Princeton Playoff Game
Princeton Rallies To Beat Big Reds 41-37
Game Statistics
PRINCETON – Fifth-ranked Princeton came from nine points down in the final quarter to end another upset bid by 13th-ranked Parkersburg here Friday night at a rainy Hunnicut Field in the Class AAA playoff quarterfinals as the Tigers pulled out a 41-37 victory.
The win for the 11-1 Tigers advanced them into next week’s semifinals against Bridgeport, which upset number one ranked Cabell Midland 41-21. Princeton will host the game at a date and time to be determined Sunday.
The PHS versus PHS game figured to be a shootout and it was just that as everyone expected the game to come down to whomever had the last possession and it nearly had that ending.
After giving up the lead on a 30-yard pass from Chance Barker to Wyatt Cline with 4:57 remaining, Parkersburg actually had two last chances but could not capitalize on either.
Following the go-ahead score and a personal foul penalty that allowed the home team to kickoff from the visitors 45, the Tigers tried their second onside kick but Eli Bauman grabbed the ball in the air and returned it 54 yards to the Princeton nine yard line.
But two runs and two incomplete passes netted just one yard and Parkersburg turned the ball over with 3:12 left to play. The Tigers got out of the shadow of their own goal posts with a 44 yard run by Marquel Lowe on the very next play. Lowe, who ran for 170 yards on 22 carries, picked up 18 yards on the following play to take the ball to the Big Reds’ 30 yard line.
The Parkersburg defense was able to hold the Tigers on downs and take the ball over on its own 27 with 1:55 left to play but no timeouts remaining. A pass from David Parsons to Jason Williams netted six yards but on the next play Parsons scrambled but lost the ball with Princeton recovering on the visitors 37 yard line and the Tigers were able to runout the last 1:39 to secure the victory.
The game saw 11 touchdowns, a field goal and nearly 900 yards in total offense, 451 by Princeton and 405 by Parkersburg.
The difference in the contest was 212 yards in kickoff returns, including a 99-yard run back by Dominick Collins for Princeton.
Collins also scored on a seven yard run and caught nine passes for 124 yards for the winners while quarterback Chance Barker completed 20 of 26 passes for 241 yards and the final two touchdowns of the game.
Princeton started the game in a hurry as Collins returned the opening kickoff 56 yards and three plays later Lowe ran in from 13 yards out for a 7-0 lead.
Parkersburg immediately answered with a six-play, 60-yard drive that started with a 32 yard completion to Anthony Ice and ended when Williams ran in from the one with 7:17 left in the first period.
The Big Reds took the lead on the second play of the second quarter on a 12 yard pass from Parsons to Andrew Stalnaker to cap a 12-play, 91-yard drive as the visitors were able to overcome a holding penalty which wiped out an apparent 39 yard scoring pass to Ice. Casey Stanley’s extra point kick hit the upright and bounced away to make the score 13-7.
On the next series, Parkersburg held and forced a punt which was blocked by Zane Lewis with the Big Reds taking over on the nine yard line. This time the visitors had to settle for a 26 yard field goal by Stanley to up the margin to 16-7.
Princeton answered with an 80-yard drive that was capped by a 17 yard scoring run by Barker, who went back to pass the decided to run when he found an open field ahead of him.
After forcing a Big Red punt the Tigers went 92 yards in nine plays with Collins scoring on an end-around play. The extra point kick gave the home team a 21-16 advantage.
Parkersburg got the ball to start the second half and promptly went 67 yards in just five plays with Parsons hitting Stanley over the middle at the five yard line and the senior end stretched out to reach the end zone to complete the 36 yard play and then kicked the extra point for a 23-21 lead.
But that lead didn’t last long as the speedy Collins returning the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and a 28-23 lead.
Again Parkersburg answered with a 12-play, 71-yard drive to regain the advantage on a 21 yard scoring pass to Ice, who made the reception in a crowd with 5:41 left in the third period. Stanley’s kick made it 30-28.
After forcing a punt, the Big Reds went up by nine points by engineering a 71-yard, eight-play drive with Williams setting up the touchdown with a 28 yard run. Sylas Cheuvront got the TD over left guard just 12 seconds into the final period. Stanley’s kick made it 37-28.
