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Panthers get it done!
Mt. Pleasant knocks off Fairfield in wild game, punch ticket to playoffs
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD — They say, ‘nobody said it’d be easy,’ and in the case of the Mt. Pleasant-Fairfield football game on Friday night, they’d be right.
It was anything but for the visiting Panthers, who needed just one win to get to the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, all while ending the rival Trojans’ season in the process.
After 48 grueling minutes of football, Mt. Pleasant escaped with a three-point win, beating the Trojans in the final minutes for the second-straight year, this time winning 25-22.
The win gave the Panthers their first playoff berth since 2010, not counting the 2020 COVID-effected playoffs, in which every school got into the field.
“It feels really good for these guys and what they’ve worked for,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach John Bowlin. “For our senior class, and their leadership. They’re the ones who put us here.”
The game was in doubt right away, as Fairfield proved to be the team that was ready from the starting gun.
The Trojans marched down the field in just five minutes after recovering a surprise onside kick to start the first half. Fairfield’s rushing attack was gaining ground early, and Zandrik Allison capitalized with a two-yard touchdown run, and a two-point conversion, to give the Trojans an 8-0 advantage.
After trading punts, it was the Panthers’ turn to get on the board, and they did so when Ramzy Davis cashed in with a three-yard touchdown run, but the two-point try failed and the Panthers still trailed, 8-6.
From then on in the second quarter, it seemingly only got worse for the visiting Panthers. Fairfield scored on another touchdown run by Allison with 5:12 left, and collected on a two-point conversion by Ethan Bisgard.
Then, after an interception by Brady Wigle, Bisgard found room for his biggest offensive play of the day, a 64-yard dash down the Trojan sideline for the Trojans’ third trip to the end zone, stretching the lead to 16 points.
Fairfield led 22-6 at the half, but there was still trouble brewing for the Trojans. Starting quarterback Voss Richardson had to leave the game due to an injury, and the Trojan offense wouldn’t be the same in the second half.
“We had 12 guys, plus about four or five swing players from J.V., and we gave them everything,” said Fairfield coach Matt Jones. “These guys played their tails off, and even in the second half, they were still fighting.”
Mt. Pleasant’s offense started to find its grove, but fumbled the ball over the goal line on a would-be touchdown early in the second half. With three-and-a-half minutes to go in the third quarter, Fairfield still led 22-6.
Mt. Pleasant finally cut into the lead when Davis took it in for a 10-yard touchdown run with 3:09 remaining. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the game at 22-12, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long.
Early in the fourth, Panther sophomore Griffen Jones had a breakout run of his own, right down the same sideline Bisgard had dashed by earlier. Jones scored to get the margin within a touchdown. The Panthers botched the extra point, but it was 22-18 with almost a full quarter to play.
“It felt really cool,” said Jones after the game. “I didn’t expect it to break through like that but it did, and it was cool.”
The Panther defense continued to push Fairfield back, and that gave Mt. Pleasant two opportunities to take the lead. On the first, Fairfield stood strong, protecting the goal line to stop Mt. Pleasant at the 2-yard line with 5:31 to go in the ballgame, a stand that, at the time, made momentum shift back toward the Trojans.
Pinned back near their own end zone, however, the Trojans were forced to punt, and Mt. Pleasant started the game-winning drive at the 25-yard line.
This time, Mt. Pleasant would not be denied. The Panthers marched down inside the 10, and Grayson Walker hit Brody Clark with a seven-yard slant in the end zone.
The Panthers went up three points after the extra point, but the job wasn’t done yet. On the ensuing drive, freshman backup quarterback Owen Adam launched a 27-yard strike to Bisgard to give the Trojans a chance past the 50-yard line. Sacks by Max Sloat and Noah Lange, however, would end the game and give the visiting Panther fans a reason to celebrate.
“We were down 22-6 at halftime, but we’ve been in that position before,” said Jones. “You’ve just got to win the half, and we just came out and dominated.”
Jones and Davis led the Panther run game all night long, with Jones going for 120 yards and a score, and Davis going for 111 and two touchdowns. Walker only threw for 93 yards, all but six of which went to Clark, who caught five balls for 87 yards and a score.
Sloat led the Mt. Pleasant defense with 8.5 tackles. Kellen Kohorst had seven.
Bisgard rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown to lead the Fairfield offense. He also had 27 of the team’s 33 yards through the air.
Tucker Robertson finished the night with seven tackles and a fumble recovery in the end zone. Allison forced that fumble, and Wigle had the team’s only interception.
Mt. Pleasant, now 7-2, will head north for the playoffs, where they will get a Top-5 team in West Delaware. The winner will take on either Davenport Assumption or Central Dewitt with a spot at the dome on the line.
Fairfield finished the year 3-6.
The game also knocked out Washington (5-4), which could have gotten in on a three-way tie, but didn’t have a chance if Mt. Pleasant came away victorious.
“This is the greatest day I’ve ever lived,” said Sloat, surrounded by celebrating Panther fans. “It’s just the greatest game you could have wished for.”
