Pekin's streak ends at Lynnville-Sully

The Pekin football team went 6-0 before facing their toughest challenge yet when they travelled to Lynnville-Sully on Sept. 29. The Panthers hit a wall against the Hawks, leaving with a 35-7 loss.

"For once we played a great team that challenged us in ways we hadn't been challenged before," Panther coach Bud Blakely said. "We were close many times to having big plays. I believe if we get back to the basics we can fix many things that we struggled with."

Pekin's potent rushing attack was still evident throughout the game, with Monico Requena racking up another 186 yards on the season. He was the workhorse, providing the only Panther score. The Hawks kept Pekin a one-dimensional offense, shutting down the passing threat most of the game.

After one quarter of play, things were kept close with Pekin only trailing 13-7. The difference came in the other three quarters of play, when LS put up 22 unanswered points through the third quarter. One category the Panthers did win was in turnovers, forcing one fumble and not turning the ball over on offense.

"I think our kids felt we left a lot of plays out there and we did some uncharacteristic things of ourselves," Blakely said. "We played a good football team and felt we didn't perform to the best of our ability. We will grow from it and move on."

Pekin also ended up with six tackles for a loss of yards, including two from Zach Hammes, who also recorded a sack. Chandler Eckley led the defense with five tackles, Hunter Conger had four tackles and Cameron Millikin also had four. Skyler Juhl recovered the lone fumble for the Panthers.

The Panthers hope to begin a new winning streak as they travel to play Winfield-Mt. Union on October 6.

"I think if anything our kids will be hungry to get back on the field for some redemption," Blakely said. "We will hit the reset button this week and get back to work."