Pekin football season comes to an end

LYNNVILLE — The Pekin football team’s fantastic turnaround season came to an end on Friday night.

The Panthers went into seventh-ranked Lynnville-Sully, as part of the Class A playoffs. The Hawks’ defense stymied the Panthers all game long, en route to a 28-6 Lynnville-Sully victory.

Lynnville-Sully led 8-0 after one quarter and 22-6 at halftime. Pekin’s defense shut out the Hawks in the third quarter, but the Panthers were able to score. Lynnville-Sully scored six points in the fourth to pull away.

  Buy Photo

The Panthers’ lone touchdown came on a kickoff return. After Pekin went up 22-0 late in the second quarter, senior Jaxon Kirkbride returned the ensuing kick 85 yards to the end zone for the Panthers’ only score of the day.

Pekin ended the season at 6-3 overall. The Panthers dominated every game they won, taking every one of those six games by at least 18 points.

The Panthers’ three losses this year all came against teams that were at one time or another ranked in The Gazette’s Class A Top-10 poll.

Among seniors the Panthers lose to graduation this year are leading rusher Sven Dahlstrom, second-leading receiver Deklan Hampton and Top-5 tackler Tanner Adrian, but the Panthers are set to return a boat load of talent next season.

The 2024 Panthers are set up to bring back starting quarterback Will Adam, leading receiver Robert Brown and three of the team’s four leading tacklers.

Lynnville-Sully moved on to a road game at No. 6 Guthrie Center ACGC in the Class A Round of 16.