FOOTBALL: Panthers finish on high note
Pinckneyville Community High School improved to 3-0 in their week nine series with Dupo, knocking off the Bulldogs 19-12 on the road Friday night to finish their 2012 season on a high note.
Playing without starting center Bobby Monaghan, the Panthers won despite a strange first half in which their offense struggled mightily getting an accurate snap to quarterback Adam Banach.
"85-90% of our snaps were on the ground to start the first half," said Panthers' head coach Tod Rushing. "We just couldn't get anything going. When you do what we do with all the motion and all the fakes, it just throws your timing off."
Dale Rae ran back a Panther fumble 47 yards for a 6-0 Dupo lead with 8:42 on the first quarter game clock, a touchdown that ended up being the first half's only score.
Banach connected with Justyn Rushing for a 41-yard TD strike early in the third quarter, but a Jimmy Dickerson 13-yard touchdown catch for the Bulldogs made it 12-6 with 6:17 remaining in the third.
On the kickoff that followed Dickerson's score, J. Rushing broke free for a 77-yard return for a touchdown and Daulton Hubler kicked the extra point through for a 13-12 Panther lead.
"The kids really rose up in the second half," T. Rushing said. "We struggled a lot in the first half, we had a couple of offensive linemen out and had to move some people around and it really effected us for a while. I think the kids really responded to what we talked to them about at halftime and came out and had a great second half."
The defense, along with a solid running game behind Hubler and Banach, did the rest. Hubler finished with 103 yards on his 16 carries and Banach added a late touchdown to put the game out of reach, winding up with 22 carries for 76 yards along with 48 yards on 2-of-9 passing.
Chase Lazenby (3 carries, 6 yards), Ky Hamilton (3-(-10) and J. Rushing (3-(-2) also carried the ball for PCHS at Dupo.
Both teams earned 13 first downs in the game and had one turnover.
"Defensively, I thought we played outstanding," T. Rushing said. "Daulton Hubler had a good game running the ball, Adam Banach had another good game, Justyn Rushing made a couple of key plays for us. I told them, if you hang in there and keep pounding, good things can happen."
Pinckneyville (4-5) ends their season with the victory while Dupo (6-3) moves on to the IHSA Class 1A Playoffs this weekend.
"We really felt like we let a couple games get away that we had a chance to win," said Coach Rushing. "I was proud that they didn't quit with all the adversity they went through in the middle of the year."
Banach will retake the roll of backup quarterback next fall when Colton Nelson returns to lead a senior-heavy Pinckneyville group.