Panther football downed in West Burlington

WEST BURLINGTON — The Mt. Pleasant special teams unit continued to show off its big play potential on Friday night in West Burlington, but the Falcons controlled the other facets of the game, as West Burlington pulled off a 47-28 victory.

Mt. Pleasant had a decent start offensively. Payton Walker scored once in the first half, and Jurha Turner hit triple digits rushing the ball, but turnovers and an all-around performance by West Burlington quarterback Caden Schwenker had Mt. Pleasant down 27-7.

The Panthers cut the West Burlington lead down to 27-14 after a touchdown run by Walker with 4:56 left in the third quarter, but the Falcons would respond with a drive that left them up 33-14.

Mt. Pleasant would cut the lead back to two touchdowns on two different special teams scores. Jackson Newman returned a kick all the way back to the house at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and Turner scored his second special teams touchdown of the year on a fumbled punt return.

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The Panthers had the ball down 40-28 late in the fourth, but a West Burlington pick six put the final nail in the coffin.

Mt. Pleasant fell to 0-2 with the loss. The Panthers will travel to Tipton (2-0) this week.