Friday Night Lights: Furious Panther Rally Falls Short
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[After falling into a 33-7 hole at halftime, Pinckneyville almost completed an impossible comeback against Red Bud, scoring 22 unanswered points in the second half but falling short on two late chances to win the game.
"We hate to let this one get away, we felt like this is one we could get," said Pinckneyville head coach Tod Rushing, "but we didn't, so we have to pick our heads up and get ready for West Frankfort ... I told them I was proud of them because they didn't quit."
Things couldn't have started much worse than they did for the Panthers, as a fumble on a pitch deep in their own territory turned the ball over to Red Bud at the Pinckneyville 24-yard line.
The Panther defense held strong until Red Bud was forced into a fourth-and-six, when quarterback Jake Hoffman found Tyler Magruder on a slant for the game's first touchdown.
Pinckneyville bounced right back, using a pair of long runs by quarterback Bryant Shute to move the ball down the field and across the goal line. Shute's extra point kick tied the game at 7-7 with 6:10 remaining in the opening quarter.
For a brief moment things looked to be headed the Panthers' way, as Hoffman fumbled the ball right back to Pinckneyville on second down at the Musketeers' 36, but they would return the favor after two plays when the snap hit a man in motion. Alex Phegley pounced on the fumble for Red Bud.
The Musketeers then scored 26 unanswered points before halftime, with Magruder and Hoffman doing most of the damage.
The last score of the first half was a tough pill to swallow for Pinckneyville, as they had the ball and a first down with 2:01 to play, but went three-and-out and were forced to punt it back to the Musketeers, who took over on their own 44-yard line with just 41.7 seconds on the clock.
Hoffman went to work, finding Tyler Hubert for a quick 23-yard gain, then scrambled around until he could find Magruder down to the Pinckneyville 18-yard line.
On third-and-ten from the 18 with 2.2 seconds left in the half, Hoffman connected with Hubert across the middle of the field for the touchdown and 33-7 advantage. Red Bud connected on six passes for 85 yards in the first half.
"We lost the ball game when we let our heads down at the end of the first half and let them score that last touchdown," Rushing said.
The Panthers wouldn't go away, however, pounding the ball for a touchdown drive that ended with Shute scampering around the right end with 5:14 left in the third period. Pinckneyville went for two unsuccessfully and trailed 33-13.
Shute would hit Nathan Morton early in the fourth quarter for a 55-yard strike, then Jake Bathon on the two-point conversion to cut the lead to a dozen.
Bathon would pick off a laboring Hoffman on the next Red Bud drive, and the Panthers suddenly had a chance.
A pass interference call followed by a late hit, both against Red Bud, put the Panthers in position for a 22-yard pass from Shute to Morton to cut the lead to four with a little over six minutes to play.
"(The Musketeers) were struggling covering our trips and we were able to make some big plays," said Rushing.
A bad snap on a punt attempt on the Musketeers' next possession gave the Panthers the ball on Red Bud 14-yard line, but the offense was unable to take advantage as Shute was intercepted on fourth-and-long.
Pinckneyville got another chance late, taking over at the Musketeers' 15-yard line with 36 seconds left in the game, but on second down Shute's pass was redirected at the line and intercepted to end the threat.
The Panthers (0-1) travel to West Frankfort in week two.