Panthers travel west

WEST BURLINGTON — For the third year in a row, the Mt. Pleasant and West Burlington football teams are set to do battle in September. The Panthers (0-1) travel to play the Falcons (1-0) in Week 2 of the 2023 season.

Mt. Pleasant is coming off a rough second half against Fairfield that saw the Trojans run away with a 38-14 win at Mapleleaf Athletic Complex. Now, the Panthers get set to hit the road for the first time this year.

Mt. Pleasant plays a West Burlington squad that took down Wapello 46-6 on the road last week.

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Quarterback Caden Schwenker threw for 127 yards and a touchdown and ran for 94 yards and a touchdown to lead West Burlington past Wapello.

The Panthers will need to keep an eye on senior receivers Dylan Kipp and Isaiah Crow. Kipp caught one pass for 50 yards against Wapello, and Crow caught a 35-yard touchdown pass.

The Falcon defense scored once against Wapello, as junior Quincy Collins burned the Indians with a 100-yard pick six.

Mt. Pleasant, on the other hand, fought tooth and nail with Fairfield until the Trojans began to pull away late in the third quarter.

The Panthers struggled to move the ball on offense. Cooper Coleman completed four passes for 65 yards and a touchdown. Payton Walker ran for 38 yards and caught a pass for 36 yards.

The breakout star for the Panthers in Game 1 was receiver and return man Jurha Turner. Turner caught the only touchdown pass of the day, and also ran back an 85-yard kick return touchdown. In four tries, Turner racked up 168 return yards.

The Mt. Pleasant defense didn’t have any takeaways last week. The Panthers did have five takeaways against Schwenker and the Falcons last year, but West Burlington still defeated them 30-20.

Friday night’s game begins at 7:30 p.m.