Panther defense roars

Friday night marked the second-straight home game for the Mt. Pleasant football team, and the Panther defense had its second-straight shutout. Mt. Pleasant toppled 4A foe Ottumwa 21-0 to end the non-district season 2-2.

Mt. Pleasant scored on their first drive after an Ottumwa three-and-out kicked things off. The Panthers took over at their own nine-yard line, and drove 91-yards for the score.

Zach Beason's arm got things going for the offense, hitting Rylan Seberg on a bomb down the sideline for the biggest play of the drive. Beason's legs capped it off with a six-yard touchdown run. The PAT by David Blancas was good, and the Panthers led 7-0 early.

The rest of the first half was filled with loose balls, turnovers and a little chippiness. A scrum to start the second quarter led to the ejections of Ottumwa safety Isaiah Carter and Mt. Pleasant running back/line backer Levi Puig. No more points were scored until the halftime break.

Without Puig in the backfield, Mt. Pleasant had to rely on the passing game even more than usual in the second half. But that was no problem for the Panthers as Beason opened the second-half with a 54-yard bomb to a wide open Chase Lamm, who scored the longest touchdown of the day. After the PAT, it was 14-0, and Mt. Pleasant regained momentum.

Later in the quarter, another rushing touchdown by Beason was called back due to holding. A missed Panther field goal led to Ottumwa's best drive of the day, but the Bulldogs turned the ball over in the red zone.

The Panthers put the game on ice in the fourth quarter. Beason bouldered through a couple of Bulldogs for a 26-yard rushing touchdown. Blancas made his third PAT of the night, and Mt. Pleasant was in full control at 21-0.

The shutout came with five takeaways on the night. Lamm, Klayton Kleinkopf and Tate Shull all had interceptions in the win, and both Puig and Keegan Kohorst had a fumble recovery.

James DeMeyer led the defense with 11 tackles, two of which were for a loss. Shull and Jacob Stukerjurgen ahd seven tackles apiece.

'Hats off to Coach Wilson and the defense,” Panther head coach Shawn Striegel said. 'They had the kids prepared. The kids bought in to the plan and performed it. It's all about them executing the plan.”

Beason led the offense in both passing and rushing. He was 14-19 for 226 yards and a touchdown through the air, and had 58 yards and two scores on the ground. Kyle Samples led the running backs with 46 yards of his own.

Five different Panthers caught passes in the win. Lamm led the way with three catches for 73 yards and a scorer. Rylan Seberg had three catches for 57 yards. Tucker Johnson caught four passes for 66 yards. Puig had three catches for 35 yards, and Chase Williamson had a catch as well.

Now the Panthers turn their heads towards rival Fairfield in what promises to be a key district game right off the bat. The Trojans are 2-2 as well and are coming off a 61-44 win over Grinnell.

'Fairfield is a well-coached football team that has kids that are relentless,” Striegel says. '(Running back) Tristan Waugh is a load, and he's given us fits in the last two years, but they've also got some speed guys too. Our defense is going to be on our toes all night.”

That game will take place this Friday night in Fairfield. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m.