Panthers Frustration, Injuries Mount

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ The injuries continued to pile up along with the losses for Pinckneyville

last night, as the Panthers fell 41-20 at Tabor Field in Benton.

Turnovers were again a factor, as many of the Rangers' points were as a

result of Pinckneyville's mistakes.

"As bad as we tackled, you're still in it if you don't make those

turnovers," said Panthers' head coach Tod Rushing after the loss.

The Rangers (2-1) scored all of their points in the first half, building a

lead too much for a depleted Panthers team to recover from.

Pinckneyville (0-3) played without RB/DB Ben Harriss (dislocated elbow), and

Nathan Morton didn't start the game on offense, but did enter the game at

quarterback later in the game. A handful of other Panthers would not see

action in the second half.

Just two minutes into the game, the Rangers got on the scoreboard with a

15-yard touchdown run by Miguel Martinez, then forced a quick three-and-out

by the Panthers' offense.

Quarterback Quincy Hamilton took off for 30 yards on the ground on the first

play after the punt, and Travis Crawford scored the touchdown from 23 yards

out on the following play. The rushing touchdown put Benton ahead 14-0 with

7:55 still remaining in the first quarter.

The Panthers' special teams would keep them in the game early, as Jake

Bathon broke free on the kickoff and took it all the way to the end zone to

cut the lead to 14-6.

"Jake's got a lot of athletic skill," said Rushing. "Sometimes he's timid

about letting himself loose, (but) tonight he did that."

The Panthers, as they usually do, went for two points all night without a

reliable kicking option for extra points.

Both teams would go three and out following the big play, but as the

Panthers went to punt it away on fourth-and-seven from their own eleven-yard

line, the snap came out low and was recovered by Benton's Daniel DeForest in

the end zone for a touchdown.

Bryant Lively found paydirt in the second quarter, going 35 total yards on

two runs to bring Pinckneyville to within a singles score at 20-12.

Quarterbacking the drive was Cody Smith, filling in for Morton until the

second half.

"(Smith) did a nice job, he lead us on a touchdown drive and really made

some good throws," said Rushing.

Unfortunately for Smith and the Panthers, a number of the passes were

dropped by his receivers.

With the same score, the Panthers were set to get the ball back as Benton

lined up to punt at their own 36-yard line, but the kick slipped through

returner Jonathan Kuberski's hands and was recovered by the Rangers at the

Pinckneyville 35.

line.

Benton took advantage of the excellent field position, with Crawford scoring

for the second time on the ground to make it 27-12.Lively continued to move the ball on the ground, earning a first down at the Panthers' 38-yard line on the next drive to give him 96 yards in the game, but injured his elbow moments later and did not return.

"We don't think it's fractured, but he couldn't straighten his arm out,"

said Rushing.

Kuberski and FB/LB Thomas McConnell also saw limited action in the remainder

of the game, nursing minor injuries.

"We were in a bit of a panic over there on the sidelines, we make depth

charts on our special teams, and we're past the depth charts," Rushing

mentioned.

The Panthers would end up punting on the drive, and the Rangers tacked on

two more scores before halftime to all but seal up a victory.

Morton would find Bathon for a 19-yard touchdown pass in the second half for

the Panthers, but the damage had long been done.

The Panthers now move into conference play and travel to Nashville looking

for their first win next Friday night.