Last year Pinckneyville upset Carterville and prevented the Lions from clinching a share of the SIRR Mississippi Division title. Friday night, Carterville got some revenge with a 35-21 win.
The Lions ran for nearly 400 yards while holding Pinckneyville to 158 yards on the ground.
Playing on the artificial turf at Carterville’s million dollar complex, the Panthers struck first. A 46-yard pass play from Bryant Shute to Marian Brammeier set up a four-yard touchdown run by J.D. Connor for a 7-0 lead with 8:55 to play in the opening quarter.
After both teams alternated turnovers, Carterville used a nine-play, 63-yard drive to tie up the game. The long drive was capped off by an eight yard touchdown by J.D. Helton. With 4:04 to play in the first quarter, the game was tied 7-7.
The Panthers answered back with a long drive of their own on their next possession. Pinckneyville put together a 70-yard, 14-play scoring drive to regain the lead. On the drive, Pinckneyville converted three fourth downs, one on a quarterback sneak by Shute, a 10-yard run by Justin Hale and a 33-yard pass completion to Austin Pyatt, which setup the two-yard touchdown run by Hale. However, the extra point kick was missed, and with 9:58 left in the first half, the Panthers led 13-7.
Carterville found its rhythm offensively, moving the ball 80 yards on 10 plays, while never facing a third down to get the go-ahead score. Jeff Aldridge capped off the 80-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown scramble. The Lions added the extra point to claim a 14-13 lead with 5:11 remaining in the first half.
Pinckneyville was held to just one first down on its next drive, and the Panthers were forced to punt the ball back to Carterville with just under two minutes left in the first half.
It took Carterville just five plays to get the ball to the Pinckneyville five yard line. But the Pinckneyville defense held tough, forcing a fourth down from the six yard line. On fourth down, Aldridge’s pass was broken up in the end zone by junior Caleb Howard to keep his team down by just one point at the break.
Neither team could get things going offensively right away in the second half, as both teams were forced to punt away their first possessions.
Carterville got some big runs on its next drive, which was capped off by a 28-yard scoring run by Helton. Carterville added the extra point to go up 21-13 with 3:32 left in the third quarter.
Pinckneyville’s hopes for a comeback were dashed from its next play from scrimmage, a fumble that was recovered by Carterville on the Pinckneyville 21 yard line.
Two plays later and Carterville was back in the end zone, this time the result of a seven-yard touchdown run by Helton. With under a minute to play in the quarter, Carterville’s lead ballooned to 28-13.
Pinckneyville went to its spread offense, and the change paid off for the Panthers. Pinckneyville marched down the field 60-yards on seven plays. The drive was highlighted by a 29-yard run by Shute and a one-yard touchdown  run by the quarterback. Cole Kellerman ran in the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 28-21 with 10:08 left in the game.
The Panthers got the ball back two and half minutes later after recovering a Helton fumble.
Starting with good field position, their own 43 yard line, the Panthers were looking to tie up the game with a touchdown.
However, after back-to-back penalties forced long yardage, Pinckneyville was unable to pick up the Carterville blitz on fourth down and were forced to turn the ball over.
Carterville countered with a 56-yard, six-play drive that was capped off by an 18-yard touchdown run by M. Aschemann.
Pinckneyville fumbled the ball away on its next play from scrimmage as the offensive line was once again unable to pick up Carterville’s blitz. The Lions were able to pick up a first down and run out the clock to seal the 25-21 victory.
Helton finished with 154 yards rushing on 21 carries with three touchdowns, while Aldridge added 117 yards rushing on 23 attempts.
Shute finished with 54 yards on 10 carries to pace the Pinckneyville rushing attack, while Justin Hale added 47 yards. Cole Kellerman had 48 yards.
Shute completed 2-of-9 passes for 79 yards.
With the loss, Pinckneyville dropped to 2-2 on the season and will host Anna-Jonesboro Friday night.