Princeton foursome trying hand at golf

Grant Foes, Tyler Gibson, Kaleb Cain and Matt Lucas all had big plans to chase down a state championship with the Princeton Tiger football team this fall.

With football being rescheduled to next spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, the PHS foursome has traded in their pads and helmet for golf club and balls for the Tiger golf team.

Tiger football coach Ryan Pearson said it's great to see his kids try new things.

"I commend all of them for stepping out of their comfort zone and trying something new," Pearson said. "They are all competitors. They just want to compete and represent our school in a positive way."

Gibson, an all-conference quarterback, is much more used to slinging touchdowns than swinging golf clubs. He's enjoying the new challenges he's finding in golf.

"I very rarely played golf before this fall, and when I did it was only a couple swings here and there," he said. "It was definitely something new that I wasn’t used to, but I liked the thought of starting low and then trying to get better as I played to see how big of a jump I could make before the season ended.

"I also have a lot of friends on the golf team, so I figured, even if I didn’t go to practices, it would be really fun to just play golf with my friends every day."

Foes, a two-way all-conference lineman, is also finding golf to be a pleasant experience.

"I am enjoying golf a lot. I’ve played for fun with my friends a lot before this, but I never really knew all the ins and outs of golf," he said. "I’ve learned a lot so far from Coach (Brandon) Crawford and from my teammates. I’ve just been having a lot of fun."

Lucas, a junior wide receiver, said he typically would play golf only a few times a year and has enjoyed the new experience.

"I really tried to come out and get better. It’s been really exciting for me. I got to play varsity one time, so that was really cool," he said.

Crawford says it speaks highly of each of the kids' character to try something new and represent their school while out of their comfort zone.

"This isn't their first sport, but they're out there trying because the opportunity is there. If there's a plus-side to COVID, that's it," he said. "I think that says a lot that they want to try something different and represent Princeton High School in a manner they wouldn't typically be seen doing. It speaks highly for the kind of kids that they are."

Crawford said the kids are picking up things very well and he's been able to relate golf concepts to those from their own sports.

"A lot of it is finding ways to make it relate to what they're used to," he said. "With Grant, I can talk about using your body, because he's a thrower in track and field. I can talk to Tyler about getting your shoulders square to a ball, because he understands that from throwing a football."

Other Bureau County footballers in new sports this fall are Hall's Caleb Sanchez in golf and St. Bede's James Sanchez and Bureau Valley's Isaac Attig in cross country.

Bureau Valley coach Bob Benck said the sophomore Attig, normally who would be suiting up as a running back/linebacker for the Storm football team, has been a pleasant addition this fall to the Storm cross country team.

"Isaac had always wanted to run cross country and track, but football and baseball edged them out in normal years," Benck said. "Coming into the season, Isaac had only done the summer football conditioning and two or three runs since the football postponement was announced. Still, he has an amazing work ethic and determination and attempts to go stride-for-stride with Ben (Roth) and Elijah (House) on all of our runs."

"He's an incredibly hard worker. I'm proud of him for wanting to still compete this fall and helping out our cross country team," BV football coach Mat Pistole said.