Week 3 Preview: West Frankfort 1-1 at Sparta 0-2

by Steve Dunford

The two SIRR Ohio schools in the county flip Mississippi opponents this week as West Frankfort (1-1) travels to Sparta (0-2) and Pinckneyville (0-2) travels to Benton (1-1).

The Redbirds, led by 213 yards on the ground by RB Madison Allen , and QB Connor Eaton with 154 yards rushing as the Redbirds defeated the Pinckneyville Panthers 36-14.

Here is Coach Brian Berry’s thoughts on the Pinckneyville game. “ I felt the defense played much better (our first team defense was not scored on) this game. I believe there is still room to get better, but we did take a step in the right direction.

Offensively, we played a better game having fewer fumbles, however we still have work to do in this area as we continue our ball security drills this week. All the running backs had a good game, but because Allen had no fumbles for the game, he got more carries during the second half than the other running backs.”  (The box score for the Pinckneyville game will be at the end of the story.)

Sparta is coming off of a 29-13 loss to the Benton Rangers last Friday night.  One thing that is noted is the Sparta defense, held the Benton offense scoreless in the second half.  Here is coach Beery’s thoughts about going into Friday night’s game with Sparta,  “Sparta is a very athletic team. They have the ability to take it to the house on any given play due to their athleticism. We must contain their speed, while continuing to improve on our pass coverage (there was a few time Pinckneyville caught us misaligned last week). Offensively, we MUST take care of the ball, continue to improve our run game, and do a better job finding a balance in our passing game.“ 

I also spoke with Sparta coach Rob Kirk. First he has a few things to say about his team’s Week Two loss to Benton,   It had been a 14 game streak that was broken holding Benton scoreless in the second half. “Benton is a playoff caliber team, with a potential All State QB in Hamilton Page, so we were glad to see our pass defense finally pick up after so many years of developing better DB’s. We matched up well with Benton, and it was fun being apart of a competitive game again. A couple years ago we were the top defense for the first six weeks and with some key injuries and seniors who graduated we had to pull up young players who didn’t have the time to develop at the JV level and were brought straight up to varsity.”

About his team’s upcoming matchup with West Frankfort Friday night, he said,  “We are close to becoming a winning program again and we will have a big test vs. WF. We expect them as always to be big and physical and Coach Beery is always good at having some tricks up his sleeves.”

“Offensively we are controlling the ball better and earning first downs which only helps our defense. We have had some key injuries on our offensive line but they should be back by Pinckneyville or Nashville. We have had some success running the ball (Jonathan Williams, Ethan Evans, Seth Berry, Clayton Sheldon) and throwing the ball (Ostyn Connors, Kerry Harris, Nate Meierotto, Carlos Keen).”

“Our QB is a returning starter and a junior this year and is really doing a great job running the offense, while going both ways at Linebacker. We finally are playing as a team, we feel as though every week we have the most talent on the field and when they play as a team we will be hard to beat. After an 0-9 season, Sparta football is starting to build some loyalty in its program again, were looking forward to picking up a win and ending the 14 Game losing streak.”

If you can’t make the long trip to Randolph County, join Rick Westemeyer and Michael Marlo on WFRX 96.5 FM/1300

West Frankfort 36 Pinckneyville 14 Box Score

West Frankfort `12`0`6`18`–`36
Pinkcneyville `0`7`7`0`–`14

Scoring
1st:
WF Sam Cooksey 1 run (PAT no good), 8:34
WF Connor Eaton 15 run (2 pt no good – Allen run) 0:46
2nd
Pville fumble recovery for a TD 85 yards Tyler Rice (Ben Restoff – PAT good), 8:13
3rd
WF Sam Cooksey 3 yard run (2 pt conversion no good run Kyle Hammers), 8:35
4th
WF Madison Allen 31 yard run (2 pt. conversion failed Sam Cooksey), 11:52
WF Madison Allen 9 yard run (PAT no good), 7:42
Pville Colton Kling pass to Ryan Brueggemann for 36 yard reception (Ben Restoff PAT good), 6:12
WF Madison Allen 2 yard run (PAT no good) 3:44

Team Statistics

FIRST DOWNS: WF 18, Pville 10. TOTAL YARDS: WF 477, Pville 287. RUSHES-YARDS: WF 53-446, Pville 32-96. PASSING YARDS: WF 31, Pville 191. COMP-ATT-INT: WF 3-6-0, Pville 9-20-191. PENALITIES-YARDS: WF 10-60, Pville2-20. FUMBLES LOST: WF 4/2 Pville 1/1.

Individual Statistics

RUSHING-WF Sam Cooksey 10-67, Madison Allen 26-215, Connor Eaton 15-154, Kyle Hammers 2-10. Pville Tyler Rice 5-13, Colton King 15-9, Jordan Thompson 1-4, Ryan Brueggemann 4-17, Chase Witbracht 1-6, Chase Fulkerson 5-45
PASSING-WF Eaton 3-6-0-31. Pville Colton Kling 9-20-1-191.
RECEIVING-WF Kyle Hammers 1-7, Sam Cooksey 2-24. Pville Zack Obertini 1-9, Tyler Rice 2-23, Ryan Brueggemann 4-120, Chase Witbracht 1-9, Hunter Riggins 1-30.