Kewanee’s Alex Duarte tries to evade a couple of Princeton tacklers. [Photo by Ellie Welgat of The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program]

***This article was written by William Ly, a participant of The Kewanee Voice’s Student Journalism Program, funded by the Harry Anderson Memorial Trust.

The Kewanee vs. Princeton rivalry continued Friday at KHS Stadium. For the 126th time, the Kewanee Boilermakers faced off against the Princeton Tigers, and Princeton came away with a 44-15 win. 

The Tigers opened the score with a touchdown after two minutes of play with a 26-yard run by Princeton’s Casey Ethridge. Princeton’s Ian Morris kicked in the extra point for an early 7-0 lead. 

Boiler ballcarrier Ben Taylor looks for running room. [Photo by Ra’Kiya Amos of The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program]

The Boilermakers and Tigers traded scoreless possessions until Casey Etheridge ran the ball six yards for another touchdown for the Tigers, making the score 13-0. 

The two teams went back and forth for most of the second quarter until a late field goal by Ian Morris would make the half end 16-0 in favor of the Tigers. 

The deficit meant nothing to the Boilermakers as they answered back quickly in the third quarter. At the Boilermaker 40-yard line, Colson Welgat passed the ball to Ben Taylor, who was down the field and ran it for a 60-yard touchdown.

Kailey Shaw of the color guard performs during the halftime show. [Photo by Ra’Kiya Amos of The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program]

Alex Duarte ran it in for two, making the score 16-8 in just 32 seconds of play in the second half.

Princeton would fire back with 7:05 on the clock on a run by Eli Berlin and Ian Morris would complete the extra point making the score 23-8. 

Shortly after that, the Boilermakers fired back with a touchdown of their own. Alex Duarte ran the ball in, and Colson Welgat kicked the extra point ending the third quarter at 23-15.

Kewanee quarterback Colson Welgat looks for a receiver. [Photo by Owen Laue of the Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program]

In the fourth quarter, the Tigers scored three more touchdowns, ending the game 44-15.

The Boilermakers will face the Hall Red Devils next week in Spring Valley.

GAME STATS:

The Tigers finished with 290 rushing yards. Most of them came from Casey Etheridge with 192 and Ace Christiansen with 96 yards.

Princeton’s William Lott completed 7 of 16 passes for 48 yards.

Tiger touchdowns came from Casey Etheridge (4), Eli Berlin (1), and Ian Morris (1)

The Boilermakers had 134 rushing yards in total, with Colson Welgat leading with 43 yards and Waylan Lambert (41 yards) and Alex Duarte (32 yards) following.

Colson Welgat completed 7 of 23 passes for 136 yards. 

Boilermakers touchdowns were scored by Ben Taylor (1) and Alex Duarte (1).