Princeton responded with a two-point scoring drive highlighted by passes of 13 and 26 yards to Collins which set up the eight yard TD toss to Michael Diacomo. The extra point kick made it a two-point game, 37-35, with 9:40 left to play.
The Tigers then tried an onside kick and successfully recovered the ball on the Big Reds’ 44 yard line. Although the Big Reds held on downs at their own 41, Parkersburg had to punt four plays later and Princeton had the ball with 7:24 left on their own 33.
The running of Lowe and passing of Barker took the ball to the 30 and Princeton went ahead for good by four points on the pass to Cline and ensuing PAT kick with 4:57 remaining.
Following the big return by Bauman to the Tigers’ nine yard line and Parkersburg offense failed to capitalize and the big runs by Lowe all but sewed up the victory thanks to the fumble with 1:55 remaining.
#13 Parkersburg vs #5 Princeton (Nov 17, 2023 at Princeton)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 - Total
Parkersburg 7 9 14 7 - 37
Princeton 7 14 7 13 - 41
Qtr Time Scoring play
1st 10:38 TIGERS - Marquel Lowe 13 yd run (Saeed Aboulhosn kick), 3-41 1:22
07:17 BIGREDS - Jason Williams 1 yd run (Casey Stanley kick), 6-60 3:15
2nd 11:49 BIGREDS - Andrew Stalnaker 12 yd pass from David Parsons (Casey Stanley kick failed), 12-91 3:33
08:37 BIGREDS - Casey Stanley 26 yd field goal, 4-0 1:53
04:59 TIGERS - Chance Barker 17 yd run (Saeed Aboulhosn kick), 8-80 3:38
00:44 TIGERS - Dominick Collins 7 yd run (Saeed Aboulhosn kick), 9-92 3:06
3rd 09:40 BIGREDS - Casey Stanley 36 yd pass from David Parsons (Casey Stanley kick), 5-67 2:16
09:20 TIGERS - Dominick Collins 99 yd kickoff return (Saeed Aboulhosn kick)
05:41 BIGREDS - Anthony Ice 21 yd pass from David Parsons (Casey Stanley kick), 12-71 3:37
4th 11:48 BIGREDS - Sylas Cheuvront 4 yd run (Casey Stanley kick), 8-71 3:18
09:40 TIGERS - Michael Diacomo 8 yd pass from Chance Barker (Saeed Aboulhosn kick), 6-68 2:01
04:57 TIGERS - Wyatt Cline 30 yd pass from Chance Barker (Chance Barker rush failed), 5-67 2:27
.....................................................BIGREDS TIGERS
FIRST DOWNS 19 22
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 31-175 33-210
PASSING YDS (NET) 230 241
Passes Att-Comp-Int 30-14-0 26-20-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 61-405 59-451
Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards 2-17 0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards 6-92 4-212
Interception Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg) 3-47.3 3-23.0
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 8-60 4-28
Possession Time 22:54 23:27
Third-Down Conversions 5 of 12 4 of 10
Fourth-Down Conversions 2 of 3 0 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances 5-6 4-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards 2-3 0-0
RUSHING: Parkersburg-Jason Williams 16-87; David Parsons 10-61; Sylas Cheuvront 4-29; Anthony Ice 1-minus 2. Princeton-Marquel Lowe 22-170; Chance Barker 10-33; Dominick Collins 1-7.
PASSING: Parkersburg-David Parsons 13-29-0-223; Cooper Cancade 1-1-0-7. Princeton-Chance Barker 20-26-0-241.
RECEIVING: Parkersburg-Anthony Ice 4-76; Casey Stanley 3-72; Matthew Stalnaker 3-40; Andrew Stalnaker 2-24; Braxton Kupfner 1-12; Jason Williams 1-6. Princeton-Dominick Collins 9-124; Michael
Diacomo 4-54; Wyatt Cline 3-52; Bradley Mosser 2-12; Marquel Lowe 2-minus 1.
INTERCEPTIONS: Parkersburg-None. Princeton-None.
FUMBLES: Parkersburg-Jason Williams 1-0; David Parsons 1-1. Princeton-None.
Parkersburg (7-5) vs. Princeton (11-1)
Date: Nov 17, 2023 • Site: Princeton • Stadium: Hunnicut
Attendance: 1500
Kickoff time: 7:30 • End of Game: 10:23 • Total elapsed time: 2:53
