MP finishes season at home

The final hurdle in a tough Mt. Pleasant football season is another big one: Williamsburg.

The Raiders is 6-2 overall this season. They lost their season opener against Grinnell, 27-20, and their only district loss came against Washington, 35-10.

The Raiders have a balanced offensive attack ? they?ve thrown 16 touchdowns this season and rushed for 24. But the Panthers are focusing their efforts where the Raiders are more comfortable ? on the ground.

?We have to stop the run first,? Mt. Pleasant Coach Shawn Striegel said.

Williamsburg is led by Nick Spratt with 410 yards and eight rushing touchdowns. Four other players have at least three rushing touchdowns, including Jared Steckly, who has a team-high 75 rushing attempts and has picked up 388 yards.

Williamsburg quarterback Jacob Donohoe has a completion rate of 48.8 percent and averages 15.7 yards per completion. He?s thrown all 16 touchdown passes and has four interceptions on the year.

Aaron Schulz is Donohoe?s main target. He has 34 catches, including 11 touchdown receptions. He averages 17.2 yards per catch.

Tyler Jensen also averages 17.2 yards per catch and has three touchdown receptions this season.

For their part, the Panthers will look a little different on the field this week.

The team has been plagued with injuries all season, and they have lost two more players for tomorrow?s game ? Marcus Moothart and Dustin Amos are out after suffering injuries in an ATV accident last weekend.

Amos started on both sides of the ball and was the team?s quarterback. Moothart has also started some games for Mt. Pleasant and saw quite a bit of time on the field this season.

Joseph Hess will start at quarterback for the Panthers tomorrow. The sophomore is getting his first varsity start, but did take a few snaps for the Panthers last week in an attempt to spark the offense against Keokuk.

Hess already played once this week ? he took the field in the JV game on Monday, as Striegel was still hopeful then that he would have Amos on the roster for Friday ? but will not join the JV team in its final game tonight.

Defensively, Striegel aims to get bigger players in the box ? he?s got 6-foot-2, 220-pound Matt Scudder starting on defense, and will be using Dante Vandenberg quite a bit as well. Vandenberg, who has started off and on for the Panthers, is a 6-5, 231-pound junior.

?They?re so big on the front line, we?ve just got to get our biggest, most physical kids in the box,? Striegel said. ?It all starts up front.?

Mt. Pleasant starters

OFFENSE

Pos.:  Name,   Ht.,  Wt.,  Class

QB:  Joseph Hess,  6-4, 172, Soph.

FB:  Carson Remick,  6-0, 190, Senior

TB:  Spencer White,  6-3, 175, Junior

WR:   Cole Phillips,  5-11, 135, Junior

WR:  Blake Knudsen,  5-11, 149, Senior

TE:  Justin Dilks,  6-3, 220, Senior

C:  Jackson Kelley,  6-6, 297, Junior

LG:  Alex Nunez,  5-7, 200, Senior

RG:  Tyler Ruby,  6-2, 215, Junior

LT:  Matt Scudder,  6-2, 225, Senior

RT:  Justin Nichting,  6-4, 215, Senior

K:  Zoom Gwamna,  5-9, 160, Junior

DEFENSE

Pos.:  Name,   Ht., Wt.,  Class

LT:  Ben Canby,  6-1, 220, Junior

NG:  Keegan Pullis,  6-5, 238, Soph.

RT:  Matt Scudder,  6-2, 220, Senior

LB:  Justin Dilks,  6-3, 220, Senior

LB:  Zoom Gwamna,  5-9, 160, Junior

LB:  Carson Remick,  6-0, 190, Senior

LB:  Noah Brown,  5-11, 177, Junior

LB:  Austin Smith,  5-8, 155, Junior

LC:  Spencer White,  6-3, 175, Junior

RC:  Justin Chalupa,  5-9, 140, Senior

FS:  Beau Parkevich,  5-10, 144, Junior

P:  Ben Canby,  6-1, 220, Junior