Trailing 16-7 early in the second quarter after giving up two TDs and a safety on a bad punt snap, and staring a 1-3 record and 0-2 in the conference in the face, the United Township Panthers reeled off four touchdowns, while the defense, which has given up only 5 offensive touchdowns all season, shut out Geneseo the rest of the way for a 35-16 win over the Maple Leafs on Friday night at the Soule Bowl.

Down 9-0, UT fought back to 9-7 on an Isaiah Navarrette 4-yard TD run just seconds into the second quarter.  After missing on his first three pass attempts, QB Christian Peterson completed 7-of-8 the rest of the way, for 137 yards and two touchdowns, a 25-yarder to Cohen Parsons to bring the Panthers within 16-14 just before halftime, and, after Leo Sim’s 2-yard run gave UT the lead 21-16 in the third quarter, a 22-yarder to Josiah Massey that made it 28-16.  Navarrette capped off the scoring with his second TD of the night from 2 yards out late in the fourth.

Navarrette finished with a sterling 10.0 yards per rush, with 140 yards on 14 carries.  Massey totaled 82 yards on 4 receptions.  The Panthers (2-2, 1-1 in Western Big 6 play) travel to #7 (in Class 7A) Quincy (4-0, 2-0) next Friday.  Geneseo (2-2, 0-2) will host Galesburg (1-3, 0-1).

It didn’t take long for Quincy to show why it’s moving up in the AP top ten in Class 7A.  On the second play of the game, Blue Devils’ QB Bradyn Little threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Tykell Hammers, and the visitors were on their way to a 43-21 win over Moline at Browning Field on Friday night.  According to Muddy River Sports’ Matt Schuckman, Little, a senior committed to Division II Quincy University, threw for a school record 437 yards, including six TDs.

Little’s throw to Rico Clay just before halftime made it 36-7 at the break, and the issue was decided.  Clay finished with three TD catches.  RB Jeraius Rice scored on the ground and via the pass.  Hammers compiled 149 receiving yards.

For the Maroons, Eli Warren ran for 129 yards and a touchdown and was named the Godfather’s Pizza Moline Maroons Player of the Game.  QB Eli Taylor left with an injury in the second quarter after completing 6-of-9 passes for 80 yards, including a TD to Nolan Ducey.  Marc Cary finished with 83 yards rushing and a score, as the Maroons racked up 252 rushing yards along with 89 through the air.

The Maroons (2-2, 1-1 in the Western Big 6) visit winless Rock Island next Friday.  Quincy (4-0, 2-0, ranked #7 in Class 7A) will get a visit from United Township (2-2, 1-1).

As Rock Island continues to play one state-rated team after another, they had to look for silver linings in a 49-14 loss at Bradley-Bourbonnais in a non-conference contest Friday night.  The Rocks remain winless, while the 9^th-ranked (in Class 7A) Boilermakers improved to 4-0.

Trailing just 7-0 after the first quarter, the Rocks gave up three scores in the second, offset only by Jae’Vion Clark-Pugh’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Venegas.  The only Rock Island score of the second half was a 1-yard TD run by Isaiss Duarte.  The Rocks played turnover-free football, but allowed a 93-yard kickoff return for touchdown.  Offensively, the running game managed an average of just 2.3 yards on 23 carries, and the Rocks were just 3-for-16 on third-down conversions.

Clark-Pugh finished 12-of-23 passing for 121 yards before giving way to backup Myles Duster (1-of-2, 5 yards).  Sophomore WR Evan Ellis led the team with 54 receiving yards on 4 catches.  Venegas added 40 yards on 5 receptions.

Homecoming awaits next Friday, as Rock Island (0-4, 0-1 in Western Big 6 play) welcomes archrival Moline (2-2, 1-1).  Live coverage on QCSportsNet.com is set for 7:00 p.m.

It’s Week 4 of our 11th high school football season, and we’re already in the thick of the conference race, with a showdown at Browning Field!! Here are the links for Friday night’s 7:00 games:

Quincy at Moline Presented by Sexton Ford
Geneseo at United Township Presented by Van Hoe
Rock Island at Bradley-Bourbonnais Presented by Wheelan-Pressly

This is the link to the FULL COURT PRESS live stream.

You can catch the podcast of past episodes here:  Full Court Press Podcasts

This is the place for QCSportsNet’s live, local sports talk show featuring some of the biggest names in the history of Quad Cities sports media.  Our next show is this Wednesday (September 18th) at 7:00 p.m., live from Riverfront Grille in Rock Island.

JOINING US LIVE:
* Fantasy football guru DJ Jarvis of For Frequency Sake joins the show as guest co-host, to look at the first two weeks of the NFL season and tell you what’s ahead.
* Co-hosts John Marx and Joe Winkel 

PRESENTED BY charter sponsors Godfather’s Pizza in Silvis, Crawford Company, Neil Ferrari State Farm Insurance, Wheelan-Pressly, and Hungry Hobo.  Limited additional sponsorship opportunities are available by contacting Ken Jacoby at (309) 912-5135 or ken@qcsportsnet.com.