Panthers shut down in Fort Madison

FORT MADISON - The Mt. Pleasant football team couldn't get their offense going on Friday night in Fort Madison. The short-handed Panthers, who were missing key players on both offense and defense due to COVID-19 quarantine, fell 44-7.

After giving up two scores to the Bloodhounds in the first quarter, Mt. Pleasant scored their only touchdown of the game on a one-yard rush by Avery Scandridge. That cut the lead to 14-7, where it would stay until the end of the first quarter. Unfortunately for Mt. Pleasant fans, those were the last points of the game for the Maron and Gold.

Fort Madison would score the next 30 points of the game, led by a devestating running game that racked up 266 yards and three scores on the ground. Bloodhound quarterback Landes Williams had 187 total yards and four touchdowns.

Carson Coleman stepped up in place of Mt. Pleasant starting quarterback Jack Johnson, one of the Panthers' key absences. Coleman went 12-for-22 through the air, throwing for 181 yards and one interception. He also led the running game with 20 yards.

Coleman's favorite target was Chase Williamson, who caught six passes for 97 yards. Reean Seberg brought in three catches for 60.

Klayton Kleinkopf's 11 tackles led the Mt. Pleasant offense. Grifen Molle had 7.5 tackles. Mt. Pleasant lost the turnover battle 2-0.

The Panthers are now 2-3 overall and 1-2 in district play. They'll face Burlington (1-0, 1-3) in their final regular season game next week. That game will be at home.