MENDOTA - Tigers were on the loose in Mendota, but the only harm they did was to the Trojan football team.
It was the Princeton Tigers that roamed the MHS football field and inflicted their damage on the Trojans to the tune of a 57-14 victory over Mendota in a Three Rivers Conference Mississippi Division football game on Oct. 11.
Mendota remained winless on the season at 0-7 overall and finished the conference slate at 0-5, while Princeton moved to 6-1 overall and ended at 4-1 in league games.
The Tigers showed their dominance from the start, turning a recovery of a Mendota fumble into a touchdown on their way to a three-touchdown first quarter. Princeton added two more trips to the end zone in the second period to take a 35-0 halftime lead, and then went over the 40-point mark less than two minutes into the second half to start the running clock.
While the Trojans ran 62 offensive plays to 36 for Princeton, the Trojans weren’t nearly as efficient with their time possessing the ball. Mendota controlled the football for more than 37 minutes of the 48-minute game. But the Tigers’ quick-strike offense faced only one third down and no fourth downs the entire contest.
The Tigers finished with 384 total yards compared to 227 for Mendota, many of which came in the fourth quarter when the outcome of the game was already decided.
Mendota accepted the game’s opening kick and moved the ball from its own 19-yard line to the Princeton 31, but the drive ended in disaster when a Tiger defender pounced on a Trojan fumble at the 31. From there, it took Princeton just five plays and a little over a minute to go 69 yards for a score when William Lott connected with Noah LaPorte on a 20-yard touchdown pass. Ian Morris added the PAT kick.
Punts on Mendota’s next two possessions were turned into Princeton touchdowns and it needed just two plays in each drive to get back into the end zone. A two-play, 40-yard drive ended with a 37-yard TD pass from Lott to LaPorte and then a two-play, 62-yard march was finalized by a 21-yard dart to paydirt by Ace Christiansen with under a minute left in the first quarter. Morris tacked on two more extra-point kicks to make it 21-0.
The second quarter started with another Mendota punt from its own 32 that resulted in just a 1-yard difference. Starting from the Trojan 33, the Tigers completed a 32-yard pass from Lott to LaPorte to the Mendota 1-yard line, where Casey Etheridge finished off the short drive with a 1-yard TD plunge. Morris kicked the extra point.
The Trojan offense stalled once again on their ensuing possession, but this time Mendota’s punt back to Princeton traveled 57 yards and pinned the Tigers at their own 9-yard line. But that didn’t deter Princeton from adding to its lead when Christiansen capped off a five-play, 91-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, followed by a Morris kick to make it 35-0.
The half ended with interceptions by both squads. Christiansen swiped an Aden Tillman aerial, but Mendota’s Rhett Watson returned the favor when he picked off a Lott pass to end another Princeton scoring threat.
Etheridge did the honors on two Princeton scoring drives in the third quarter, reaching the end zone from 27 and 18 yards out. He also tallied on a two-point conversion and Morris added another successful PAT kick.
Mendota avoided the shutout with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. An 80-yard drive by the Trojans ended with a 13-yard TD pass from Tillman to Joe Stewart early in the fourth frame. Angil Serrano’s extra-point kick was good.
On the ensuing kickoff, Princeton finalized its scoring when Kaydin Gibson returned the kick 86 yards for touchdown. Morris completed a perfect night of kicking with the PAT.
A 36-yard dash to the end zone by Braiden Freeman was the final play of a 70-yard journey by the Trojans with under four minutes to play. Ethan Escatel booted the extra point.
Mendota had 141 yards rushing led by Corbin Furar with 57 yards in 18 attempts. Tillman completed seven passes for 86 yards with Freeman grabbing four passes for 45 yards. Etheridge paced the Tigers with 166 yards rushing in 11 totes.
