Princeton dominates Sherrard to move to 3-0

PRINCETON - Despite starting 2-0, Princeton coach Ryan Pearson challenged his team to play better in Week 3 against Sherrard.

The Tigers accepted the challenge.

Princeton dominated in all three phases Friday and cruised to a 59-0 win over Sherrard in the Three Rivers Conference Mississippi Division opener at Bryant Field.

“We were able to get two wins the first two weeks, but we didn’t feel like we played our best game,” Pearson said. “The offense played well last week in the first half (in a 28-17 win over Rockridge). Defense played well in the second half. We wanted to put four full quarters together. I’m proud of our kids because I thought we did that tonight.”

Princeton scored on every drive aside from kneel downs - including four straight one-play drives in the second quarter - limited Sherrard to 77 yards and four first downs, blocked a punt, returned a punt to the 11-yard line, and pinned Sherrard inside the 20 on four first-half kickoffs.

“I think we played really well tonight,” junior linebacker Common Green said. “It was a lot better than our first two weeks. We really pushed ourselves to work harder. We want to keep this going, keep playing together and keep winning.”

Princeton forced a punt on Sherrard’s first drive then scored in five plays when senior quarterback Will Lott threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Jagers.

Sherrard then put together its best drive of the night as the Tigers advanced 46 yards to the Princeton 41-yard line. On fourth down, Princeton senior linebacker Arthur Burden pressured Sherrard QB Carter Brown and junior linebacker Brenden Piacenti intercepted the pass.

Princeton held Sherrard to 18 yards for the remainder of the half.

“(Our coaches) made some great adjustments and it comes down to our kids going out and executing it,” Pearson said. “We were slanting and doing some different things that was helping them get the edge. We ended up making some different calls that weren’t moving our guys, just letting them play base and read and react. Our kids our pretty aggressive. Once we got them settled down and let them get into their comfort zone, they started playing a lot better.”

After the interception, Princeton took control and pulled away with 39 points in the second quarter.

“We saw a lot from them we thought we could take advantage of,” Pearson said. “I can only call the plays. Our kids had to go out and execute. I thought our line blocked well. Obviously, it gave Will a lot of time. Will had some great passes and our kids ran great routes and made the catches when they needed to. We needed that.”

Casey Etheridge capped the drive after the turnover with a 5-yard TD run to go up 14-0.

Princeton forced a three-and-out and Green blocked the punt to give Princeton the ball on the Sherrard 26.

“I just ran through, blew up the guys and got my hand out there,” Green said. “I think our special teams really worked our hardest. We were struggling a little bit on our special teams, but we really showed up.”

Lott, who was 4-of-5 passing for 76 yards and three TDs, tossed a 26-yard TD pass to Burden on the first play of the drive to start the string of quick-strike scores.

Green sacked Garrett Woodward for a safety to end Sherrard’s next drive, which led to a 32-yard touchdown pass from Lott to Ace Christiansen.

“They sent me off the edge on a blitz and I got him,” Green said. “It felt great. It’s my second time getting a safety. I got one last year. I’d like to get more.”

A 51-yard punt return - which was fumbled and recovered by Princeton - set up an 11-yard TD run by Eli Berlin and Princeton capitalized on another short field when Christiansen ran for a 19-yard TD to give the Tigers a 46-0 halftime lead. Princeton racked up 198 offensive yards on 19 plays in the first half.

Princeton added touchdown runs by Alex Winn and Ayden Agushi in the second half.