Panthers beat down Bloodhounds

FT. MADISON - Senior night at Ft. Madison High School was spoiled rotten by an aggressive downfield Panther attack on Friday night. Mt. Pleasant's vertical passing game, along with a stifling defense, gave the Bloodhounds no chance in a 47-7 thrashing.

The Panthers moved up the field at will, esepcially in the first quarter where they'd break the game open with three touchdowns in the first nine minutes. The first of those was an 11-yard scamper by Levi Puig, which put the Panthers up 6-0 after a missed PAT.

Rylan Seberg, who torched the Bloodhounds all night, would get the Panthers' next score. He caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Zach Beason, and despite a failed two-point run, the Panthers held a 12-0 lead.

Mt. Pleasant got into the end zone on the ground one more time in the third quarter. Logan Bass found the end zone with three minutes left on the clock. Khang Truong knocked in the PAT and it was 19-0 Panthers after one quarter.

Beason led the Panthers to a couple of touchdowns in the second quarter. First, he punched in a one-yard touchdown run with 4:33 on the clock. Then, just over two mintues later, he launched a 60-yard touchdown pass to Seberg. Truong hit both extra points, and Mt. Pleasant led 33-0.

The Panthers hit the running clock early in the fourth quarter when Beason found Chase Lamm for a 49-yard touchdown pass. Ft. Madison, however, responded on their next drive with a 13-yard pass from Lennon Barker to Dominic Franz, and the lead was back below 35, at 40-7.

Mt. Pleasant finished the night with another rushing touchdown. Kyle Samples punched in a one-yard touchdown run after breaking loose earlier in the drive. The PAT ended the scoring at 47-7, and the clock was able to run out fast on the Hounds.

The Panther offense had an astounding 592 yards, 456 of which were through the air. Beason finished the day 31-45 for 430 yards and three touchdowns. Brody Bender was 2-3 for 26 yards in backup.

'I think Zach did a great job of reading the field,” Panther head coach Shawn Striegel said about his quarterback. 'I thought he played a smart game. He wasn't sacked, but was hurried a couple of times (and) he did a great job of taking what the defense was giving us.”

Seberg went for a ridiculous 190 yards and two touchdowns on 11 catches. Lamm had eight receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown. Puig caught five passes for 59 yards. Tucker Johnson caught six passes for 58 yards, and Brevin Wilson caught two passes for 26 yards.

Striegel spoke about his offensive weapons, especially his group of receivers that has given every district opponent fits this year.

'It just makes it so difficult on the defense,” Striegel said. 'We're very blessed to have some excellent receivers to go along with a quarterback that is playing really good football right now.”

Samples led the rushing attack with 61 yards and a score. Beason ran for 35 yards and a touchdown. Puig had 29 yards and a score, and Bass finished with 11 yards and a TD.

Jacob Stukerjurgen finished the day with six tackles to lead the defense.James DeMeyer finished with 5.5 tackles and a forced fumble. Puig had a fumble recovery, and Wilson picked off one pass.

Mt. Pleasant is now 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the district. They'll look to pick up their first win over Washington since 2008 in their final regular season game on Friday, Oct. 20. The Panthers could still sneak into the playoffs if the RPI rankings work out in their favor, although it seems to be an outside chance.

'All of the playoff implications and RPI stuff put behind us, it's a game with Washington,” Streigel says. 'We haven't beat Washington in several years. This team is ready to make a change, and make things happen, and make sure that the score is on the right side.”