FOOTBALL: 'The Streak' is History
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[For 27 consecutive seasons, the Du Quoin Indians had owned the Pinckneyville Panthers in high school football. For at least one night at Van Metre Field, it was the Panthers' turn to teach a history lesson.
Pinckneyville not only snapped 'The Streak' this past Friday night, but did so by racking up 40 points on the Indians' home turf, the most scored by any regular season opponent at Van Metre since 1965 (Nashville). The Panthers won the battle of 4-2 teams 40-22 and are now tied with Anna-Jonesboro for first place in the Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference Mississippi Division.
"It's a sweet feeling to win on the road when you beat anybody," said Panthers' head coach Tod Rushing, in-between post-game hugs from players, coaches and fans. "It's just a great feeling, it hasn't really hit me yet."
The Panthers built a 24-0 lead on the hometown Indians before Du Quoin tried to rally back, but in the end, Pinckneyville won the battle at the line of scrimmage most of the night while taking care of the football. The Panthers' lone turnover came on a fourth down red-zone interception that turned out better for Pinckneyville than would have the result of an incomplete pass.
"They blocked, and they outplayed-us," said Al Martin, who suffered the first defeat of his 24-year Indians head coaching career at the hands of Pinckneyville. "When you out-block a team you usually win, and they out-blocked us."
The Panthers' opening drive set the tone for the evening. After starting on their own 21-yard line, Pinckneyville ate up over seven minutes of game clock in running 16 plays to set up quarterback Bryant Shute's 1-yard touchdown run for a 6-0 lead. Shute connected with tight end Marian Brammeier on the two-point conversion to make it 8-0 with 4:46 to go in the first quarter. Shute had a handful of strong runs on the drive and Cole Kellerman picked up a key fourth-and-two on the ground to keep the offense on the field.
Du Quoin quickly responded with a first down on their initial play on offense, a run to the left side by Haeden Sweetin, but quarterback Sam Gossett was picked off near his own 40-yard line by Shute two plays later.
With a short field in front of him, Shute found Austin Pyatt on a fade route near the sideline for a 31-yard touchdown pass, then ran the two-pointer in for a 16-0 advantage with 2:35 remaining in the opening period.
With the Indians' offense still struggling to get past midfield, the Panthers tacked on another touchdown on a 15-yard run by C. Kellerman to cap off a 54-yard drive with 3:34 left in the half to stun roughly half of the huge crowd in attendance at DHS.
"I had a good four-foot hole every time," said C. Kellerman. "(Our line is) so big and strong, they did such a great job every play."
Shute dove in for the two-pointer and had a defender land awkwardly on his ankle, which would require some taping for the quarterback-slash-safety to remain in the game. His ability to run in the second half was severely limited as a result, and the senior finished with 97 yards on the ground despite just one rushing attempt after the break.
Where the Panthers seemed to miss Shute even more, however, was in the secondary. With just 3:47 to go in the half and Shute sidelined, Du Quoin was able to march down the field for an 80-yard drive that featured three pass completions and a 40-yard touchdown run by Gossett. Brandon Williams punched in the two-pointer to cut Pinckneyville's halftime lead to 24-8.
"We missed Bryant there, and you don't want to take anything away from (Du Quoin) because I thought they played very well, but I think when we got the 24-0 lead at the end of the first half we kind of had a mental letdown and let them have that score," said Rushing. "(Du Quoin) came out in the second half and played very well offensively, but I thought that first score was kind of our fault. They took advantage of it, that's what good teams do. They didn't get all the banners they've got hanging up by not being a good football program."
With Shute laboring, the Panther offense became a bit more predictable for the Indians. Du Quoin forced a pair of punts in the third quarter, then drove 58 yards on 9 plays, bringing the crowd back to the edge of its' seat as the score sat at 24-16 after touchdown and two-point runs by Gossett.
"I got a little conservative when Shute got hurt and went to the wing-T only," Rushing admitted. "Then I realized, let's do what we're going to do, we've got a lot of weapons here. We spread them out and that allowed us to have us some running lanes. Our line did a great job all night, but at that point, our running backs did an excellent job of not only finishing runs, but blocking the perimeter."
