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Keokuk frustrates Mt. Pleasant football team
Panthers drop 3rd straight game to start season
Andy Krutsinger
Sep. 11, 2021 1:15 am, Updated: Sep. 12, 2021 12:10 pm
MT. PLEASANT — It was a frustrating Friday night for the Mt. Pleasant football team. Despite a three-score night from sophomore Payton Hagans, the Panthers fell 31-21 to the visiting Keokuk Chiefs.
The Chiefs owned the ground all night, running for 253 yards and five touchdowns, as Keokuk beat Mt. Pleasant for the first time since 2016.
Mt. Pleasant had a strong start. The Panthers scored on their first drive when Hagans dashed 47 yards to the end zone, making it 7-0 early.
Mt. Pleasant’s Payton Hagans slips through Keokuk defenders on his way to the second of three touchdown runs on Friday night. (Andy Krutsinger/The Union)
The Panthers had a shot to make it a two-score game after a Lincoln Henriksen fumble recovery put them in the red zone, but Mt. Pleasant turned the ball over on downs, the first of three straight possessions that would end with a turnover.
Mt. Pleasant’s Lincoln Henriksen celebrates a fumble recovery in the first quarter of the Panthers’ 31-21 loss to Keokuk on Friday night. (Andy Krutsinger/The Union)
The Chiefs capitalized on all three to score the next 18 points. Hagans punched another one before halftime, but Keokuk held an 18-14 points at the break.
The third quarter was all Chiefs, as Keokuk scored twice early to open a 31-14 lead.
“We stopped executing on offense, and they found some things in our defense that we could not stop,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Shawn Striegel. “They had our number.”
Mt. Pleasant’s Dylon Hagans tries to fight off Keokuk’s Colin Campbell in Friday night’s 31-21 loss. (Andy Krutsinger/The Union)
The Panthers still had some fight left, however. Quarterback Carson Coleman led a long drive that ended with Hagans third touchdown rush of the day, and Hagans added to his big game by picking off a pass on the next drive.
“He's a phenomenal kid and a hard worker,” Striegel said. “He's a student of the game and just has a knack for playing football.”
Mt. Pleasant had a handful of shots to cut the lead to single digits, but the Panthers didn’t reach the end zone anymore. A penalty-filled fourth quarter went scoreless, and the Chiefs escaped with a 10-point victory.
“We kept ourselves out of position several times tonight,” Striegel said. “They exploited those weaknesses on us pretty bad.”
Mt. Pleasant quarterback Carson Coleman rolls out of the pocket during Friday night’s home loss to Keokuk. (Andy Krutsinger/The Union)