The Pinckneyville Panthers overcame losing three fumbles to hold off Red Bud 23-18 Friday night in the season opener for both squads.
“You have to give credit to Red Bud, they played a good game against us,” said Pinckneyville coach Tod Rushing. “Our fumbles really hurt and without them, I think we could have pulled away.”
Each team scored three touchdowns in the game but it was the execution of the extra point that proved to be the biggest difference in the game. Red Bud went 0-for-3 in its two-point attempts, while Pinckneyville made an extra point kick and was 2-for-2 in its two-point conversions.
“Of course the extra points made a difference,” said Red Bud coach Dave Lucht. “If we make our two-point conversions, this is a different game. This is a tough loss. We had chances and just didn’t pull through late in the game. We don’t like the way this loss tastes.”
Despite the three fumbles, Pinckneyville’s offense couldn’t be stopped Friday night. The Panthers racked up 412 yards of total offense with 325 of that coming from the ground. The Panthers did not punt once in the win.
“We didn’t panic over the turnovers,” added Rushing. “We ran the ball well and took what they gave us. We have a flexible offense this year  and we will play to our strengths. Our strength in this game was our offensive and defensive line play. Up front we dominated the game then our secondary made some big plays late to seal the win.”
Pinckneyville started its first drive of the game from its own 10-yard line but were able to gain over 60 yards on nine plays before a fumble ended the possession. Red Bud senior Jordan Hannah recovered the loose ball.
The Musketeers took over from their own 25-yard line. Red Bud put together a 75-yard, 12-play drive that was capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by senior Alex Phegley. The drive was highlighted by a 27-yard pass play from Zach Siebold to Kevin Crafton, a 19-yard run by Tyler Hubert and a key six yard run by Siebold on fourth down.
The two-point pass from Siebold was dropped, and Red Bud led 6-0 with 1:27 remaining in the opening quarter.
Pinckneyville captured the lead on its next drive, as the offense was able to march down the field 65 yards on seven plays resulting in a six yard touchdown dash by quarterback Bryant Shute. The Panthers faced just one third down on the drive that was highlighted by a 24-yard completion from Shute to senior Justin Hale
Pinckneyville booted the extra point for a 7-6 lead with 9:36 left in the first half.
Red Bud moved the ball from their own 26-yard line in to Pinckneyville territory after a 31-yard pass play from Siebold to Kevin Crafton but the Musketeers’ drive stalled at midfield and were forced to punt.
The Panthers took over from their own 20 and posted back-to-back 11-yard runs by Daulton Hubler and JD Conner. However, the drive would end three plays later with another fumble which was recovered this time by Red Bud middle linebacker Phegley.
The Musketeers began their next drive from the Pinckneyville 48-yard line. Hubert took over to put Red Bud back in the lead. The senior runningback carried the ball four times for 36 yards including an 11-yard touchdown run. The two-point run was stopped short and with 1:24 remaining in the half, Red Bud was up 12-7.
The five-point lead would hold up until the second half.
The Pinckneyville defense made a strong stand, forcing Red Bud to go three-and-out on its first drive, to reclaim the game’s momentum.
The Panthers went on a 72-yard, 12-play drive that used up nearly five minutes of clock and was capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by Shute, his second of the game. Shute then connected with Marian Brammeier for the two-point pass to give his team a 15-12 lead with 5:22 left in the third quarter.
The three-point lead would hold up until the fourth quarter.
After Justyn Rushing intercepted a pass by Siebold and returned it to the 26-yard line, Pinckneyville was poised to add to its lead. And that’s exactly what the team did. On the very next play from scrimmage, Hubler escaped the Red Bud defense for a 26-yard scoring run. Shute ran in the two-point conversion and with 7:58 left in the game, Pinckneyville led 23-12.
Red Bud started the ensuing drive from the Pinckneyville 46 after a good kickoff return by Hubert.
The Musketeers took advantage of the good field position and scored seven plays later as Hubert found the endzone from five yards out. Another pass completion from Siebold to Crafton, this time for 17 yards, highlighted the scoring drive.
But once again the two-point run was stopped short. With 6:20 remaining in the game, Red Bud trailed 23-18.
Looking to put the game out of reach, Pinckneyville drove the ball down the field 41 yards on seven plays before another costly fumble gave Red Bud another chance. The loose ball was recovered by Phegley for his second fumble recovery of the game.
Siebold, Red Bud’s starting quarterback, was hurt on first down after a quarterback sack. Hubert replaced under center but the drive came to an end after he was stopped short on a fourth and five play.
“We knew going into the game that Pinckneyville was a bigger team,” said Lucht. “We failed to win the battle at the line of scrimmage. We need to perform better and we definitely have some work to do. We were way too sloppy on offense with way too many penalties. We are inexperienced on the line and that showed in the loss. We still have an explosive group on offense. If we can get the line to play better, we will be ok.”
Pinckneyville was able to take a knee and run out the clock for the win.
“Red Bud has a good offense so that says a lot about our defense that we were able to hold them to 18 points,” said Rushing.
Conner led the potent Pinckneyville rushing attack with 104 yards on 11 carries. Cole Kellerman added 76 yards on 13 attempts, while Hubler finished with 68 yards on seven carries. Shute added 45 yards on 16 attempts, while completing 6-of-9 passes for 87 yards.
Hubert led the Red Bud offense with 132 yards on 19 attempts. He had 99 yards rushing in the first half.
Siebold added 67 yards on seven carries. He also passed for 127 yards. Crafton finished with three catches for 77 yards.
Pinckneyville will travel to take on West Frankfort (0-1) Friday night, while Red Bud goes on the road to take on Wesclin (0-1).