The Monmouth-Roseville Titans football team returned to Coach Dobry Field on Saturday evening to compete in round 2 of the class 3A IHSA Playoffs. After knocking off North Boone in round 1, the Titans would welcome in Three Rivers Conference rival Princeton. Looking for revenge against the Tigers, Monmouth-Roseville would end up falling short, falling to Princeton by a final score of 35-0.
Princeton would open the game with the ball after the Titans differed to the second half. Feeding off the energy of a packed crowd at Sunny Lane, the Titans defense racked up two sacks from Nick Huston and James Blackman to force the Tigers to punt from their own endzone on their first drive. Starting inside the 30 on their ensuing offensive drive, Monmouth-Roseville was unable to come away with points as Myers’ 4th down pass attempt fell incomplete to turn the ball over on downs. The very next play for the Princeton offense would turn into a touchdown, as sophomore running back Casey Etheridge took the ball 72 yards to the endzone to put the Tigers on the board (successful 2 pt conversion, Princeton leads 8-0). Monmouth-Roseville’s second offensive drive of the game would end near midfield, as a miscommunication on a handoff would lead to the second turnover of the game for M-R, giving the ball back to Princeton inside Titans territory. Looking to add on to their lead inside the Titans 10 yard line, the Tigers would cough the ball up, and the fumble was recovered by sophomore Landyn Angelo to give the ball back to the Titans offense. The first quarter would end with Monmouth-Roseville punting the ball back to Princeton after a three and out.
Inside Monmouth-Roseville territory to begin the 2nd quarter, Princeton would eventually extend their lead with another touchdown from Etheridge, this time from 4 yards out to put the Tigers up 15-0. On the ensuing kickoff, Princeton would catch the Titans sleeping on a surprise onside kick, giving the ball back to their offense, leading to the third score of the night from Etheridge. (Successful PAT, 22-0 lead for Princeton). At the halfway point in the 2nd quarter needing a score, the Titans put together a nice drive inside the Tigers red zone, however they were unable to come away with points after an incomplete pass on 4th down. Princeton would take their 22-0 lead into the halftime break. After receiving the second half kickoff, the Titans would put together a long sustaining drive that took almost the entirety of the third quarter. On the heels of a big 4th down and 4 conversion, as well as a personal foul by the Princeton defense, the Titans would have the ball on the Tigers 8 yard line facing a 4th down. Monmouth-Roseville ended up just short of the first down marker, and would fail to come away with points after the 9 minute offensive drive. To end the 3rd quarter of play, Princeton advanced the ball to the 22 yard line facing a third down.
In the final quarter of action, Princeton added on to their lead after a big pass play from quarterback William Lotte to Noah LaPorte led to a 1 yard rushing touchdown from Preston Arkels. A nice return from junior back Payton Thompson put the Titans up near midfield as they searched for their first score of the game, however their drive would end inside Princeton territory, as the Tigers offense would take the field once again with 5 minutes to play. The Titans and Tigers would trade turnovers on their next two drives, before Princeton punched in the final score of the game on a 1 yard touchdown from Ace Christiensen. After the Titans ran the final 1 minute of the clock away, Princeton would come away with the 35-0 win.
In the stat book for the Titans, the ground game led the way with senior Tyler Finnicum rushing for 93 yards, Andy Myers adding 42 on the ground, while Payton Thompson rushed for 36 yards. Monmouth-Roseville ends their season with a 6-5 mark overall, with all 5 losses coming to teams who had just 1 regular season defeat. The Titans will take part in a new look Three Rivers football conference next year, as they are in the Large School Division of the TRAC, taking on their new division opponents in Mendota, Spring Valley Hall, Princeton, and Kewanee, as well as an old division opponent in Sherrard.
For the replay of WMOI radio broadcast of the game, click HERE
