Panthers flex on Benton

MT. PLEASANT - Mt. Pleasant head football coach Shawn Striegel picked up his first playoff win on Friday night at Mapleleaf Athletic Complex, and his Panthers did it in impressive fashion. Mt. Pleasant blasted Benton 30-7 in their first round game to roll on to the next round.

The Panther defense was dominant all night, and they needed to be in the first half. Benton blocked a punt on Mt. Pleasant's opening drive and had the ball just past midfield, but the Panther defense forced a turnover on downs and it was scoreless after one quarter.

Following the turnover on downs, Mt. Pleasant marched down the field for their only touchdown drive of the first half. Quarterback Jack Johnson scored from the 1-yard line and it was 7-0 Panthers with 10:52 left in the quarter.

After another time-consuming Mt. Pleasant drive, kicker Brady Hall launched a 39-yard field goal through the uprights. Benton quarterback Colin Buch was picked off by Mt. Pleasant's Brevin Wilson to end the second quarter and the Panthers led 10-0 at halftime.

The third quarter went by scoreless but not without its share of fireworks. Benton's Jacob Brecht had a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown taken away from him on a block in the back call to start the period, and Hall had a field goal blocked to keep the score at 10-0.

With Mt. Pleasant leading 10-0, Benton had the ball inside the 30-yard line. On fourth and short, however, Johnson blitzed from the secondary and blew up the Bobcats' play in the backfield, taking down Buch for a loss of yards to give the Panthers the ball.

'I said ‘Brevin (Wilson), I'm blitzing because I haven't blitzed all day,” Johnson said. '‘I'm going to go get this and it's going to change the game.'”

Shortly after the big play on defense, Johnson hit Chase Williamson for a huge gain. Williamson caught the ball in stride and took it 57 yards to the red zone. A few plays later, Grifen Molle put the Panthers up three scores with a 1-yard touchdown run.

The flood gates opened after Molle's touchdown run put the Panthers up 17-0. Johnson stretched the lead to 23-0 on a 49-yard run down the Panther sideline with 9:04 remaining. On the next Benton possession, Williamson stepped in front of a pass for an interception and took it to the Benton 24. Johnson found Brennen Bender on a jump ball in the end zone, and in the blink of an eye, Mt. Pleasant led 30-0.

Benton eventually found the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late. Mt. Pleasant's defense has now given up just 23 points in their last two games.

'I'm very proud of our defense,” said Williamson. 'We just stayed disciplined, and that's all you can do.”

Offensively, Johnson had another huge night, going 11-for-16 for 172 yards through the air and one touchdown, and also leading the team with 114 rushing yards and two scores. Williamson ended the night with four catches for 119 yards. Wilson also caught three passes for 29 yards.

Benton ended their season at 3-5. Mt. Pleasant is now 4-3 and will travel to play 4-1 North Scott (ranked No. 8 in The Gazette poll, No. 9 in the Associated Press) in the second round.

After the game, Coach Striegel talked about what his first playoff win meant for the Panthers, who had narrowly missed the playoffs in each of the last three years leading up to the 2020 season.

'This was for all of those guys that should have had the same chance that missed it,” Striegel said. 'I'm really proud of these kids to be able to take care of business.”