Princeton senior running back Casey Etheridge set the all-time Bureau County rushing record Friday night at Nesti Stadium at Hall High School.

According to BCR research, Etheridge needed 86 yards to overtake former Tiger standout Ronde Worrels.

With 223 yards on 23 carries Friday, Etheridge passed up Worrels (4,387) as the No. 1 all-time rusher in Bureau County with 4,524 yards.

Etheridge was quick to point out the support.

“I feel like at the end of the day, my name’s the only one that goes in the record books, but there needs to be the recognition for the people who have blocked for me and put in all the hard work, our coaches who put a great game plan in and all my fans and parents, who have believed in me,” Etheridge said. “They have always believed in me. Having a great support system makes it easy for me.”

Etheridge named more than a dozen players who have blocked for him over the past three years to make the record possible.

“There’s so many that it’s so wrong for people to say it’s my record,” Etheridge said.

Rounding out the top five of Bureau County rushing leaders are the late Todd Maynard (2001-03) at 4,001 of Bureau Valley, Tiskilwa’s Doug Compton (1980-82) at 3,291 and Hall’s Mac Resetich (2019-22) at 3,290.

Etheridge didn’t want to draw any attention to himself, waiting for the field to clear for a family photo op with a sign stating his new record.

REDCLIFF DEBUTS AT QB

Hall senior Aiden Redcliff had not taken any snaps at quarterback for the Red Devils this fall.

But when Hall starting quarterback Dylan Glynn went down with a knee injury late in the first quarter of Friday’s game with rival Princeton, Redcliff found himself behind center.

“I saw Dylan go down and it sucked, but my first thought was, ‘Who’s going to play QB?” he said. “Our coach said it’s going to be either me or Braden (Curran), and he chose me. Said we had to make it work.”

Redcliff did well in a pinch, taking direct snaps lined up alongside Johnathon Stunkel. Redcliff rushed for 183 yards on 25 attempts and his second touchdown of the night, his first as the quarterback, put the Red Devils in position to tie the game early in the fourth quarter.

He completed 1 of 9 pass attempts for 7 yards with one interception.

“I’m proud of how we played, yeah, but I’m sad we didn’t win,” Redcliff said. “It sucks. We tried our best. We left it all on the field.”

SPECIAL TEAMS STANDOUT

Mendota sophomore Ethan Escatel came up big on special teams for the Trojans in their 45-13 win over Kewanee on Friday.

Escatel gave Mendota momentum just before halftime with a 39-yard field goal at the horn for a 17-13 halftime lead.

“In good conditions, he can get to 40, and we were right there at 44,” Mendota coach Jim Eustice said. “We thought, let’s try. They jumped [offsides] and gave us that extra 5 yards, and he hit it. It hit the crossbar and bounced through. I’m happy for him.”

Escatel also made all six of his extra point attempts and booted a 39-yard punt that pinned the Boilermakers at the 3-yard line. Kewanee fumbled on its first play of the drive to give the Trojans the ball on the Boilermaker 7, and Mendota scored on a 7-yard run by Corbin Furar.

“We put that rugby-style punt in a couple weeks ago after we had one blocked at Monmouth and he’s really taken to that,” Eustice said. “He’s doing the end over end, and he’s getting it to roll. That was beautiful there.

“He was 6 for 6 on extra points, and his kickoffs were great all night, too. We’re directionally kicking. He’s pretty much doing what we want him to do.”

‘FAR FROM PERFECT GAME, BUT WE EXECUTED WELL’

Fieldcrest earned its first win of the season on Saturday, cruising to a 48-0 win over Walther Christian in a nonconference game to snap a 10-game losing streak.

“It was great for the guys to see their hard work pay off in all three phases of the game,” Fieldcrest coach Nick Meyer said. “The starters set the tone from the first drive, and when the younger guys got on the field, they kept battling. The sideline energy was there the entire game, too.”

The Knights will look to build on the win over the final three weeks. Fieldcrest plays Ridgeview-Lexington (6-0) on Friday, then travels to Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley (5-1) and Warrensburg-Latham (3-3).

“There’s still a ton to learn from and get better,” Meyer said. “It was far from a perfect game, but we executed well. It’s another reminder that it’s about how we run our offense/defense. It doesn’t matter who we play, we have to continue to focus on our own game and do the little things right.”