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FOOTBALL: Panthers' turnover problems resurface at Bismarck

Posted October 31, 2011 11:00 pm

Doug Daniels

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[After committing fourteen turnovers in their first four games, Pinckneyville gave it away just six times in their remaining five contests of the regular season and seemed to have overcome their ball security problems.

Riding a five game winning streak into only the third postseason game in the program's history, the Panthers had a bit of a relapse this past Saturday, turning the ball over five times in a 33-16 road loss at Bismarck-Henning in round one of the 2011 IHSA Class 2A Football Playoffs.

"I felt like it was deja vu," said PCHS head coach Tod Rushing. "We started off the year having a little trouble holding onto the ball and we cured that and played some really good football. I hate to see the kids get up here and end on a note like that, to put the ball on the ground, it really cost us. I really felt like we gave them a score and it cost us two scores."

Blue Devils' head coach Mark Dodd also felt that the Panthers' mistakes limited their success.

"We made a lot of mistakes and I think they made a few more," Dodd said. "It's certainly not our best game, but I think we played very physical up front and I think that's what we've been hanging our hat on the past few weeks."

Pinckneyville received the opening kickoff but went three-and-out after three short run plays. The Blue Devils took over on their own 33-yard line and rode their all-time leading rusher, Reed Collins, all the way down to the Panthers' 45-yard line after just a pair of carries.

The Panther defense had Bismarck-Henning stopped for a fourth-and-one from the 36, but jumped offsides to hand the Devils a first down.

Four plays later, B-H quarterback Krystian Ingram connected with the school's all-time leading receiver, Adam Baker, for a 27-yard touchdown pass and a 6-0 lead with 5:26 left in the first quarter.

After a short return on the kickoff, Pinckneyville's bout with the turnover bug began. On second-and-five from the PCHS 15, Panther QB Bryant Shute fumbled and Collins picked it up at the 12 for Bismarck-Henning. Two plays later, Kevin Allen rumbled in from two yards out and Collins took in the two-point conversion as the Devils led 14-0.

The Panthers went 66 yards on 14 plays during their next drive - the only problem was they needed 71. After a first down at the Bismarck 12, four runs failed to get the first down just inside the three yard line and B-H took over on downs.

Pinned deep in their own end, the Blue Devils were forced three-and-out by the PCHS defensive unit and could only manage a punt to their own 24-yard line from the end zone.

The Panthers took advantage of the short field when Justin Hale followed a parade of blocks to the left side for an 18-yard touchdown with 8:14 to go in the half. Shute passed to Hale for the two-pointer and PCHS trailed 14-8.

Pinckneyville appeared to be grabbing the momentum moments later when Austin Pyatt picked off an Ingram pass at the Bismarck 35, but Cole Kellerman fumbled on the Panthers' first play of offense and the Devils recovered it back.

The two teams fought for field position until a bad snap on fourth-and-thirteen from the Pinckneyville 27 sent the ball over punter Marian Brammeier's head. Brammeier recovered, but could only advance the ball to the Panther 21.

Allen did the rest, needing just three downs to get into the end zone for a 20-8 halftime lead.

"They were a very good, physical football team," Rushing said of Bismarck-Henning. "Those two running backs do an excellent job of, not only running hard, but blocking and hanging onto the football."

Pinckneyville again was driving in the third quarter, but on fourth-and-four from the Bismarck 29, Shute connected with Hale on a first down pass only for the ball to hit the ground again. The Devils pounced on the fumble at the 17, then put the game away with a clock-eating eight-minute-plus drive that ended with another Allen touchdown run.

Shute found Ky Hamilton for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 0:15 to go in the game for the Panthers' other score. C. Kellerman added the two-point conversion on the ground.

"It was pretty much (Collins) in the first half and (Allen) in the second half," Dodd said. "Reed (Collins) went out with a little nick and we just put the ball into Kevin (Allen)'s hands and he showed that he's ready to go."

Allen led the way for Bismarck-Henning with 147 rushing yards on 16 carries. Collins added 99 yards on his 19 attempts. The Blue Devils committed three fumbles in the game but were able to recover them all.

"That was probably the difference in the game, they hung on to the ball," said Rushing. "When they did drop it, they got it back; when we dropped it, they got half of them. You hear it all the time, the team that limits their turnovers, when teams are evenly matched, is probably going to win the game."

Meanwhile, Shute was picked off twice while completing 5-of-12 passes for 55 yards and ran 21 times for 69 yards. The quarterback and safety had been limited the last two weeks with an ankle sprain and saw only a few offensive series in Pinckneyville's week nine win over Dupo.

"This is a game where you lose your timing rather quickly," Rushing said. "I thought he played valiantly, he took a beating out there. His jersey's torn in two or three spots, he took a couple good shots. When you're making a lot of decisions in a short amount of time, sometimes you're going to make a wrong one."

Hale (5-41), C. Kellerman (11-38), and J.D. Conner (7-33) also contributed to the Panthers' total of 174 yards on the ground. Hamilton (2-32), Hale (2-14) and Brammeier (1-9) had receptions.

Bismarck-Henning totaled 303 yards of offense - 268 on the ground and 35 in the air.

The Panthers' season comes to an end at 7-3, the most victories the program has had at the varsity level since 1978. With the sophomore squad finishing 8-0, Pinckneyville expects to remain a force in the Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference despite losing 19 seniors.

"I told them we've got a bright future, we've got some very skilled kids, good speed, but we've got to get in the weight room and work," said Rushing. "We're not going to have all of the big ole' hosses we've had, we've got a couple, but we're a little smaller in the future."

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