Through three game this season the understudy Panthers have outscored their opponents 121-12.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Panthers capped off an 84-yard drive scoring on the first play of the second quarter. Sophomore quarterback, Justin Pierceson hit Kaleb Thompson in the end zone with a 10-yard pass. A 2-point conversion made it 8-0.
Jack Sandrock recovered a Kewanee fumble on the first play of their following possession and took over on the Riveters’ 29 yard line. Five plays later, EP punched it in from the one yard line on a toss from Pierceson to Noah Berk. The PAT put the visitors up 15-0 with 7:13 left in the first half.
The Panther defense was dominating, giving the Riveters just four plays in their first two possessions. After a three and out, and a short punt, EP took over at 35 yard line but they went backwards on a pair of bad snaps, a sack, and a penalty, which led to a fourth and 35 and their first unsuccessful drive of the game.
With 1:21 left in the half Kewanee took over of the own 45. The hosts finally earned their first 1st down of the half on a pass play. However, their excitement was short lived as on the next snap EP’s Kingston Gehrking picked off a pass to end the possession and send the teams to the half.
EP started the second half with a 35-yard run by Matt Ballard to the Kewanee 5. Pierceson found Anden Kochevar for a 6-yard TD pass to complete a 63-yard drive that consumed 5:42 and put EP up 22-0
Kochevar showed his defensive prowess on Kewanee’s next drive as he collected EP’s second pick of the contest.
A 21-yard pass from Pierceson to Jaxon Alls and a 16-yard pick up by Berk moved the ball to the Riveters’ 8 yard line. Berk ran it and a 2 point conversion made it 30-0 at the end of three.
EP gave up a 31-yard TD run by Anton Jones to make it 30-6 with 8:02 left in the game.
On the Panther’s next possession, Kochevar took an inside toss from Pierceson and raced down the sideline to make it 37-6 with 5:31 left to end the scoring.
“We beat our toughest opponent yet in a well coached Kewanee team. said EP coach Kyle Foster. “I thought the young Kewanee boys were much improved over last year, and they pushed our guys to raise their play.”
“Defensively our first team continued their dominant streak, stifling Kewanee’s offense at every opportunity. Our D-Line is doing well maintaining their gaps and occupying offensive linemen, which is really allowing our linebackers to flow and do their jobs well. Adding a couple of well timed turnovers by Gehrking and Kochevar, as well as a forced fumble turnover early helped keep the momentum on our side.”
“Offensively it was another night where our depth showed, with multiple guys seeing high quality touches. To some extent it was the Thompson brother’s show, with both Kaleb and Keegen having big nights on the ground. Our offensive linemen did well following their rules and creating quality lanes for them.”
The 3-0 Panthers will host Newman next Monday. That game, like the varsity matchup this Saturday, with the Comets will be a pivotal point for both teams as the tide in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference continues to turn. “Our theme this year has been “send a message”. Consistently our program gets looked past as just another opponent and not someone to take seriously. I think at both levels we are working to change that narrative, and so far we have been successful. We want to continue to show the TRAC that the EP Panther football program is at the top, and we need to do that one week at a time. Next message to send: Newman!”
