Mt. Pleasant takes on Burlington for Homecoming

MT. PLEASANT - It has been a struggle through six games of the Mt. Pleasant football season. The Panthers are 0-6 and reeling from back-to-back blowout losses to Fort Madison and Iowa City Liberty, but a new hope arises in the wake of Homecoming week.

The Panthers host Burlington in their Homecoming game on Friday night. It will be the third year in a row that the two teams meet up on the gridiron after playing their first game all century in 2020.

This Highway 34 battle has went both ways in the first two years of playing it, and both of the last two games have been runaways, one by each team. Mt. Pleasant busted Burlington 42-16 in 2020, but the Grayhounds got their revenge last year with a 56-3 victory.

Burlington comes in with a 4-2 record overall. The Grayhounds beat Clinton 42-30 in their first district game, but were upended 46-7 by North Scott.

After finishing non-district play 0-4, the Panthers didn’t get any favors from the schedule. Mt. Pleasant lost 46-0 at Fort Madison, and the seventh-ranked Lightning walked away 68-6 victors over the Panthers at home.

Mt. Pleasant’s defense will have to try and slow down a daunting Burlington rushing attack. The Grayhounds have run for 1,838 yards and 21 touchdowns this season.

Running back Caden Schisel leads the Grayhounds with 565 yards on the ground and nine touchdowns. Quarterback Gabe Robinson has run for 475 yards and two scores, and running back Nolan Simpson has went for 336 yards and four scores.

Mt. Pleasant’s Jacob Richtman has thrown for 1,180 yards and 10 touchdowns this year. Wyatt Woodsmall has caught 33 passes for 402 yards and four touchdowns, and Carter Amos has caught 33 passes for 288 yards.

Mt. Pleasant hasn’t run the ball great this year, but they’ve gotten some recent success out of Zerek Venghaus, who has run for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Venghaus averages 4.5 yards per carry, the top mark on the team.

The Panther defense has forced nine takeaways so far this year. Payson Coleman and Wyatt Woodsmall have two interceptions each. Mt. Pleasant has picked off five passes total, and recovered four fumbles.

Burlington’s defense has Mt. Pleasant by a hair in the takeaway margin. The Grayhounds have had 11, as six different players have recorded fumble recoveries, and five have picked off passes.

The Panthers and Grayhounds will kick off at 7:30 p.m. It will be Mt. Pleasant’s final home game of the year.