Copyright Shaw Local Enewspapers
You can call it Casey’s Last Stand. Princeton senior Casey Etheridge went out with a bang, breaking off a 54-yard romp late in the fourth quarter of last Saturday’s playoff loss to Bloomington Central Catholic. On the next play, the last time he had the ball in his hands as a Princeton Tiger, Etheridge scored on a 14-yard touchdown. “That was by design. I wanted to give him one last touchdown,” Tigers coach Ryan Pearson said. “Gavin (Lanham) had one earlier in the game, our other senior back, and I really wanted to get our other two seniors in the end zone in one shape or form. And I’m glad we got Casey that last touchdown and then when went for 2 we had the play to get it to Ryan Jagers. “That was really important to me to get those three seniors in the end zone.” Etheridge was appreciative of the moment. “That meant a lot to me that coach Pearson was thinking of that,” Etheridge said. “But at the end of the day, I would have taken a win over a touchdown.” Etheridge finishes his season with 1,519 yards and 22 TDs rushing. He stands as one of the best running backs in state history, ranked 18th in yards at 5,345 and 17th in touchdowns with 79. The player ahead of him for career rushing is Pierre Thomas of Thorton Fractional South, who tallied 5,522 yards from 2000-02. He went on to rush for 3,809 yards in the NFL and was a starter for the New Orleans Saints when they won the 2010 Super Bowl. ‘It was a team win’ Bloomington Central Catholic senior Valshun Powe was the star of the game, scoring all six of the Saints’ touchdowns, including a 70-yarder on the first play of the day. After the game, he was playfully lifting an uncle off the ground as family members gathered around him to celebrate the Saints’ win. When it was suggested he had put his team on his back, he didn’t want to hear anything of it. “It was a team win. I don’t want to say I put anybody on my back,” he said. “My line fought for me the same way I fought for them. The D line fought. It was a team win.” Powe, who had played quarterback for the Saints before moving to tailback this year, took all of his plays via a direct snap from center. He’ll be taking his talents to the crosstown Illinois State University Redbirds next season, recruited as an “athlete,” he said. “I’m going to be an athlete. Do what they need to me. I’ll be there to play ball,” he said. Defensive hit One of the few times the Tigers were able to corral the explosive Powe, senior lineman Grady Cox hit the Saints’ star from behind on a 20-yard gainer, jarring the ball loose. Teammate Common Green recovered the ball for the Tigers. “I truly felt you play a team as good as BCC is, you have to try to create some turnovers,” Pearson said. “At that point, I think it was a 7-6 game. What a great play by Grady to force the strip fumble and another senior, Common Green, came in and recovered it. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to capitalize on that.” Rare first-round loss for Pearson You’ll have to forgive Pearson for feeling lost this coming week. This was his first, first-round playoff loss in 22 chances as a coach, including his stints as head coach at Gilman Iroquois West, Canton and Princeton as well as an assistant. “And it has to be my son’s senior year. It just stinks,” he said. “This is the first one in the wrong column.” Joe Ryan: ‘It’s been a good ride’ Sycamore coach Joe Ryan had his own senior night moment when he coached his last game Saturday with Sycamore’s 42-14 loss to Cary-Grove in a Class 5A playoffs opener. “It’s been a good ride, a good ride,” he said. “It’s never been about me. It’s always been about our program and the kids. So, I’m just going out with the seniors. I got the same emotions as seniors. I don’t get to do it again and they’re not going to get to do it again.” Ryan coached at Princeton from 1995-2003. Despite losing his first 15 games, he left as the winningest coach in program history with a 44-43 record. He led the Tigers to three 4A playoff appearances in six classes, including a semifinal berth in 2002. Two years later, Ryan departed for Sycamore, where despite their limited playoff success with one win in three appearances over the previous 17 years, he said he saw a lot of potential for growth. Ryan led that Sycamore revival, leading the Spartans to 16 playoff appearances in 21 years. They made four trips to the state semifinals, going 25-16. Clippers ready to hit the road For the second year in a row, Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio will make the 356-mile, more than 5-hour round trip to Pawnee for an Illinois 8-Man Football Association playoff game. The Clippers (9-1) will take on the Indians (9-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday. Amboy advanced with a 68-8 rout of Milford-Cissna Park, while Pawnee beat Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland 42-30 in the first round. The Amboy co-op beat Pawnee 52-8 in the semifinals last season and traveled to Pawnee for a Week 0 scrimmage this year. “We’re used to traveling,” Amboy coach Scott Payne said. “We traveled all the way to Martinsville. We traveled down to Milford a few times. We’ll probably get a charter bus so the kids are comfortable. Our kids are used to it. It’s just part of the game. “It makes the playoffs more exciting when you get to travel to places you normally don’t get to. It’s going to be an exciting game.” Not worried about the seed The Clippers are the two-time defending 8-Man state champions but entered the postseason as the 8-1 No. 5 seed. Seeding is done by formula with the 9-0 teams seeded highest followed by 8-1 teams ranked in order of playoff points, which is the total number of wins by opponent. Payne said the Clippers aren’t concerned about seed. “I don’t ever really look ahead to the playoffs until the pairings come out, but my assistant coaches do and they said we’re probably going to be a 5 or 6 seed,” Payne said. “With all the good teams this year, with four or five 8-1 teams and two undefeated teams, that pushes us down. I tell the kids before the playoffs every year, once you get in, the records don’t matter and the number in front of the school name doesn’t matter. You still have to go out there and play the game.”
