gibson, 3 tackles; Logan Dunkin, 3 tackles; Ben Berwanger, 2 tackles; Kelly, 2 tackles; Parker Howsden, 2 tackles; Logan Hanson, 1 tackle; Logan Boxley, 1 tackle; Trent Summers, 1 tackle; Owen Schreffler, 1 tackle; Mario Vargas, 1 tackle; Enright, 1 fumble recovery.