Defensive stand helps lift Princeton to victory at Chicago King

CHICAGO - Chicago King was knocking on the door, looking to turn a two-score game into one at the end of the third quarter in Saturday’s Class 3A second-round playoff game with Princeton.

The Tigers’ defense made a goal line stand and then headed in the other direction, mounting a 13-play, 97-yard scoring drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown by Casey Etheridge.

That put the Tigers (10-1) on the way to a 34-16 victory at Gately Stadium on the South Side of Chicago and a date in the Class 3A quarterfinals for the fifth straight year.

“That goal line stand gave us a lot of momentum to finish strong,” PHS senior all-stater Noah LaPorte said.

“We wanted to come in and take care of business. We didn’t put ourselves in as many opportune situations, but I’m happy with how our kids responded,” PHS coach Ryan Pearson said “That goal line stand, kind of the bend but don’t break mantra. That was kind of our kids today.”

Etheridge finished with 217 yards on 25 carries with four touchdowns to send the Tigers (10-1) home for a rematch against No. 9 Lombard Montini (9-2), which beat Princeton in the 2023 quarterfinals at Bryant Field. The game is set for 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 16.

The Broncos upset No. 1 ranked Byron, stopping the Tigers on a two-point conversion for a 14-13 victory.

“Our goal coming in there, we wanted another shot. Obviously, that was a heckuva second-round game between Montini and Byron,” he said. “Selfishly, we wanted another shot at Montini and I’m happy we get that back home again in the ‘Jungle.’ We’re going to have to play a heckuva football game, but we’ve got the opportunity and that’s all we can ask for.”

“It means lot to come home for this match up we have been looking for, for a year now,” LaPorte said.

“Having that quarterfinal game in the jungle with Montini again is going to be fun and means so much to have this opportunity again,” Christiansen said.

The Jaguars, who won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, took possession on their own 45 to start the third quarter.

They marched down to the 2-yard line on 11 plays for a second and goal, looking to cash in. The Tigers stopped quarterback Jaden Thomas for no gain and Thomas followed with an incomplete pass on third down.

On fourth-and-goal from the 2, King running back Jamar Lewis, met a stone wall of Tigers at the line of scrimmage, thrown for a 1-yard loss.

“It wasn’t the prettiest game we have played but we got the job done. Survive and advance is the name of the game and that’s what we did. King’s got some great athletes but I’ll take ours any day,” LaPorte said.

“We knew that it was going to be dog fight and knew that they had some speed on their team coming into it. But we stayed tough throughout the whole game and came out with the win,” Christiansen said.

King coach Abdullah Asad said it was a well-played game by both teams and wished Princeton well.

“Our guys played very hard today. I thought it was a great game between both teams. Both teams made great adjustments and made some big plays,” he said. “Princeton is a great team and ran the ball very well. They will be tough to keep down moving forward. Good luck to Princeton.”

The Tigers struck quickly to start the game with Etheridge racing for a 53-yard TD romp.

After a King penalty, the Tigers opted for the 2-point conversion on a run by Christiansen to take an 8-0 lead less than 1 1/2 minutes into the game.

King answered with a 33-yard pass from Thomas to Kayvon Sullivan and tied the game at 8 with a conversion pass.

Princeton turned to its play-maker, Etheridge, who scored on a 7-yard touchdown early in the second quarter and added 29-yard TD catch from Will Lott with 7:23 left in the half to go up 20-8.

LaPorte got in on the fun with a 27-yard TD catch with Ian Morris’ PAT pick sending the Tigers to a 27-8 halftime lead.

“We knew how big and fast these kids were and for us to come here and be able to run it right at them, that’s a testament to our kids,” Pearson said. “They were so much faster than we were. We found what they were trying to take away and we kept going with what was working.”

King needed just two passes from Thomas, including a 36-yard touchdown pass to Seth Dukes to make it 27-16 in the third quarter with the conversion run. Thomas completed 7-of-13 attempts for 170 yards and 2 TDs.

“15 (Thomas) is the most electric kid we saw on film all year. He’s elusive. He’s as good as advertised,” Pearson said.

Princeton totaled 310 yards rushing on 47 attempts while Lott completed 8-of-10 passes for 94 yards.

The Tiger defense held King to 92 yards rushing.