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Losing streak over!
Mt. Pleasant football beats Fairfield in OT, snaps 23-game skid
MT. PLEASANT — After three frustrating years on the gridiron, the Mt. Pleasant football team’s 23-game losing streak is finally over.
On Friday night, the Panthers buried the streak in Fairfield, where Mt. Pleasant grinded out a thrilling overtime road victory, beating the Trojans 13-23 in the season opener.
The win was the first in the reign of Coach John Bowlin, who became head coach before last fall, and can now say he’s coached his alma mater to a victory.
“These kids deserve that thing,” Bowlin said. “They fought their tails off.”
It was obvious early on that defense would win the day. The two teams traded stops all regulation long, and each team found the end zone just once in regulation.
Fairfield scored the only points of the first half, and it took quite a while for either team to find the scoreboard. A fourth down scramble from quarterback Voss Richardson set up a touchdown run by Zandrik Allison, and despite a filed two-point try, the Trojans enjoyed a 6-0 lead.
Fairfield threatened to go up two possessions when a Mt. Pleasant snap went haywire and gave the Trojans the ball, in the redzone, with just 45 seconds left in the half.
Instead, it was Mt. Pleasant that seemingly made the big play. A strip sack by Keegan Heaton led to an apparent long scoop and score from Kellen Kohorst, but the officials blew the play dead, counted the fumble recovery but negated any return.
Fairfield’s 6-0 advantage stayed on the scoreboard nearly for the rest of the game. The Trojans’ run-heavy offense ate up a lot of clock, and the defense stopped Mt. Pleasant time and time again.
In the final minutes, the Trojans had three chances to end the game at 6-0.
On 4th and 8 from the 14, a pass interference call in the end zone helped the Panthers continue the eventual game-tying drive with less than 4:30 left in the game. On the next play, Cooper Coleman picked up the yards with a rush on 4th and 2.
Finally, on fourth and goal from the 4-yard line, Payton Walker punched it in for the game-tying score. The point after was botched, but the two teams were tied at 6-6 with 2:21 remaining.
The Panthers got the ball right back when Ramzy Davis came away with his second turnover of the game on the ensuing Fairfield possession. Davis fell on a fumble at the 23-yard line, with 1:15 on the clock, and that set up for a potential game-winning field goal that missed its mark with one second left in the game.
In overtime, Fairfield scored on its second play, as Allison found the end zone again, putting the Trojans up 12-6. Fairfield seemingly scored on the two-point conversion, but a holding call pushed it back and the next attempt was unsuccessful.
Mt. Pleasant quarterback Zach Newton was shaken up at the end of regulation, forcing the Panthers to run the wildcat offense with Walker, a move that caught the Trojan defense off guard on the first play, allowing a nine-yard pick up.
“Our linemen were pushing the ball, and they had a great game up front,” Walker said. “I was just following those guys.”
On second down and goal, Walker took the snap and found the end zone, tying things up at 12-12 and setting Panther kicker Dylan White up for a game-winning extra point.
After missing a pair of field goals earlier in the game, White came through when it mattered most. In his first year out for high school football, White sent the game-winning PAT through the uprights, and a 23-game drought had finally come to an end.
“He's got ice in his veins,” Bowlin said. “We kicked him from the 30 earlier, so we've got confidence in him.”
The Panther offense completed just three passes on the day. Walker led the team with all-purpose yards and two scores. Coleman had a game-high 56 yards rushing.
The Panther defense came away with four takeways. Jaymisen Rich, Kohorst and Davis all had fumble recoveries, and Davis picked off a pass in the third quarter.
“Coach says I don't have the best hands, so I was pretty glad,” Davis said. “I came to the sideline and he's like, 'you caught it!'”
Along with leading the Trojan offense with two rushing touchdowns, Allison had a big game on defense, highlighted by a third quarter interception that went back 32 yards from inside the 20-yard line to the midfield mark.
Dylan Adam and Dre Smithburg each had fumble recoveries for the Fairfield defense in the second period.
“They left everything they could out there,” said Fairfield head coach Matt Jones. “Execution wasn't great at times, but I'm really proud of the boys for selling out and giving their best every play.”
Mt. Pleasant, now 1-0, will take on another 1-0 team in West Burlington this Friday at Mapleleaf Athletic Complex. Fairfield (0-1) will play at home again, this time against another 0-1 team in Fort Madison.
