Pekin Homecoming pirated away

PACKWOOD — Down 14-0 at halftime, Pekin matched visiting Alburnett touchdown for touchdown in the second half of Friday’s game, but lost 30-14 on homecoming night.

“Our kids showed improvement in multiple areas this week,” Pekin head coach Klynt Weber said. “They showed spirit, competitiveness and fight until the very end, which I thought was a huge improvement from Week 1.”

Pekin found something that was working well, its passing game. Luke Long was working to get open as he caught 10 passes for 180 yards and both touchdowns. Colton Comstock was 11-for-20 for 203 yards and no interceptions. Freshman Will Adam had the other reception. Comstock also had 83 yards on 19 rushes for the Panthers.

The Panthers defense gave up huge yards on two big plays that led to two Pirates touchdowns.

”That eventually made the difference,“ Weber said. ”We have to focus on improving our physical and mental discipline to eliminate our penalty count which led to stalled drives.“

Logan Lauderman led the defense with 6.0 tackles for the Panthers. Lauderman, Long and freshman Isaac Sylvester each had a tackle for loss. Blake Juhl and Logan Baker each had 4.5 tackles.

Alburnett (1-1) had two 100-yard gainers with Carson Klosterman at 105 rushing on 21 carries and Gavin Soukup at 125 receiving on four receptions.

Pekin plays at North Cedar Friday with both teams at 0-2.