LENA — It may not have been pretty, but when the only thing that matters is what the scoreboard says, ugly was beautiful Friday for Eastland/Pearl City.
The Wildcats turned the ball over five times, but it didn’t matter as E/PC went on the road and topped Lena-Winslow 34-21 on homecoming.
The Panthers would try to match Eastland/Pearl City with four turnovers of their own.
The game got off to an auspicious start for the Wildcats as on the first play from scrimmage Lena-Winslow’s Trey Griffin knocked the ball loose from an E/PC ball carrier.
LENA — All season, the Lena-Winslow offense has lived with the attitude that speed kills.
On Friday night, it was the defense’s turn to live by that adage, setting up shop in Pecatonica’s backfield, winning 35-15.
“We thought our speed would really help us against their size,” Lena-Winslow coach Ric Arand said. “They have some big kids and good athletes at the skill positions, so we thought our defense would have to disrupt their timing with speed.”
LENA — A stout defense, big-play offense and opportunistic special teams are the hallmark of a good team, and Lena-Winslow had all three phases working.
“There were some of the usual first game blunders, but overall we played pretty well,” Lena-Winslow coach Ric Arand said. “Offensively we squandered some chances when our defense was giving us great field position all night long, but eventually we got it going.”
The Panther defense was indeed strong, not allowing a Thunder first down until five minutes remained in the first half.
