Start of a new rivalry for Moore, and the end for Hall's Vicini
PRINCETON — Dave Moore has seen a lot of big rivalry games in his football career dating back to high school days playing for Andy Bertram at Dunlap.
The Dunlap Eagles’ big rival was neighboring Princeville, a rivalry Moore’s hometown Eagles have since outgrown with a population explosion.
At Manlius/Tampico, where he coached alongside his future father-in-law, Ken Bourquin, it was Annawan whom the Red Warriors had circled on their calendar each year.
And at his last stop at Bureau Valley, the Storm always had their share of battles with Sterling Newman and Amboy.
For the first time, the first-year Princeton head coach will taste a part of the Princeton-Hall rivalry in the heart of Bureau County.
Moore says rivalries are good for football.
“Usually, if one team is better than the other, it’s still a pretty good game, just because of that rivalry,” he said. “You play with a lot of heart and lot of emotion. You don’t want the other side to get ahead of you.”
This will mark the 25th and final Princeton game for Hall coach Gary Vicini, who is retiring at the end of the school. But he says there are far more important issues at stake than his retirement plans.
“This is not about me and Princeton. It’s Hall and Princeton,” he said. “We’ve got to win out. I told the kids this is their season. This season’s about them and doing the best they can. We’re trying as coaches to do our best to win out to go 6-3 and go to the playoffs, try to finish 3-2 in the conference.”
Though a conference championship has passed them by, including Hall after last week’s 28-20 loss at Mendota, both teams have a lot to play for. Hall (3-3) needs to win two games, if not three, to make the playoffs, and Princeton (2-4) needs a win to get closer to .500. A loss could keep both from a winning season.
“Gary’s a heckuva a coach. You know they’re going to be well prepared,” Moore said. “They’re going to run the football just like they’re always going to, and you’ve got to try to stop that. I thought they moved the ball well against Mendota. Without a couple of fumbles, they could have won that game.”
Running the football is something the Tigers finally achieved last week, in their sixth game of the season. Junior halfback Drew Compton had a minus 10 yards in the first half against Kewanee, then exploded for 139 yards and two touchdowns in the second half as Moore turned to the Power I formation.
“Drew had something to be proud of. He did a good job,” he said. “I thought everyone did a nice job. If he didn’t have a hole there, he’s not going to get any yards, inside.”
It was all the difference in another loss and their second win of the season. Moore said being so one-dimensional, as the Tigers had been with the strong arm of quarterback Brik Wedekind, was not a good thing.
“Hopefully, we can get everything going and give the Red Devils a run for the money,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll have a few wrinkles for the Red Devils. ... We have to eliminate stupid mistakes and have a chance to be in the ballgame at the end.”
And though the Tigers took big strides in the second half last week, Moore said they have to “make sure we’re improving each game.”
The Red Devils staff took note of Princeton’s running attack last week and will come prepared. The Hall defense held Mendota all-state candidate Kurtis Knapp to nearly 100 yards until he busted a 44-yard TD romp late in the fourth quarter.
“They ran the Power I with the Compton kid carrying the ball, mainly, though I’m sure they can run it to the fullback,” Vicini said. “He went inside and outside. That’s part of their offense. I think he ran (the Power I) a little bit against Rock Falls, but didn’t stay with it very long. We know there’s more parts of the Power I offense, especially if we’re able to shut it down or control it.”
Hall dropped its two conference games by a total of nine points, one to IVC and eight to Mendota. They were both games, Vicini said, that could have gone either way.
“Good teams make their own breaks. Right now, we’re not good enough to make our own breaks,” he said.
The Red Devils coach said the Hall offensive line has really come together and are blocking well upfront. That kind of blocking spells well for Hall’s backfield of fullback Nathan Tucker, halfback Austin Pozzi, wingback Chris Somagyi and quarterback Michael Swingel, who, Vicini said, added a “new dimension running veer outside.”
