By NICK VLAHOS
For The Weekly Post
PRINCEVILLE – From the beginning, Princeville dominated visiting Havana in a 54-7 LincolnLand small-division football opener Aug. 29.
Princeville led 20-0 after the first 12 minutes. Overall, Princeville senior Kaiden Sarnes was 6-for-9 for 82 yards passing and ran for 61 yards in his first game as a starting quarterback. Senior Noah Geiger ran for 123 yards and four touchdowns.
Eli Christianson, Oliver Melick and Sarnes also ran for scores. Offensive linemen Cayden Allen, Wyatt Giffin, Owen Harmon, Collin Lowery and Bradin Senn helped give them room to run; the Princes amassed 323 rushing yards. The Princes’ defense held the Ducks to only 81 yards of total offense.
“We really shut down the rushing game, and that’s what we were preaching on,” Princeville Coach Jon Carruthers said.
All in all, it was the opposite of a 28-27 squeaker Princeville won last season against Havana, thanks to a last-second safety. And it might have given Carruthers a glimpse of how promising this season can be.
“I really didn’t expect the game to go like that,” he said. “I thought it was going to be a nailbiter like the year before. We definitely weren’t overlooking them.”
Princeville had a 13-play opening drive, capped by Geiger’s 2-yard scoring run midway through the first quarter. The drive was as close to perfect as Carruthers could have envisioned.
“I can’t remember the first time we put a drive like that together on our first possession of the season,” he said. “Usually there’s a false start or a holding call or something that sets you back. But it was a really great drive to start out with and set the tone for the game. … It was really workmanlike.”
Things got a little tense in the second quarter, however. After the Ducks scored to make it 20-7, the Princes fumbled. But Jett Benningfield intercepted a pass as Havana was driving. With 52 seconds to play, Geiger scored from 17 yards to put Princeville out of danger for good.
“I think every coach really hates Week 1, because you don’t know what the other team’s going to do,” Carruthers said. “You can focus on what they did last year, but you really have to widen your scope and be ready for about anything. We tried to keep it as simple as we could.”
Princeville plays Friday at South Fulton.
ROWVA-Williamsfield 20
Monmouth United 12
MONMOUTH – The ROWVA-Williamsfield youth movement dovetailed with some upperclass leadership to give the Cougars a LincolnLand-small victory.
A couple of sophomores, Jaden Koepp and Parker Tamburro, helped R-W lead 12-6 at intermission. Koepp ran for the game’s first touchdown. Kellen Boone’s scoring pass to Koen Sperry tied it for United, but Tamburro returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards to give R-W a lasting lead.
Drake DeJaynes took over for R-W in the second half. The senior scored in the third quarter and also made two key fourth-down conversions, according to R-W Coach Grant Gullstrand. Overall, DeJaynes passed for 100 yards and ran for 43.
“His legs kind of sealed it there at the end,” Gullstrand said. “Obviously, when you’ve got young guys, it’s kind of good to get off to a good start. Just the psyche of the team, to be 1-0 versus 0-1, hopefully goes a long way.”
Gullstrand believes it’s a long way from how R-W played this summer in a scrimmage against Orion.
“We were pretty bad, and the kids knew it,” the coach said. “The kids kind of looked a little overwhelmed at the speed of the game. I’m proud of how much better they’ve gotten and am optimistic to see how the team could grow.”
On defense, DeJaynes had seven solo tackles. So did Jose Estrada, and fellow sophomore Nolan Sornberger had six.
“We could have a deep team, even though they are young,” Gullstrand said. “That means the juniors and seniors we’re kind of relying on to be leaders for those guys are doing their job helping them realize that the moment wasn’t too big for them.”
R-W faces a big moment Friday night at Rushville-Industry, one of the league favorites. Senior lineman Henry Powers, who had surgery on both labrums, might be cleared medically to play then, Gullstrand said.
