Early lead not enough for Mt. Pleasant

MT. PLEASANT — The Panthers started early on Friday night, but couldn’t keep up the pace as the Mt. Pleasant football team fell to West Burlington-Notre Dame 30-20 in its final non-district game of the season.

The game plan worked early, as Mt. Pleasant broke a scoreless tie in the first quarter when Jacob Richtman hit Payton Hagans for a 10-yard touchdown pass.

That touchdown gave the Panthers a 7-0 lead, and Mt. Pleasant threatened for more after Wyatt Woodsmall out-lept a Falcon receiver for an interception on the ensuing West Burlington-Notre Dame possession.

Unfortunately, that’s when West Burlington-Notre Dame would find its groove. The Falcons took the ball back on an interception off a deflection, and eventually scored on a 10-yard rushing touchdown, plus the two-point conversion to take an 8-7 lead early in the second quarter.

WB-ND would score once more in the second and take a 14-7 lead into the break. Mt. Pleasant cut that advantage to 14-13 when Richtman found Bowen Davis open down the far sideline for a 40-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was blocked, but Mt. Pleasant was within one.

Unfortunately for Panther fans, that’s as close as they’d get. The Falcons’ power running game led to 16-straight points on two touchdowns and two two-point conversions, and Mt. Pleasant trailed 30-13 early in the fourth quarter.

“It's tough because they can hit you on the outside run game and the inside run game,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Shawn Striegel. “Hats off to them. They ran the ball hard.”

Striegel about the much smaller Panthers’ attempts to slow down the Falcon’s run game. Mt. Pleasant’s defense held strong at times, but in the second half, the much bigger WB-ND began to tilt the field.

“It's something we've been dealing with. We've got a pretty young team,” Striegel said. “I'm proud of them for stepping up and trying to put sticks on people, but at the end of the game, size is going to dictate who's going to move who.”

The Panthers scored late on a 10-yard touchdown reception by Woodsmall, but the onside kick failed and the Falcons were able to run out the clock.

Richtman finished with 301 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Woodsmall led the receivers with 11 catches for 95 yards and a score. Garrett Cook caught nine balls for 60 yards.

Mt. Pleasant’s defense had two takeaways on the day. Woodsmall and Payson Coleman each had interceptions.

The Panthers fell to 0-3 with the loss. They will be in Fort Madison (3-0) next week for the start of district play.