October 22, 2024
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BCR Week 9 Notebook: Princeton’s Ryan Pearson joins the 100-win club

Casey Etheridge has 2 top-5 Tiger rushing games

By Kevin Hieronymus
Ryan Pearson and the Princeton Tigers defeated Mercer County 57-20 at Bryant Field on Friday. It was Pearson's 100th career win.

Ryan Pearson and the Princeton Tigers defeated Mercer County 57-20 at Bryant Field on Friday. It was Pearson's 100th career win. (Kevin Hieronymus)

Princeton’s Ryan Pearson became at least the 10th coach to have coached in Bureau County to reach the 100-win mark.

He is 65-18 (.783) in eight seasons at Princeton and 100-38 (.725) overall.

Before coming to PHS in 2017, Pearson was head coach at Iroquois West in 2006 (6-5), Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland in 2012 (8-3) and Canton from 2014-16 (21-12). He also served as an assistant from 2007-2011.

Hall of Fame coaches Gary Vicini of Hall (195-80) and John Bellino (176-161) head the list of coaching wins at Bureau County schools only.

Ken Bourquin won 189 games, mostly at Manlius with two seasons at Bureau Valley (8-10) and one season away from Bureau County at Toulon (6-3).

Former Princeton coach Joe Ryan, now at Sycamore, got his 201st career win last week. He coached at PHS from 1995-2003, posting a 44-43 record, and has been at Sycamore the last 21 seasons (148-74).

Bron Bracevich, who went 99-25-9 from 1933-48 at St. Bede won 300 games over a long career in many stops, including one season at Marquette and 19 years in Cincinnati.

Dan Darlington, who coached at Hall in 1974 and 1975, went on to win 278 games, including 27 years at Morris.

Don Dobrino coached at DePue from 1965-69 and accumulated 267 wins over his career, largely split between downstate Gillespie and Mt. Olive. The field at Gillespie was renamed in his honor in 2019.

Mick Peterson, who went 50-9 from 1984-88 at Walnut, went on to post a 136-47 record over 17 years at Pontiac, including a state championship in 1993, good for a 186-56 career record.

John McKenzie was 108-91 at four area schools, including Bradford-Tiskilwa, Walnut-LaMoille, Bureau Valley and Mendota.

Other notable area coaches include Amboy’s Gary “Tank” Jones (134-126) from 1994-2019 and Don Wyzgowski (131-67) from 1974-1993, Mendota’s George Lewis (86-71-5) from 1947-66 and Manlius native Dean Lubbs (81-64) from 1979-93.

A Mercer County defender can only get a piece of Princeton's Casey Etheridge's shirt on the way to a touchdown in Friday's 57-20 win over Mercer County at Bryant Field.

A Mercer County defender can only get a piece of Princeton's Casey Etheridge's shirt on the way to a touchdown in Friday's 57-20 win over Mercer County at Bryant Field. (Mike Vaughn)

Etheridge has a rush

Casey Etheridge was on a record-setting pace Friday night.

He rushed for 261 yards on 14 carries in the first half alone Friday against Mercer County. He did not play a single down in the second half, but if he had, he could have set his sights on the all-time single-game school rushing record.

Etheridge now has two of the top five rushing games for Princeton, including a 291-yard effort against Orion in 2023. He also had games of 234 and 225 against Monmouth-Roseville last year.

Cory Scott, a bruising runner at the turn of the century, rushed for 356 yards as a junior in 1999 and came back with 341 yards as a senior in 2000.

Pete Roth, who went on to become a replacement player during the 1987 NFL strike, rushed for 317 yards and 4 TDs in a 55-29 win over Kewanee in his senior season in 1979.

Nate Norman ran for 307 yards in a 47-14 win over IVC as a senior in the 1997 season opener.

Ronde Worrels had two top 10 games with 252 yards in the playoffs against North Boone in 2019 and 227 yards vs. Kewanee in 2018.

Playoff push

Princeton (7-1) is one of six area teams to have clinched a playoff berth heading into Friday’s regular-season finals, including Seneca (8-0), Newman (7-1), Dixon (7-1), Monmouth-Roseville (6-2) and Rockridge (6-2).

Erie-Prophetstown (5-3), Annawan-Wethersfield (5-3), Sterling (5-3) and Marquette (5-3) have reached the traditional five-win mark, while Kewanee (4-4) and Geneseo (4-4) need one more win to get there.

There is the potential for 4-5 teams to qualify also.

Tigers no-huddle provides spark

Pearson said the Tigers’ no-huddle offense really sparked the Tigers’ offense in Friday’s 57-20 win over Aledo Mercer County.

“We’ve been working last couple weeks on our up-tempo stuff, and I really think that’s a great equalizer,” he said.

The Tiger coach could be heard on the sidelines saying, “We’re wearing them down.”

The Tigers first utilized the no-huddle in Week 7′s 57-14 win at Mendota.

Second-quarter explosion

Princeton scored at least 36 points and five touchdowns in the second quarter for the second time this season and third time in three years, to go up 57-12 at halftime Friday.

“For us to come out and put those kind of points up on the board in the second quarter, that’s a testament to not only our offensive, but our defense set us up with a blocked punt,” Pearson said. “Just a great team effort tonight.”

Earlier this season, the Tigers scored five touchdowns and a safety for 39 points in the second quarter of a 59-0 win over Sherrard in Week 3.