For the second time this season, the United Township Panthers suffered a heartbreaking defeat on the road, this time at Sterling, falling 27-26 in the Western Big 6 opener on Friday night.  The Panthers outgained the Golden Warriors, 360 yards to 211, but special teams made all the difference in the game.  Sterling’s Kaedon Phillips opened the scoring with an 80-yard punt return for TD in the first quarter, then did it again, from 42 yards out, to break a tie and put his team in the lead, 27-20, with 6:32 remaining.  The Panthers answered with an 88-yard bomb from QB Christian Peterson to WR Cohen Parsons with 2:29 left, but the extra point kick was blocked, the second extra point UT failed to convert in the game.

Peterson was particularly outstanding for the Panthers.  He completed 16 of his first 17 passes and finished 19-of-25 for 290 yards and three TDs, two of them in the second quarter to RB Isaiah Navarette (40 yards and 9 yards), as UT trailed 17-13 at the half.  Peterson was named the Godfather’s Pizza Panthers Player of the Game.

Navarette compiled 93 yards total, rushing and receiving, while Parsons finished with 4 catches for 116 yards.  For Sterling, Phillips totaled 3 TDs including a 5-yard TD reception from QB Drew Nettleton, who was 9-of-17 for 122 yards, 79 of those to Jimmy Wadsworth on 4 receptions.  Sophomore RB Cobey Shipma carried 16 times for 69 yards.

The Panthers (1-2, 0-1 in WB6) host Geneseo (2-1, 0-1) next Friday, while Sterling (1-2, 1-0) travels to Galesburg (1-2, 0-0).

As Rock Island continues its journey through five state-rated teams in the first five weeks of the football season, the Rocks ran into a buzzsaw called the 9^th ranked (in Class 7A) Quincy Blue Devils, who turned in a dominating performance in the Western Big 6 opener for both teams, sending visiting Rocky to a 48-7 defeat at Flinn Stadium in Quincy on Friday night.  Quincy scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions, including all six in the first half.  The only defensive stop came at the end of the game, as the Blue Devils never punted.

The Rocks managed only three first downs the entire game.  The first one came on a 28-yard pass from QB Jae’Vion Clark-Pugh to WR Elijah Venegas, setting up first-and-goal at the 5 with a minute to play in the first half.  But Clark-Pugh was forced out of bounds on a scramble at the 15, and the Rocks settled for a 34-yard field goal try by Jonas Cortez, which was wide left as time expired.

The lone scoring drive was engineered by Clark-Pugh and sophomore WR Evan Ellis, who caught a 34-yard pass down the middle, followed by a 22-yard post pattern for the touchdown with 8:20 left in the game.  Ellis was named the Hungry Hobo Rock Island Rocks Player of the Game.

Clark-Pugh finished 13-of-22 passing for 113 yards.  Rocks running backs were held to 3 yards on 7 carries.  For Quincy, star QB Bradyn Little went 21-of-25 for 317 yards and five TDs.  Two were to Jeraius Rice, who also scored twice on the ground.  Tykell Hammers, Rico Clay, and Caeden Johannessen also caught TD passes. 

The Blue Devils (3-0, 1-0 in WB6 play) visit Moline (2-1, 1-0) next Friday, while Rock Island (0-3) travels to 10^th ranked (in 7A) Bradley-Bourbonnais (3-0) in a non-conference contest.

It’s Week 3 of our 11th high school football season, and we’re hitting the road for the conference openers! Here are the links for Friday night’s 7:00 games:

Moline at Geneseo Presented by Sexton Ford
United Township at Sterling Presented by Van Hoe
Rock Island at Quincy 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 11th) at 7:00 p.m., live from Riverfront Grille in Rock Island.

JOINING US LIVE:
* Officially Human founder Brenda Hilton will join us to look at the shortage of game officials in high school and college and how to fix it
* Co-hosts John Marx and Joe Winkel 
* Was this a good or bad week for the Bears and their new QB?

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.

After a tough loss on the road to start the season, the United Township Panthers scored early and often in their home opener Friday night, a 67-0 win over Chicago Noble Muchin at the Soule Bowl.  The Panthers rolled up six touchdowns in the first quarter on their way to a 40-0 lead after one.  That quarter included three Christian Peterson TD passes, to Bandi Diarra (19 yards), Cohen Parsons (14 yards), and Rowan Kallal (4 yards).  Isaiah Navarette added scoring runs of 39 and 6 yards, while Jasiah Massey scored from 13 yards out on a reverse play.

In the second quarter, Kenzith Brandom returned an interception 25 yards for a score, and backup QB Johnathan Drake ran in from 28 yards out as time expired, for a 54-0 halftime advantage.  The Panthers added two more scores in the fourth quarter, as Drake threw 75 yards to Rowan Sim and accounted for a third touchdown with an 8-yard run.

Peterson finished his night 5-of-7 passing for 72 yards.  Navarette totaled 94 yards on just 8 carries.

The Panthers, now 1-1, visit 0-2 Sterling in the Western Big 6 opener next Friday night.