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2007 Schedule 8/24 7:00 @ |
2005 Week #8 On Friday October 14th a familiar football foe will come to Jerseyville. At first glance this will be just another game, a ho-hum week 8 contest or even a battle between MVC opponents who are coming to an end of their conference battles. However a better look reveals quite a bit more. Sure, there will be the usual nip in the air on what will be a crisp mid October night but this is not just any version of "Friday night lights", the CM Eagles are in town and everything else is thrown out the window. Throw out the records and the weaknesses and strengths because when these two teams get together the battle will take place between 2 evenly matched teams. Two teams that will do anything to come out on top in this rival match-up. The Eagles who are 5-2 have struggled in conference play this year. At 2-2 the boys from Bethalto have dropped key match-ups to Highland and Triad while defeating Waterloo and beating Mascoutah 10-0 last week. The Eagles got a quick 1 yard touchdown from QB Stephen Jones to take an early 7-0 lead and held on until K Chris Campbell booted a 20 yard field goal in the final minutes of the game to secure the win. Jones was 3 of 4 for 43 yards and was limited to only 15 yards rushing on 11 attempts. RB Judd Govero (5-8 140 Sr.) was the leading rusher for CM with 64 yards on 5 carries with an average of 12.8 yards per carry, while Josh Morrison (6-0 230 Sophomore) gained 53 yards on 18 carries. Jones favorite target was WR Chris Brown (6-1 175 Sr.) who caught all 3 passes. On defense the Eagles were led by Brett Grant (5-11 165 Jr.), Brad Harmon (6-0 220 Sr.), Trent Ricci (5-11 195 Sr.) and Tim Lee (5-11 185 Sr.) all who had 5 tackles each. On the year, QB Jones (6-0 175 Sr.) has had decent numbers but not dominating. The Eagle signal caller has completed 46 of 80 passes for a passing percentage of 57.50. He has thrown for 577 yards including 5 TD passes and 2 interceptions, in his fourth season playing varsity. The future Ball State University basketball player has rushed for 383 yards on 83 attempts and leads all CM players with 9 touchdowns. In comparison first year Panther QB Andy Updike (5-11 160 Jr.) has completed 30 of 67 passes for a 44.78 percentage. Updike has passed for 470 yards and has 4 touchdown passes and 4 interceptions. The Jersey QB has rushed 103 times for 336 yards and 3 scores. Last week the Panthers played good enough to win but instead fumbled away a sure win and then collapsed in the final minutes to drop to 2-5 and be eliminated from any hope of post season play. Jersey led late in the contest 15-14 and had the ball in Triad territory before coughing up the football and then giving up the "big play", when WR Jeff Gustafson caught a 64 yard pass from QB Troy Schardan with 6:09 remaining. The "big play" came on a third and long and it turned out to be the game winner. The Panthers got off to a quick lead in the game when Jess Trask juggled but eventually held onto a 14 yard pass from Andy Updike with 5:29 remaining in the first quarter. Then, after 14 unanswered points from the Knights the Panthers hard work paid off as Trevor Crane scored on a 9 yard touchdown run with 11:11 remaining in the final quarter. With the score 14-13 in favor of the home team, Coach Skinner gambled and went with the 2 point conversion and the win on the road and QB Andy Updike made it pay off as he darted into the end zone with the go ahead score. After 3 consecutive strong games, I feel the Panthers are ready to take it to the next level. The boys in blue need to step up and realize they are an improved team and show confidence to be able to bury a team once they have them beat. They must also clean up the turnovers and avoid the mental lapses that caused them to drop a game last week that they worked (and earned) so hard to win. The Eagles will fly into Jerseyville headed for what looks to be a 4A playoff birth. They are a good team led by Jones who is one of the best athletes in this conference. At 2-5 this years version of the Panthers are not going to continue the tradition of play-off football in Jersey, but it's not to late to carry on the tradition of a good JCHS/CM battle. It's a battle that will call for guts, hard work, character and the ability to be a good football team. These are all traits that this years version of the Panther's have shown, their only problem is they just might not realize it. This just may be the game that will lift us to a new level and prepare us for a stronger, experienced and more mature 2006 Panther football team. By Mike McInerney
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Related Stories: Photo Archive: |
Team Accomplishments State Champs Runner up Semifinals Conference Champs *co-champs |
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School Facts Football Enrollment: Conference: Class: School Colors: Nickname: Head Coach: Last Season's Record: First Varsity Season: |
Past Player Watch |
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School Related
Links: Jersey Comunnity HS (official) -Panther Football (Great Site) -Jerseyville Sports (fan site) |
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2006 Schedule 8/25 7:00 H 2005 Schedule 8/27 7:00 @ 2004 Schedule 8/27 7:00 H 2003 Schedule 8/29 7:00 @ 2002 Schedule 8/30 7:00 H
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