CINCINNATI — The Princeton High School football team waited 35 years to beat Moeller again.
The Vikings picked an appropriate stage to end the drought.
Princeton opened the 2026 high school football season Thursday night with a 31-24 victory over Moeller at Paycor Stadium, ending one of the longest-running streaks in a rivalry between two of Greater Cincinnati’s most accomplished programs.
The victory snapped Moeller’s 19-game winning streak against Princeton and gave the Vikings their first victory over the Crusaders since 1991. Moeller entered Thursday with a 41-7 advantage in the all-time series, which dates to 1965.
It also gave Princeton possession of the “King of the Block” trophy after Moeller controlled the recent meetings.
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The Crusaders defeated Princeton 41-20 in last season’s opener at West Clermont. Moeller also won twice in 2024, beating the Vikings 38-21 during the regular season and 28-10 in a Division I regional semifinal. Princeton’s official athletics records also show a 28-21 playoff loss to Moeller in 2021.
Thursday finally reversed the trend.
Princeton entered the season coming off a 9-3 campaign under coach Andre Parker. The Vikings went 8-1 in the Greater Miami Conference and captured their third consecutive GMC championship before beating Winton Woods 23-22 in the playoffs and falling to Elder 32-30 in a regional semifinal.
Moeller finished 8-4 last season.
The season opener was moved to Paycor Stadium this summer, giving the matchup between two Cincinnati powers an NFL setting. Princeton served as the home team, with the game kicking off shortly after 7 p.m. and being televised by Spectrum News 1.
Princeton coach Andre Parker called the opportunity to play Moeller at the Cincinnati Bengals’ home stadium a “dream come true” before the game.
The Vikings made the occasion historic.
Princeton’s roster entered the season with significant college-level talent, including senior quarterback Monsanna Torbert, a Michigan commit who is projected as a defensive back at the college level, and defensive tackle Jaylen Mercer, a Kentucky commit who transferred from Winton Woods. Ohio State target Lorenzo McMullen Jr. was another prospect drawing attention entering Thursday’s opener.
More important for Princeton was what the victory represented for the program.
The Vikings have established themselves as the GMC’s standard with three consecutive conference championships, but Moeller had remained an obstacle. Even Princeton’s recent success had not been enough to break through against a Crusaders program with 11 state championships.
That changed Thursday.
Thirty-five years after Princeton’s previous victory over Moeller, the Vikings walked off the field at Paycor Stadium with a 31-21 win, the King of the Block trophy and a season-opening statement against one of their oldest rivals.
