Pekin looking for rebound Friday against WACO

Last year at this time, a one-point loss to Sigourney-Keota had the Pekin football team frustrated ? a frustration they took out on WACO with a 28-6 victory.

Now, the Panthers are as irritated as ever after another loss to S-K by the slimmest of margins last Friday, while this Friday will give Pekin another chance to express some of those feelings as they head to Wayland for one more clash with WACO.

?The boys are frustrated. Our goal was to beat Sigourney ? nobody was happy when it didn?t happen,? said head coach Tom Stone. ?Hopefully we can get our minds in the right spot and make sure we?re ready to play when we line up.?

The Warriors are coming off a 28-6 loss to Mediapolis in week one, but Pekin will have to deal with running back Spencer Shepherd who piled up 150 yards on just 12 carries against Mediapolis. Shepherd also scored WACO?s lone touchdown in last year?s game against the Panthers.

?They have many of the same kids as they did last year. A lot of returning upperclassmen with good speed,? Stone said. ?They have improved overall from last year, and from what I?ve seen on film, they do a lot of the same thing except they operate much more fluently now.?

WACO quarterback Brady Stauffer will lead the Warrior offense while Pekin turns once again to senior Dalton Stone. Trenton Northup, Spencer Adam and Hunter Maeder will all split time in the Pekin backfield as the Panthers look to improve upon the unforced errors that may have cost them a victory in week one.

?It seems like we?ve had enough improvement this week in practice that we should be play well come Friday,? said Stone.

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. in Wayland.

Cardinal (1-0) @ English Valleys (0-1)

The Cardinal football team has put a 1-8 2008 season behind them and they showed it last week with an 18-8 win against Van Buren.

This week, the Comets look to tack on win No. 2 in the young season as they look to avenge another loss from last year against English Valleys. English Valleys will be looking for its first win of the season after last Friday?s 20-22 loss at home against Lynnville-Sully.

Set to give the Cardinal defense fits is Bears? running back Gideon Kluge who ran for 177 yards on 20 carries in last week?s losing effort. Cardinal will answer with leading tackler Austin O?Brien and a talented running back of their own in Jake Scherer.

Kickoff in North English is set for 7 p.m.

Van Buren (0-1) @ Winfield-Mount Union (0-1)

Van Buren will look for its first win in 10 games Friday against Winfield-Mount Union in non-district action. Last year, the 1-0 Warriors fell to the Wolves 14-6 in Keosauqua.

Kickoff in Winfield is set for 7 p.m.