Pinckneyville needed a big win and the Panthers pulled out a huge upset Friday night against a tough Nashville squad.

“This win was really needed,” said Pinckneyville coach Tod Rushing. “We beat a quality opponent and we played very well to get the win.”

The Panthers fell behind early after a fumble was returned 64 yards for a Nashville score. The Hornets then increased their lead to 12-0 with a 27-yard touchdown run.

It would have been real easy for the Panthers to give up considering their 0-4 start to the season, but the squad answered Nashville by scoring the next 12 points to tie the game.

Nathan Morton got the scoring started for the Panthers with a 50-yard touchdown run. Just over six minutes later, the Pinckneyville offense struck again as Bryant Shute called his own number and scored from three yards out.

“We faced some adversity early but the team stepped up and answered the call,” said Rushing. “We played a very physical game and overcame whatever Nashville threw at us.”

Nashville regrouped and reclaimed the momentum with a late second quarter touchdown to boast an 18-12 halftime lead.

The second half was all Pinckneyville as Jake Bathon came up big through the remaining two quarters.

Bathon  helped Pinckneyville take the lead for good with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Shute. Pinckneyville added the two-point conversion and with 1:35 to play in the third quarter, the Panthers led 20-18.

Bathon would come through again, this time with a 14-yard touchdown run to wrap up Pinckneyville’s scoring. The two-point conversion failed and with 1:13 to play, Pinckneyville led 26-18.

Bathon sealed the win four plays later with an interception with 20 seconds remaining in the game.

“Jake had an excellent second half and he is capable of making impact plays at anytime,” said Rushing.

Pinckneyville finished with 326 yards of total offense which featured a balanced attack as 188 yards came from their rushing game and 138 yards came through the air.

Shute was the offensive hero for the Panthers as he finished the game with 144 yards rushing on 22 attempts while completing 5-of-9 passes for 138 yards.

“Bryant had a great game for us,” said Rushing. “He was able to spread the ball around to a number of different receivers. He stepped up big time for us in this win.”

Pinckneyville improved to 1-4 on the season and 1-1 in conference play while Nashville fell to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the conference.