The Panthers only punted once during the contest and finished 7-2 on the season and hope for a first-round bye in the newly expanded IHSA 2A playoffs. This is the third consecutive appearance by EP in the playoffs, the second time the co-op has done that.The Devils finished their season 1-8, their only win coming on a forfeit by Sherrard.
Hall received the opening kickoff but couldn’t move the ball against the stiff Panther defense led by senior, Caleb Reymer and were forced to punt after 3 plays. The snap went over the punter who recovered in the end zone for a safety for EP just 2 minutes into the game.
Lane Decker’s strong return of the ensuing kick gave EP possession on the Devil 40 yard line. The Panthers gained 3 first downs and withstood 3 penalties, before Tristen Hovey finished the drive scoring from 2 yards out making it 8-0 EP.
After another three and out from Hall, a punt was fumbled by the Panthers and Hall recovered on the EP 45. Another strong defensive stand ended the quarter with the Devils punting again and EP took over on their 27.
A 25-yard pass from Evan Steimle to Decker and a couple strong runs by Hovey and Steimle moved the ball deep into Hall territory and Hovey got his second TD from 10 yards out. Steimle’s 2-point conversion made it 16-0.
Cameron Pellegrini from Hall returned the kickoff 85-yards breaking a couple tackles on the way to get the hosts on the board. The QB run for 2 was good and the lead was cut in half to 16-8 midway through the second quarter.
The Panthers were able to get one more score before the half as a 35-yard pass from Steimle to Decker moved it to the 7 and one play later Hovey scored again from a yard out. EP’s lead was 22-8 at halftime.
Head coach Tyler Whitebread stated afterwards, “I thought we came out a little sloppy in the first half. The kick return TD, lining up wrong on offense and didn’t execute very well. We challenged them at halftime to clean up the mistakes and we played a much better second half.”
A 69-yard return by sophomore, Kaleb Thompson to the Hall 24 on the second half kickoff got things rolling again. Hovey got his fourth TD a couple plays later as he took a pitch from Steimle and ran around left end into the end zone. Steimle’s kick put EP up 29-8.
The Panthers tallied 2 more touchdowns in the final 16 minutes. Steimle ran one in from 10 yards out near the end of the third period and then found Decker open across the middle from 5 yards out with 4 minutes left to end the scoring.
Steimle had 123 yards on the ground followed by Hovey with 85 and Noah Wetzell added 50 late in the game. Steimle was 7-10 throwing the ball for 115 yards to Decker and Caleb Brown. The stout Panther defense only gave up 68 yards rushing and 34 yards passing on the night.
The Panthers should know their playoff pairing at 9PM Saturday night.
Three Rivers Athletic Conference Scores
EP 43 – Hall 8
Riverdale 35 – Kewanee 13
Newman 42 – Mendota 8
Orion 40 – Monmouth/Roseville 16
Rockridge 21 – Princeton 16
Mercer Co. 1 – Sherrard 0 (Forfeit)
