Gallery by Greg Barnett
Princeton – In a Class AAA quarterfinal game where Princeton and Parkersburg combined for 874 yards of total offense a pair of defensive stops made the difference.
Sophomore Kalum Kiser strip-sacked Parkersburg QB David Parsons with under two minutes to play Friday and Mikey DiGiacomo recovered the loose ball, preserving a 41-37 Princeton victory in a downpour at Hunnicutt Stadium.
With the win Princeton advances to the Class AAA semifinals for the first time in school history and will host No. 8 Bridgeport, which upset No. 1 Cabell Midland Friday, next week at time and date to be determined.
The final defensive stop came after Kiser pressured and nearly sacked Parsons on the previous drive, forcing an incompletion on fourth-and-goal from the 8 with 3:12 left in the game.
“My first half – terrible and I won’t lie about it,” Kiser said. “But as I went on I knew it had to be in the back of my mind. On the huge fourth down play I knew it had to be me. I made the stop by a shoestring but I made the stop. On the last play I knew (Parsons) wasn’t expecting it so I came around and pushed the ball out and the rest is history.”
While the 403 yard of total offense would indicate otherwise, the Tiger defense came up with stops when they needed them most throughout the evening with the hosts overcoming two-score deficits twice, including an 11-point one in the fourth quarter.
The first came with Parkersburg up 13-7, looking for more after a punt block that set it up at the Princeton 9. The Tigers held them to a field goal that stretched the lead to nine points but answered when QB Chance Barker scrambled to his left for 17 yards and a score on the following drive. Princeton’s defense forced its first three-and-out of the game with under four to play, a key turn with the Big Reds getting the ball out of the break.
The stop translated to the opposite side of the ball as Princeton marched 91 yards in nine plays, taking a 21-16 lead, one it took into the half, on a 7-yard rushing score from Dom Collins.
The teams traded scores in the first three minutes of the second half with Parkersburg scoring on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Parsons to Casey Stanley and Princeton answering when Collins returned the ensuing kickoff from Stanley 100 yards for another score.
A pair of Parkersburg touchdowns later – one coming after the Tigers stopped the Big Reds on third down but allowed them to convert on a busted field goal attempt – saw the hosts in a 37-28 deficit with 11:48 to play. But the belief never disappeared.
“We knew that they were going to be able to move the ball up and down the field, but we had to make plays and we needed to make plays,” Princeton head coach Keith Taylor said. “Hats off to our to our kids man because they really bought in at times that we really needed them and they had every opportunity to quit tonight. They really did. You know we get down here and they block a punt early, we could easily gave up a touchdown there and go down. Instead we hold them to a field goal and keep a little momentum. But our guys fought through adversity they fought through and they got through it and what you know what happens when you do that? Good things happen.
“I think our kids, they believe in one another they never truly think that they’re out of a game. And that’s something that we’ve tried to instill in these guys for years. Coach (Chris) Pedigo did a good job doing it. And you know, I’m just trying to carry on that tradition that no matter what’s going on in game we always got to believe we’re in it and tonight our defense did it. We had to have a defensive stop.”
The Tigers first had to answer on offense and did so in just over two minutes when Barker hit DiGiacomo in the slot for an 8-yard score with 9:40 left. An onside kick was recovered by Princeton but the drive ended in a fourth-down incompletion in Parkersburg territory.
Princeton’s defense then came up with the first of three consecutive stops, forcing a punt that gave Princeton life, down 37-35. It took the Tigers just two-and-a-half minutes to score again with Barker connecting with his other slot receiver Wyatt Cline on a 30-yard pass for the deciding score.
“I think Wyatt and Mikey stepped up,” Taylor said. “Wyatt hasn’t been getting a lot of balls this year but he’s blocked well and he blocked phenomenal tonight. He was putting dudes on their backs and I think he might have had as many pancakes as a couple of linemen so I was really impressed with that more than the touchdowns.
“Mikey’s been doing a great job coming in on slot and then Barker was able to find them. I really believe that we needed everybody to be able to buy in tonight and do the things that we could to be able to score and listen, they shut down our offense for a little bit. There were times where offense wasn’t just going down and scoring and they took away the big play. They made us play to move the chains so hats off to them, but we made more plays than they did and I think that it’s just a big thing for our team to be able to finally get over that hump and get out of the second round.”
Following a penalty that moved the kickoff up 15 yards, Princeton rolled the dice again with an onside kick with 4:57 to play but it was nearly returned for a score, stopped only by a late tackle made by Collins at the Princeton 9.
Picking up just two yards on the first two plays, Parsons was nearly intercepted on the third-down pass but pressure from Kiser off the right edge forced an incompletion on fourth down.
“They made a play and our kids left it out there trying to make a play,” Parkersburg head coach Matt Kimes said. “Those are two good football teams and it sucks somebody had to lose tonight. They made a couple more plays than we did tonight and they’re good. They’re really good. Our guys are warriors. How many times could we have folded up and said we’re done? But we didn’t and we kept fighting.”
Attempting to run out the clock with 3:12 left, the Tigers marched 66 yards with runs of 44 and 18 yards from Marquel Lowe before eventually turning the ball over on downs at the Parkersburg 26 with 1:55 left. It took two plays for Kiser to seal the deal.
“I call a stupid play where we kick an onside kick and the kid almost houses it,” Taylor said. “It actually helped us out a little bit because it pushed them down and they didn’t have enough space to really operate. So that was good. I’ll take the credit and, you know, blame of stupidity for the play, but we stopped them there. We think our offense can go down score and we had a tough catch to catch. It’s a great call by coach Belcher. I thought it was a really good call, but then it puts it back in our defense’s hands and it gave them life. Kalum Kiser just did more than the other guy and he was able to be aware enough to make a tackle, strip that ball and finally, finally we got on the fumble. We usually don’t get on it. There’s been so many times a ball has been on the ground and we’ve never gotten them. But thankfully, the good Lord gave it to us when we won the night.”
Barker, who completed 20 of 26 passes in the monsoon, threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns, connecting with Collins nine times for 125 yards. Collins added a touchdown each as a rusher and on special teams.
Marquel Lowe finished with 166 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.
Parsons completed 13 passes for 223 yards and three scores in the loss.
