P.E.M. Falls to Reigning Section 1AAA Champions, Pine Island, 35-7

​Facing the reigning section champions, a monumental opportunity for PEM was at hand. The Bulldogs could begin the season 2-0, something they haven’t done in over five years. Instead, the Bulldogs were served a bit of a reality check in a 35-7 loss on the road in Pine Island Friday, Sept. 11.

A young, eager to learn Bulldog squad didn’t get down on themselves after a good defensive stand followed by a rough offensive first quarter. Down two scores, players were attempting to rally themselves and talk over the corrections. Trailing 21-0 at the half, the Bulldogs had not gotten much offense to speak of and were relying heavily on the defense for much of it.

Bulldog head coach Daren Wingert said the opportunity to have a better start to the game isn’t always about execution as much as it is remaining focused on what’s next.

“It's a lot of dealing with emotions more than it is coaching X's and O's. We're a very young team and a very inexperienced team so trying to keep that momentum without over-hyping ourselves,” Wingert said. The Bulldogs have just eight seniors on the roster. Many more are sophomores or juniors. “We've got to keep level heads and keep being process-oriented, which is easier said than done.”

The Bulldogs gave themselves the perfect opportunity to show they should be considered near the top in the section when they stopped the Panther offense on the first possession of the game. After allowing the Panther drive to continue on a third-and-25 conversion right away to start the game, the Bulldogs executed good awareness and tackling by keeping the Panthers short of the line on a fourth-and-4.

Taking over at their own 19-yard line, the Bulldogs soon faced their own third-and-long. The pass over the middle of the field on the play was picked off by Cooper Rutten and returned for a touchdown.

Rutten picked off the ensuing third-and-long the Bulldogs faced on the very next possession. Deep in Bulldog territory, it gave the Panthers ample field position to score, which they took advantage of by two plays later.

The Bulldog defense kept themselves in it late in the first half by forcing a fumble and Joel Reiter recovering it at midfield.

Had it not been for a fourth-down stop and a fumble recovery, paired with plenty of holding penalties on the Panthers, the Bulldogs would have faced an even deeper hole going into the second half.

“We got to make sure this hurts enough to eat at our guys to make them work and go through the process all week, prepare like crazy,” Wingert said. “I think that was kind of the problem. Pine Island is a very good team. Two-time returning Section 1AAA finalist, Section champs last year. I don't think any of our guys overlooked them by any means, but I think with the success we had the week before maybe got us feeling better about ourselves than reality presented. “

The lone score of the game for PEM came on a long 90-yard kickoff return by Grant Radel. An excellent exhibit of patience and poise after dropping the initial catch, Radel sprinted ahead up the middle, then over to the Bulldog sideline through a huge gap in coverage untouched for the touchdown.

Notes:

The Bulldogs had gone three straight games against the Panthers without any points scored. In the previous three meetings over the previous two seasons, the Panthers shut out the Bulldogs 35-0, 42-0 and 27-0. That included a loss in the first round of the section playoffs.

The last time the Bulldogs defeated the Panthers was a 32-13 victory in 2022.