BCR Week 5 notebook: Princeton’s 31-3 loss marks fewest points scored for Tigers in regular season in 52 games

Princeton’s 31-3 loss at Monmouth-Roseville was a stunner in more ways than one.

The 28-point loss is the Tigers’ largest margin of defeat in the regular season in 27 games since a 49-21 loss at Kewanee in Week 5 of the 2021 season.

The last time the Tigers were held to three points in a game was a 7-3 loss to Byron in the 2019 Class 3A semifinals.

In the regular season, the last time the Tigers scored fewer points was when they were blanked 40-0 at home against Newman in Week 2 of the 2018 season – a stretch of 52 games.

Friday’s loss snapped a 12-game winning streak in regular-season road games dating to the Kewanee loss in 2021.

Princeton is 24-8 on the road since head coach Ryan Pearson arrived in 2017, 23-4 over the past seven seasons, including the abbreviated 2021 COVID-19 spring season.

Playoff push

Just past the halfway mark of the season, two Bureau County teams are making their push for the playoffs: Princeton and Bureau Valley.

The Tigers have a good shot to finish 8-1 for their sixth consecutive playoff appearance with games remaining against Hall (1-4), Mendota (0-5), Mercer County (3-2) and Erie-Prophetstown (3-2).

The Storm need to win at least two of their final four games to become playoff eligible – seeking the program’s first appearance since 2016. After this week’s Homecoming game with Elmwood-Brimfield (4-1), the Storm has games left with Illini West (2-3), Macomb (5-0) and West Hancock (0-5).

Monmouth-Roseville (5-0) is the only Three Rivers Conference team already playoff eligible with Newman knocking on the door at 4-1. Around the area, Stark County (5-0), Seneca (5-0) and Dixon are also all but locks.

A force up front

Dane Stewart didn’t show up much on the stat sheet for Bureau Valley in the Storm’s 46-13 win over Knoxville on Friday.

That doesn’t mean he didn’t have a big impact on the game.

Stewart made only two assisted tackles, but played a big role in limiting the Blue Bullets to 212 yards and shutting out Knoxville for the final 21:21 of the game.

“He didn’t make a ton of plays, but he was phenomenal being disruptive inside,” BV coach Mat Pistole said.

M-R’s Jeremy Adolphson reaches 100 wins

Veteran Monmouth-Roseville coach Jeremy Adolphson secured his 100th career victory with the win over Princeton. He didn’t get too worked up about it, even though the school celebrated the moment for him.

“The reason I don’t celebrate 100 is because I’ve got more than 100 losses. When I catch up to .500, [then I will celebrate],” he said. “A little rough go [a] couple different times and a few times here [at Monmouth-Roseville], but since COVID we’ve been really, really good. It’s been fun. There’s much better coaches that have hit 100 with fewer losses, so we’ll leave it at that.”

Adolphson has been a head coach for 24 years, the past 13 seasons at Monmouth-Roseville, including stops at AlWood (2000-05) and Rockridge (2006-09).

Smith back in the game at AFC

Former Princeton coach Dave Smith is back on the sidelines after taking four years off, coaching the 8-Man football team at Ashton-Franklin-Center.

Smith is a veteran of 35 football seasons, last coaching at Dixon, his alma mater, from 2011-19. He was at Princeton from 2004-07 (12-23) with other stops at Burlington Central (1997-2003) and Mt. Zion (2008-10).

“I’m a rookie all over again, and I’m loving it,” Smith said in the preseason. “But this is not me, this is us. I want it to be about these kids, because this is their experience. I’ve had mine, so I’m doing this for us. That’s why I’m here. I love football, and I’m paying it back. I put my years in, and now I’m just going to pay it back and have some fun.”

Smith’s overall record as head coach was 138-93 in 23 years, with 13 playoff appearances, heading into the season.

The Raiders are off to an 0-5 start.