FOOTBALL: Panthers' struggles continue, Hornets hand PCHS their fourth straight loss
Two red zone turnovers in the second half prevented Pinckneyville from threatening Nashville on Friday night, and the Panthers dropped their fourth game in a row, falling 35-13 to the visiting Hornets.
At 3-4, the loss all but dooms PCHS's postseason hopes, as their playoff power point total may prevent them from getting into the playoffs even if they were to win their final two games, which includes next week's trip to unbeaten Carterville.
"We've got to go into it as a winnable ball game," said Panthers head coach Todd Thomas. "We can't have our daubers down. Our kids have come back every Monday ready to work. It's not easy, going 3-0 to start the year and then having four straight losses, but it is what it is. We've just got to keep going and keep playing."
Pinckneyville had an early 7-0 lead after quarterback Clayton Houghland connected with Tristan Fisher for a 7-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter, but Nashville would respond with 28 straight points, 21 of them before halftime.
Hornets running back Quayd Novak, who torched PCHS for 209 total yards - 143 on the ground, scored the first two Nashville touchdowns to give them the lead. Novak scored from 22 yards out with 4:25 to go in the opening period, then from 10 yards out less than a minute into the second quarter.
Nashville fullback Jaris Dahlman plunged into the end zone for a 1-yard TD just before halftime to give the Hornets a 22-7 lead after a two-point conversion run by Hunter Schultze.
The Hornets kept pouring it on with their first drive of the second half, going 73 yards in just five plays with Schultze finishing it off with a 2-yard touchdown run.
But the Panthers still had plenty of chances to mount a comeback.
After starting at their own 46-yard line with 8:12 on the third quarter game clock, Pinckneyville drove deep into Hornets territory and had a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line, but a fumble by Dalton Peradotto gave the ball back to Nashville.
PCHS picked up their second touchdown early in the fourth quarter when Trent Hicks raced across the goal line for a 38-yard score, and the extra point was wide to make the score 28-13 Hornets.
Later in the period, the Panthers had driven inside the red zone again after starting at their own 16-yard line. This time it was an interception thrown by Houghland attempting to hit Adam Banach in double coverage that halted PCHS's comeback efforts.
"When you get it down there, you've got to punch it in," Thomas said, "you can't turn it over. That was the difference in the ball game. We've got to get to the point where we execute in crucial situations."
The Hornets sank the dagger into the Panthers with 1:43 to play on Novak's third touchdown of the night. Nashville finished the game with 475 total yards, 371 of them running the football.
"They have a good 1-2 punch with Novak and Schultze," said Thomas. "They're the number seven ranked team in 3A for a reason. They're probably going to end up in 2A and have a chance at winning it."
"Our defense has been pretty good all year. I don't think we ever quit. That's a tough offense to stop, that's their second-lowest point production of the year. But again, it was timely mistakes defensively that cost us."
Hicks led Pinckneyville with 121 yards on 12 carries. Caulden Lazenby added 62 yards on just 6 attempts.
Houghland was 11-for-20 passing for 86 yards and had two interceptions. Fisher (4-14), Hicks (1-6), Banach (2-38), Lazenby (2-9) and Gabe Yearian (2-19) caught passes for the Panthers.
With their backs firmly against the wall, PCHS (3-4, 0-4) will travel to Carterville (7-0, 4-0) in week eight still looking for their first conference win.