Pekin digs a hole it can?t get out of vs. MEPO

PACKWOOD ? Pekin fumbled on its first possession, and things didn?t get any better from there.

Eight Panther turnovers during Friday?s game vs. Mediapolis turned into a 33-6 loss for Pekin in its home opener.

One week removed from playing a smash-mouth Sigourney-Keota squad, Pekin faced the Mediapolis spread attack and once again didn?t offer much resistance. Bulldog quarterback Jesse Ertz hit 14 of his 19 pass attempts four 142 yards to go along with a Mediapolis rushing attack that tallied all five touchdowns.

Ertz picked up just 14 yards on the ground, but ran for two scores while running back Wil Janssen did most of the damage with 150 yards on just 12 carries that included three touchdowns.

Quentin Garrels led the Pekin offense with another 100 yard game running for 114 yards on 17 carries. Garrels tallied the lone Panther touchdown. Quarterback Graham Wittrock picked up 56 more yards.

Derek Morales led the Pekin defense that spent plenty of time on the field with 10 tackles followed by eight by Tater Clubb and seven from Hunter Maeder.

The non-district schedule the past two weeks certainly didn?t pay Pekin any favors, and because of it, the Panthers are 0-2 heading into district play this week. Both of Pekin?s opponents are now 2-0, and the Panthers are set to face another 2-0 team in Wapello to open the Class 1A District 6 schedule on the road.