Pekin, WACO, Columbus prevail

Week 2 football festivities featured several matchups with two Union area teams. Class A District 5 play kicked off with Pekin against New London, while Van Buren County hosted Columbus. Fellow Union squads WACO and Winfield-Mt Union also began Class 8-player District 5 play as part of a loaded slate.

Here is how the Union area small schools did in under the lights in Week 2.

Pekin 68, New London 20

Pekin set the tone early against New London by scoring on its first offensive play. The Panthers converted another one-play touchdown later in the first quarter and never looked back to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Panthers quarterback Riley Smith completed 2 of 3 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Nolan Glick had a monster game on the ground with 23 carries for 187 yards and three touchdowns.

  Buy Photo

Despite the loss, New London still produced a few bright moments offensively. Senior wideout Brigham Porter scored the Tigers’ first two touchdowns. Their opening score came after he took a short pass, broke four tackles and fought his way across the goal line.

Cale Westerbeck also caught a touchdown pass from Panthers quarterback London Franklin. Franklin completed a 53-yard throw on the run to Reed Lindsey to set up the score. He finished with 221 passing yards, two TDs and an interception.

Columbus 29, Van Buren County 12

Columbus scored in just two plays on the opening drive of its win over Van Buren County. That turned into 22 unanswered Wildcats points in the first half, including three field goals by Gabriel Zuniga.

Van Buren County found a response on the first play of the third quarter when Kayden Simmons took the ball 75 yards to the house - part of a 137-yard game on the ground. But Columbus closed the door when Lamar Ceant intercepted a pass and raced 55-yards to the end zone. The Wildcats finished the game with 240 yards rushing.

WACO 42, Winfield-Mt. Union 22

WACO kept its strong start to the season going with a win over rival Winfield-Mt. Union. Warriors junior Hayden Shelman racked up 250 rushing yards and five touchdowns. He also completed 8 of 10 passes with one touchdown and snagged an interception on defense.

Wolves quarterback Cody Milks had a strong game despite the loss. He threw for 236 yards, all of which went to wideouts Tayson Samuels and Max Edwards, who each finished with 118 yards. Edwards caught a pair of touchdown passes from Milks.

Alburnett 42, No. 4 (2A) Mid-Prairie 37

Mid-Prairie came up just short in a high scoring affair against Alburnett. Golden Hawks quarterback Brooks Weber completed 22 of 46 passes for 351 yards and four touchdowns two four different receivers. Senior Hudson Ehrenfelt scored Mid-Prairie’s lone rushing touchdown.

The Golden Hawks dropped to No. 9 in the latest Class 2A rankings after the loss. They will host Sigourney Keota for their homecoming game Friday.

Wilton 19, Sigourney Keota 14

The Cobras had a solid performance on defense in a non-district loss to Wilton. They held the Beavers to 100 yards passing and had a pair of takeaways. Sophomore Blake Baker had an interception and Lance Walden recovered a fumble. Baker also had a sack, while John Berg led the Cobras with five tackles.

Running back Ike Molyneux had the best day on offense for Sigourney Keota. The junior had 27 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown.

Lynnville-Sully 50, Cardinal 0

After losing a nail-biter to New London in Week 1, Cardinal was unable to find the end zone on offense in Week 2. The Comets did have some bright moments defensively, including limiting Lynnville-Sully to 95 yards through the air. Zach Luedtke reached double digits in tackles with 10.5. He is now up to 19.5 tackles through two games.

Cardinal will look to pick up its first win when it faces Van Buren County at 7 p.m. Friday at VBC.

Wapello 40, Highland 7

Highland was only down by one score after the first quarter, but was unable to match Wapello Friday night and dropped its first game in Class A District 5.

The Comets will continue district play with their homecoming game against New London on Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Highland High School Football Field.