Mistakes Haunt Panthers in Loss at Red Bud

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Pinckneyville let a 10-7 halftime lead slip away and began the 2008

season with a 20-10 defeat at the hands of the Musketeers last night in Red

Bud.

Turnovers and big plays, as they often are, were the difference in the

ball game for both teams. In a span of five plays during the second

quarter, the ball was turned over three times on three fumbles near

midfield.

"I thought we were better and I thought we outplayed them, except for a

couple of turnovers," said Panthers' head coach Tod Rushing.

Red Bud struck first via the big play, as Mitchel Cleveland connected

with Tim Conway for a 62-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 Musketeers lead with

7:17 remaining in the opening quarter.

"Our defense, I thought, played outstanding," said Rushing. "We gave up

one mistake on coverage, but other than that their offense really didn't do

much."

Early in the second quarter, Pinckneyville had driven from their own

28-yard line to a first-and-goal situation at the Musketeers' 9-yard line.

Three plays later, the Panthers stood at the goal line with only inches

to go after quarterback Nathan Morton's run was marked just shy of the end

zone out of bounds. On fourth down, the ball would come lose at the line of

scrimmage and Red Bud took over following the turnover.

"If you're on the goal line, the one-foot line, you've got to get it in,

you can't fumble the ball," said Rushing.

Things could have been much worse, as the Pinckneyville defense managed

to come up with a safety when a bad snap allowed Tyler Rice to get to the

quarterback.

The Panthers would strike again late in the half, with Morton finding

Dustin Winter for a 48-yard score to give Pinckneyville a three-point lead

at the break.

A missed field goal attempt in the third by Justin Ostrowski kept things

the way they were until early in the fourth quarter, when Tyler Magruder

took a punt back 88 yards for a touchdown that put the Musketeers on top for

good.

A pair of late interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown,

put the game out of reach as the Panthers fell to 0-1.

Morton would finish with 147 yards on 28 carries while completing

4-of-15 passes for 11 yards and a touchdown.

Matt Mehring led the Musketeers with only 40 yards on the ground.

"I thought we really stuffed the run, defense is wht you've got to start

with, so that's a positive," said Rushing.

Pinckneyville will look to build on that positive as they host West

Frankfort (0-1) next Friday in their home opener at Quillman Field.