Augie Christiansen, Princeton defense put the block on Genoa-Kingston

PRINCETON – Princeton’s Augie Christiansen’s eyes lit up when he saw the play develop late in the fourth quarter in Saturday’s Class 3A playoff game against Genoa-Kingston.

He laid out a crunching block on a Genoa-Kingston’s Traven Atterberry to clear the path for Tigers quarterback Teegan Davis on a 17-yard touchdown run with 4:56 left to play. The score put the Tigers ahead 19-2 on the way to a 26-2 second-round victory.

“I knew it was going to be like that. We practiced it all week and I’d been waiting to have that block,” Christiansen said. “I saw that kid turn and look me in the eyes and I was like, ‘Yep, he’s getting hit.’ Showed my hands. Everything was perfectly legal. I didn’t want a flag. It was game over from there.”

“Augie’s one great player. We have seen that all year,” Davis said. “He’s been playing great like that and it was a great block. Truly am lucky to have the guy on my team.”

It was just what the Tigers needed in a game they struggled to take care of the ball, turning the ball over four times, including a high snap that led to a safety for the Cogs only score of the game.

“We did not play our best game,“ Princeton coach Ryan Pearson said. “What? Seven, eight fumbles? Something like that. But we told our kids a true mark of a man, you get knocked down, you get up again and keep fighting. And that’s what our kids did.”

“The execution errors got the best of us at times. But our kids play with a lot of heart, lot of grit. For them to keep fighting the way they did, that just shows the resiliency of our kids.”

The Tigers improved to 11-0 for only the second time in school history, earning a rematch against No. 1 state-ranked IC Catholic in next week’s 3A quarterfinals at Bryant Field. Game time has been set at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Knights won 35-14 at Stillman Valley.

As the team broke huddle, one Tiger yelled, “Elite 8, Baby!”

“That’s great. That’s what we worked so hard for all year long,” Pearson said. “I’m glad to get another opportunity to fight another battle and get another week with our kids.”

Christiansen said this was just the next step for what the Tigers hope lead them to the University of Illinois for the state finals.

“Still not to the final goal yet. We’ve got a long ways to go,” Christiansen said. “We’re going to have a tough one next week. Just got to practice hard this week and come ready to battle again.”

While the Tigers’ offense sputtered at times, it was the Princeton defense that shined. It held the Cogs to minus-2 yards of offense in the fourth quarter and 84 total yards, all on the ground, in the game.

It was one of the few times all season the Cogs’ rushing game came to a halt.

“They’re big, physical on the line,” G-K coach Cam Davekos said. “Couldn’t get a real push for them. And they secured tackles. They did their job. It just wasn’t our day today.”

“We knew Genoa was going to come in and try to establish a ground game. I thought we had a great game plan this week. I thought our kids executed really well,” Pearson added. “When you get a shutout in a second-round of the playoffs, you can’t honestly ask for more.”

There was little ground gained by either team as both team’s defenses locked in early for a scoreless battle in the first quarter.

The Tigers finally broke through early in the second quarter on a 1-yard sneak by Davis, capping a 14-play, 75-yard scoring drive with its hurry-up offense. Carlos Benavidez added the PAT to put the Tigers on top 7-0 with 10:06 to go before the half.

While the Cogs offense failed to score, their defense put two points on the board with a safety with 3:16 left in the second quarter. Expecting a direct snap from their own 14-yard line, Christiansen had to recover a high snap in the end zone and was swarmed over by G-K’s Nolan Perry for the safety.

Forced to kick the ball to the Cogs, the Tigers’ defense was called upon once again.

Pearson took a timeout to stop the clock on the Cogs’ third down play and G-K turned the ball over on downs with an incomplete pass.

The Tigers took over on their own 36 and five plays later, Davis connected on a screen pass to Noah LaPorte for a 21-yard TD strike. Princeton was stuffed on the conversion run, but took a 13-2 lead at halftime.

The G-K offense continued to not get much going in the second half, only once reaching as far as the Princeton 47. It was forced to pass in its final two possessions, resulting in six incomplete passes and two quarterback sacks.

“We knew getting them behind the sticks and forcing them to go secondary what they wanted to do was going to be a huge benefit for us,” Pearson said. “Fortunately, our defense did that and forced them to put the ball in the air, which they normally don’t do.”

After setting up Davis’ touchdown with his block, Christiansen put the finishing touches on the Tiger victory with an 8-yard touchdown with 1:25 remaining.

Princeton totaled 304 yards of offense with Christiansen leading the running game with 146 yards on 26 carries. Davis was 4-of-7 passing for 61 yards.

Christiansen said the Tigers need a short memory to get over their struggles taking care of the ball.

“We just had to move on to the next play,” Christiansen said. “What happened happened. Nothing you can do about. Just got to keep plugging away. Keep carrying the ball, keep running hard and keep running downhill. That’s how we won the game.”

The Cogs bow out at 8-3, ending a fine season with their seventh straight playoffs appearance.

“Kids played hard,” Davekos said. “Gave a dang near perfect effort, just couldn’t put it away. These kids put their blood, sweat and tears into the season and I couldn’t ask for more of them. One of the best groups that we’ve seen come through here.”

G-K/Princeton boxscore