Pekin routs Davis County in response to first loss

For two straight years, the Pekin boys have crushed Davis County, a 2A school, on their homefield. The Panthers came into this seasons’ matchup having lost to a ranked Mediapolis squad on the road a week prior. Pekin responded by dismantling the Mustangs 56-27 on September 14.

                The Panthers came out firing and showed no signs of slowing down against the Mustangs, sticking to their game plan throughout, while mixing in some passing.

                “I think you always want to see your kids bounce back mentally and I thought our kids did just that,” Pekin coach Bud Blakely said. “We exhausted ourselves against Mediapolis and then we regrouped to work on getting better.”

                Caleb Comstock had his best game of the season, completing five of his six passes for 114 yards and three touchdowns. Coming into this game, Comstock had only tossed one score, coming the week prior. Three Panthers were on the receiving end of Comstock’s passes, with Conner Reed leading the way with three catches for 52 yards and one score. Tanner Bainbridge hauled in the other score on a 44-yard pass and Kennan Winn also caught one pass for 18 yards.

                Pekin primarily stuck to their ground game throughout, with Dayne Eckley rushing over 100 yards for the fourth time in four games. Eckley finished with 130 yards rushing on 11 rushing attempts, averaging just under 12 yards per rush, and scored one time. Bainbridge also tacked on two rushing scores, totaling 14 yards on four carries.

                “I thought overall we kept playing hard when Davis County kept answering our scores early on,” Blakely said. “We executed offensively, and overall, I thought our defense did a nice job against their offense that provided some tough challenges.”

                Winn led the Panthers on defense, finishing out the game with nine tackles, eight of which were solo tackles. Kale Baker contributed with 8.5 tackles, seven of which were solo tackles. Logan Kealey had eight tackles, seven solo and two tackles for a loss of yards. Reed also had a couple tackles for a loss of yards and was the lone Panther to record a sack of the Mustangs QB. Pekin also generated a couple turnovers with their defense with Cael Lyle hauling in an interception and Mason Juhl recovering a fumble for a three-yard score.

                “We still have some fundamental things we need to clean up and I think our special teams could be much better,” Blakely said. “We continue to focus on those things as we go into District play.”

                The resounding victory pushed the Panthers’ record to 3-1 as District begins this week on September 21.

                “I’m pretty pleased with where we’re at and the direction we are headed. This team has worked hard to get to 3-1 and will have to continue the attitude and work ethic to continue to have success in District play,” Blakely said. “There is much to work on and our kids have done a nice job of reacting when we challenge them in various areas of the game. Most of that comes back to our senior leadership.”

                The Panthers are on the road when they face Cardinal (4-0) on September 21. Last year, the Panthers routed Cardinal 56-6 for Homecoming behind five combined rushing scores from Eckley and Torell Washington.