Princeton Turns The Ball Over Five Times In Road Loss To Putnam County
Photo Courtesy Of Terri Wilson Kelly
Luke Kelly chases down a Putnam County runner during the Tigers’ 20-14 loss Friday night in Unionville.
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The giveaways added up and Putnam County was able to do just enough with them to hand Princeton a 20-14 loss, the fifth in a row for the Tigers to open the season.
“We did everything we could to win that game but we also did just about everything we could to give it away,” Princeton head coach Nathan Powell said. “It’s on me to make the right calls to take advantage of what the defense is giving us and I made some bad calls tonight being too aggressive and not staying patient and doing what was working.
“Turnovers have been a thorn in our side all season and that continued. All these turnovers are nothing but a free pass for our opponents and we aren’t going to be successful until we get those under control.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Princeton took a 6-0 lead on a 58-yard touchdown pass from Logan Smith to Austin Kelly. A long touchdown run by the Midgets, however, and a safety, sent Princeton into halftime trailing 8-6.
In the third quarter, Putnam County turned a Princeton turnover into a 35-yard touchdown return and a second rushing score of over 30-yards put Princeton in a 20-6 hole entering the final frame. Tyler Brown had a 2-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion to bring Princeton within six points, but that would be all they would get as Putnam County held on for the victory.
“Our kids played extremely hard tonight and defensively had our best night of the season,” Powell said. “[Our defense] only gave up two scores and we saw some improvement in our kids making their reads and reacting as opposed to sitting and thinking which is a huge step in the right direction.”
Austin Rhoades led the Tigers with 98 rushing yards on 18 carries. Smith threw for 146 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions and Talan Holt caught five passes for 88 yards.
Princeton (0-5, 0-3 GRC) will be at home Friday, playing host to Maysville.