By Matt M. Stutz
The Pandora-Gilboa High School football team took advantage of four first half turnovers, flying ahead 14-0 in the first quarter, as they overwhelmed the Riverdale Falcons by a final of 55-7 in Blanchard Valley Conference football action.
The win clinches a playoff spot for P-G, currently ranked 9th in the Division VII, Region 26 playoff computer rankings with one week remaining. The top 16 teams advance to the playoffs, with the top 8 seeds hosting a first-round playoff game.
P-G forced a fumble on the opening kickoff, a sign of things to come for the visiting Falcons, and promptly turned it into points. Running back Ethan Luginbill put P-G on the scoreboard with a 1-yard touchdown run, followed by Elam Suter’s extra point kick. Aided by a second Falcon turnover in the opening quarter, P-G freshman quarterback Cory Gerten then connected with his favorite receiver Colin Harris (5 receptions for 114 yards) for a 21-yard touchdown pass-and-catch later on in the first quarter.
The Rockets then cruised to a commanding 41-0 halftime lead. In the second quarter Luginbill had two more touchdown runs, covering 1 yard and then 20 yards. Gerten again found Harris open, this time for a 67-yard touchdown bomb. Harris had a busy first half and he then turned around on defense and intercepted a Falcon pass attempt and returned it 27 yards for another touchdown. Suter was 5 of 6 in the first half on PAT kicks.
Implementing a running clock in the second half got the home crowd home by 9:00 p.m. Luginbill, who had 166 yards rushing on the night, scored his fourth touchdown of the game in the third quarter, a 15-yard jaunt, to extend the lead to 48-0. Gerten then threw a 26-yard scoring strike to Noah Burkholder, as Suter hit both PAT kicks to close out the Rocket scoring.
Riverdale got on the scoreboard with under a minute left in the contest on an 87 yard touchdown run.
Next up, the Rockets (6-3, 4-2 BVC) will play their season finale on Friday evening October 21, when they travel to Cory Rawson (2-7). With a win, P-G would make a push in hopes of moving up the computer rankings and possibly hosting a first-round playoff game the following weekend. Lose and it becomes a wait-and-see, who-and-where they will travel to play.
