FOOTBALL: Panthers run wild on Musketeers, win 44-14
Panthers Alex Howard and Caulden Lazenby combined for five total touchdowns and Pinckneyville ran past Red Bud 44-14 on Friday at Quillman Field. PCHS never trailed, and their numbers would look even more impressive if not for a late-game 89-yard rushing touchdown by Red Bud's Ryan Hess which did little more than delay the inevitable.
"I was ecstatic with the play of our whole team," said Pinckneyville head coach Todd Thomas. "I'm really proud of our kids, they've worked really hard. We worked them real hard and they responded by coming out and playing hard in week one. We made a lot of mistakes. We had a lot of kids cramp up, which caused us some issues during the game with personnel, but all in all, I couldn't be more happy. We just want to keep moving and keep improving."
Howard got Pinckneyville on the board with a 13-yard rushing TD early in the first quarter, then Brian Kling - who also picked off a pass for the Panthers - recovered a muffed punt inside the Musketeers' red zone to set up Lazenby's first touchdown, a 7-yard run to make it 14-0 after Dylan Carns' extra point.
"Brian is a weapon for us," Thomas said. "He's a tough kid, he's very physical for his size. We didn't get the ball to him as much we probably would have liked, but when he got his hands on it he made things happen. He's getting better every week with the mental aspect of the game, utilizing his physical abilities and his toughness. He creates some problems for defenses."
Red Bud did have some luck throwing the ball on the Panthers, getting a 34-yard touchdown pass from Griffin Zieboid to Logan Keuker to trim the lead to a single score at 14-6 late in the opening quarter, but PCHS kept coming.
A pass from Pinckneyville quarterback Clayton Houghland to Kling helped spark a 66-yard scoring drive for the Panthers after the ensuing kickoff. Howard, Houghland and Lazenby all had runs for positive yardage to before Houghland and Lazenby connected on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 9:04 to go in the half.
The Panthers took over on their own 38-yard line with 5:21 left in the second quarter and Howard had a big run up the sideline to get Pinckneyville into the red zone again. This time Dalton Peradotto punched it in from four yards out as PCHS led 28-6.
The Musketeers had one last opportunity to cut into the lead before the break after driving all the way to the Panthers' 4-yard line for a first-and-goal with about a minute to play in the half. Three run plays were stuffed by Pinckneyville's line, then a fourth-down pass fell incomplete, allowing the Panthers to get a big stop heading into the second half.
"I was a little disappointed in our pass defense, but overall I thought we had a very good defensive effort," Thomas said. "(Assistant coach Skip) Heninger had a good game plan that we laid out, and the kids executed it. We played a lot of kids on the defensive line to keep them fresh. The stats are a little misleading - the big pass for a score, and the 89-yard run kind of inflated their rushing yards right at the end of the game - but overall it was a really good defensive effort."
Howard powered his way through defenders for an 11-yard TD on PCHS's first drive of the second half, which came after the defense forced a three-and-out series by Red Bud.
Carns added a 42-yard field goal later in the period and Lazenby scored from two yards out in the fourth to complete the Panthers' scoring.
Howard's big night wrapped up with the big fullback totaling 154 yards on 13 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Lazenby (12-68, 2 TDs), Houghland (10-19), Peradotto (9-25) and Blaine Riley (2-11) also ran up the Panthers' rushing totals.
Houghland was 6-for-10 passing with 83 yards and the touchdown to Lazenby, who caught two passes for 22 yards. Kling added three catches for 50 yards with Carns hauling in one throw for 11 yards.
PCHS outgunned Red Bud 356-278 in total yards and had 17 first downs to the Musketeers' 8.
Pinckneyville (1-0) will head to West Frankfort (0-1) in week two. The Redbirds will be coming off a 35-14 loss to Anna-Jonesboro in week one.