Taking over on their own 43 after the kickoff, Pinckneyville found success time and time again on jet sweep plays to either side, utilizing their deep stable of backs C. Kellerman, J.D. Connor and Justin Hale. C. Kellerman's 25-yard run helped set up Connor's 15-yard touchdown carry with 10:18 left in the ball game, then Ky Hamilton got the call on the two-pointer and took it in for a 32-16 Panther lead.
Du Quoin needed less than two minutes to respond, as Gossett and Williams led another 80-yard touchdown drive. Williams had a pair of big runs in the series, allowing Gossett to run in from 15 yards out, carrying defenders and breaking tackles all the way for six. Gossett's two-point pass fell incomplete, however, leaving the Indians down two scores.
"We were able to put together a few things and score a few points, we didn't quit," Martin said. "I'm disappointed that we didn't play very well, but we didn't quit. I'm proud of our kids for not quitting."
With the clock as their enemy, Du Quoin tried an onside kick and got a fortunate deflection off of a Pinckneyville player that allowed them to recover at their own 36-yard line. A pass interference call on the Panthers gave Du Quoin first-and-ten at the Pinckneyville 34-yard line, but three incompletions and a short run later, the game was no longer in question.
After the turnover on downs, Shute and company would wind out most of the remainder of the clock before sticking in the dagger with Pyatt's second touchdown catch from Shute with 2:46 to play. C. Kellerman added the two-point conversion on the ground.
"I told (our guys in the huddle) we need to step up if we're going to make history right now, they came out and did a great job," Shute said. "I can't even explain it. It's great, we have our whole community behind us now."
Rushing, Shute, C. Kellerman, and practically everyone else on the PCHS sideline was more than willing to give credit where it was due - to the Panthers' offensive line.
"We practiced hard all week, and came in and approached it like just another game," said senior lineman Sabin Kohut. "We put a lot of heart into it and we couldn't do it without each and every person on our team. Everyone had to play hard. Pretty much anyone can be taught technique, but our coaches make sure that we have heart."
Pinckneyville racked up 339 rushing yards on 63 carries against the Indians, with C. Kellerman's 142 yards on 26 attempts leading the way. Shute (16-97), Connor (11-60), Hale (9-37) and Hamilton (1-3) also carried the ball against Du Quoin.
"We've got a lot of weapons," Rushing said. "Everyone's been talking about Bryant, and he is great, he makes us go, he's the spark plug that drives the whole thing, but he's got a lot to go with him. We've had spark plugs before and not had all those weapons around them and it makes a big difference when you've got all those people to go to."
Several streaks came to a crashing halt in Du Quoin on Friday night and other historic accomplishments for PCHS football could follow.
In addition to stopping the 27-year losing streak and scoring 40 points at Du Quoin, the Panthers handed the Indians their second conference loss of the season, something that also hasn't happened since 1983.
Not only that, but the win gives the Panthers a golden opportunity to finish up 7-2 and have a shot at hosting the first home playoff football game in school history. They also have a chance to win a conference championship, something only two teams from PCHS can claim.
"That means more to me than anything, is that these kids get a conference championship," Rushing said. "I got to be part of one my junior year and hopefully we can get number three."
Shute was good on 5-of-10 passes for 69 yards, completing throws to Pyatt (2-47), C. Kellerman (2-19) and Brammeier (1-3).
Gossett led DHS with 115 rushing yards on 12 attempts, with Williams (5-35), Sweetin (4-28), Deeja Cole (7-27), Buddy Smith (3-23) and Trevon Jones (2-7) getting the rest of the work from the backfield. Gossett was 6-of-14 passing, connecting with Williams (3-66), Donoghue (2-23) and Jonathan Boss (1-4).
Pinckneyville had 416 total yards in the game to Du Quoin's 328.
Late in the game, Gossett was taken down from behind and his knee twisted upon impact with the turf, dislocating. The knee was popped back into place, but Gossett's status remains uncertain. The Panthers also suffered a painful injury in the contest, losing Brammeier to a dislocated shoulder.
Pinckneyville (5-2, 3-1) will look to wrap up a share of the SIRR Mississippi this Friday at home against winless Sparta (0-7, 0-4). Du Quoin (4-3, 2-2) looks to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time since 2000 as they travel to Nashville (3-4, 2-2).
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