FOOTBALL: Panthers run to victory in Red Bud
With a total of 351 yards on the ground, Pinckneyville used a proven recipe for success to run over Red Bud on Friday night with a 41-6 blowout on the road to open the 2014 high school football season.
After dropping their week one meeting with the Musketeers a season ago, a loss that ultimately kept the Panthers out of the postseason, PCHS showed up ready to play this time around and put the game out of reach by halftime with six different ball carriers rushing for at least 29 yards apiece, led by Trent Hicks' 11-carry, 152-yard performance.
"For the past week and a half, our kids have been very, very focused," said Pinckneyville head coach Todd Thomas. "We've had some very good practices, they've been dialed in, and they were hungry and ready to go."
"We had six kids carry the football for yardage and they ran hard, but it all starts up front. It's a real simple formula in high school football - if you can run the ball and stop the run, you're going to be in pretty good shape."
With just over a minute gone by, Hicks started the rout with a 63-yard touchdown run, then with 4:04 to go in the opening quarter he struck again from 12 yards out to make it 12-0 Panthers. PCHS's defense, which held Red Bud to just 69 yards of total offense all night, added a safety moments later to give them a 14-0 cushion.
"We couldn't be happier about the defense," Thomas said, "I thought we were as physical as we've been since I've been here."
It was Gabe Yearian's turn for a big play with 6:07 to go in the first half as the first-year Panther took a handoff to the house from 47 yards out, and Dylan Carns' extra point ballooned the lead to 21-0.
Running backs Alex Howard (12 yards) and Dalton Peradotto (7 yards) also found the end zone before the first half came to an end, and Pinckneyville carried a 34-0 advantage into the break before Hicks picked up his third touchdown of the night early in the second half to jump-start the continuous clock on the Musketeers.
Hicks, Yearian (3 carries, 55 yards), Peradotto (8-44), Howard (6-29), Caulden Lazenby (6-42) and Adam Banach (4-30) combined for Pinckneyville's big game on the ground.
Quarterback Clayton Houghland completed 2-of-3 passes for 25 yards, making good on throws to Peradotto (1-6) and Tristan Fisher (1-19).
The Panther defense racked up four sacks in the game, two by Zach Hagene and one from both Howard and Hicks.
Pinckneyville (1-0) will try to keep the ball rolling in week two when they host West Frankfort. The Redbirds gave perennial Mississippi Division powerhouse Anna-Jonesboro a scare in week one, but fell 37-32.