With a note from the Princeton R-V School District saying that “there will be disappointment, but this decision was not made lightly”, the season has come to a close for the 2022 Tiger football team, as only ten players were healthy enough to play in the Tigers regular season finale at Gallatin on Friday, October 21st. Not only did that Week 9 contest end in a forfeit, but the district quarterfinal rematch between the Tigers and the Gallatin Bulldogs, slated to be played on October 28th, will also be a forfeit win for Gallatin. While Princeton’s season ends at 1-9, Gallatin, now 10-0, gets a free pass into the district semifinal round, with the Bulldogs hosting either Brookfield or Gallatin on Friday, November 4th. Gallatin was hopeful of finding an opponent to replace Princeton in the regular season finale, but those plans fell apart at the last minute.
Citing lack of numbers in the Princeton program not only in 2022, but for the near future, the Tiger program has been looking at the potential of moving into eight-man football, a move that would leave the GRC Eastern Division at seven schools, and give the Western Division an eighth football school (North Harrison and Pattonsburg co-op with Gilman City in football). However, to this point, the possibility of a move to eight-man has only been discussed by the R-V District as it pertains to 2023.
Princeton, despite lack of numbers throughout the 2022 season, played a generally competitive brand of football, and, with a one touchdown win over Polo in Week 7, broke a losing streak that had began in the 2020 season.
With Princeton’s forfeit of Week 9 and Week 10, the Tigers district is down to seven teams, with quarterfinal games on Friday, October 28th seeing South Harrison at Putnam County, Maysville at Milan, and Marceline at Brookfield.
