PAXTON – For the second straight year, Paxton-Buckley-Loda varsity football team was able to start off its season with a win.

“You’ve got to win them early because if you don’t, it’s going to make it really tough,” PBL head coach Josh Pritchard said. “I’m happy we got this one out of the way. Now we’ve just got to move on to week two.”

It was not as easy this time around for the Panthers to obtain a season-opening win as they overcome a 14-0 deficit to win 28-20 over Illini Prairie Conference opponent Chillicothe Illinois Valley Central on Friday. Last year, PBL defeated IVC 28-8 in its IPC debut, but with only six kids leaving from last year’s team, Pritchard knew his team was in for a challenge against the Grey Ghosts this time around.

“I told everybody that IVC team was going to be better than they were last year,” Pritchard said. “You knew that all those kids coming back were going to be hungry, thicker and better, and that IVC team’s pretty darn good.”

Following IVC’s second touchdown, PBL needed only two plays from scrimmage to get on the board as Robert Boyd-Meents ran for a 20-yard gain before scampering along the right side for a 46-yard touchdown run. Kayden Snelling received a jump pass from Aiden Johnson in the end zone for a two-point conversion that cut the Panthers’ deficit to 14-8 with 3:33 left in the first quarter.

It was the first of three touchdowns scored by the sophomore Boyd-Meents, who is replacing all-state running back Tyler Smith, who replaced all-stater Hunter Anderson.

“I’m just going to try to do the best that I can,” Boyd-Meents said.

He was not the only sophomore in the backfield. The Panthers’ starting quarterback, Conner Vaughn was a sophomore as well.

“I was kind of nervous, but we just talked,” Boyd-Meents said.

The PBL defense forced a three-and-out on IVC’s ensuing possession as Daniel Jones broke up a pass on a second-and-14 and tackled David Russell on a 2-yard screen pass on third down. After PBL regained possession on the Ghosts’ 49-yard line, Boyd-Meents ran for one yard and O’Quinn Gerdes ran for six yards before Johnson scampered for 27 yards on a quarterback keeper to the right sideline.

After 4- and 3-yard runs by Boyd-Meents, Vaughn found the senior Gerdes on a screen pass to the right field for a 9-yard touchdown that tied the game at 14-14 with 11:10 left in the second quarter.

“We actually just put that play in on Monday or Tuesday of this week. That was a big one to get the ballgame tied back up,” Pritchard said. “When you put a sophomore quarterback out there in the IPC, it’s not easy. I complimented him at the end of the game. He may not have the best completion percentage or have made all these great plays, but he didn’t lose us the game. As a sophomore, we need him to manage the game for us. We told our seniors they have to win the game. You can’t put in on a sophomore’s shoulders, but he did a good job back there.”

After PBL’s defense forced a turnover on downs on its own 17-yard line, Boyd-Meents ran for eight yards on the first play of what would be a 10-play touchdown drive before scampering for 42 yards along the right sideline to move the ball to IVC’s 35-yard line. Gerdes ran for seven yards on two more carries before Boyd-Meents moved the ball to the 16-yard line with a run on third-and-3.

Boyd-Meents tallied nine more yards on two more carries before a plunge by Gerdes on a third-and-1 moved the ball to the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Boyd-Meents scored on a 1-yard touchdown to give the Panthers a 22-14 lead as Vaughn passed to Snelling for a two-point conversion with 13.5 seconds left in the second quarter.

On the third play of PBL’s first possession of the second half, Boyd-Meents sprinted down the middle of the field for 64 yards to the end zone for his third touchdown of the game, extending the Panthers’ lead to 10:12 left in the third quarter.

“Everybody in this community has known about Robert Boyd-Meents for probably five or six years since he’s been playing football and kind of knows that he’s going to be alright,” Pritchard said. “He really took to it in late July and early August and really started seeing the field a little bit better. I told them at halftime we hid him for a half, but he’s another good one in this running back staple that we’ve really had since I’ve been here.”

The Ghosts were 1-for-5 in red-zone opportunities, including two tries in the fourth quarter.

With 2:42 left in the game, IVC had the ball on its own 40-yard line.

A 6-yard reception was followed by a catch by Gabe Ross that moved the ball to the PBL 48-yard line. Ross would then win a 1-on-1 ball against Gerdes for a 27-yard reception that moved the ball to the 15-yard line.

Andrew Burwell ran for a yard on first down before a catch by Michael Conklin gained six yards. On third-and-3, however, a bad snap led to Nate Dennison being sacked by Hayden Hollen for a 6-yard loss.

With 36.4 seconds remaining, an incomplete pass thwarted IVC’s final drive.

“We got the stop when we needed to. At the end, if they don’t get in the end zone, we usually have a pretty good chance to win the football game. We gave up yards, but we didn’t give up points, and in the end, that’s what wins you football games, so I’m really excited that we buckled down when we got in the red zone,” Pritchard said. “Our kids fought to the very end. We got the big stop when we needed it.”

With 7:55 left in the game, IVC started a drive from its own 18-yard line.

A 3-yard run by Burwell was followed by a 29-yard reception by Russell that moved the ball to midfield. Two plays later, a run by Dennison compounded with a PBL penalty moved the ball to PBL’s 31-yard line.

Dennison ran for another six yards before Burewll scampered to PBL’s 15-yard line. Snelling tackled Burwell for no gain on first down before IVC was called for a false start on second-and-10.

On second-and-15, Dennison threw an incomplete pass to Russell, who was facing double coverage. Fulton ran for two yards on third down before Dennison threw an incomplete pass intended for Aidan Fulton on fourth-and-13, giving PBL the ball back on its own 17-yard line.

Boyd-Meents ran for no gain on two carries before Vaughn threw an incomplete pass to Johnson, forcing PBL to punt and giving IVC its final possession.

“When we get the ball at the end of the game, we’ve got to be able to put a drive together to get the clock down to zero rather than having to punt and play defense,” Pritchard said.

The Ghosts started their opening possession on their own 35-yard line before Ross caught a pass for 26 yards on second-and-10. Three plays later, Burwell caught a screen pass to move the ball 17 yards to the 20-yard line.

After Hollen recorded a tackle on Burwell for a loss of one yard and Russell caught a pass for seven yards on second down, Daniel Jones intercepted a pass to give PBL the ball on its own 1-yard line.

The Panthers went three-and-out before Fulton scored on a punt return to give IVC the early 7-0 lead with 7:08 left in the first quarter.

“Fulton might be the best wide receiver in this conference,” Pritchard said. “He’s a stud.”

Following another three-and-out, IVC regained possession on PBL’s 35-yard line. On the second play of the possession, Dennison found Gabe Ross for a 35-yard touchdown to extend the Ghosts’ lead to 14-0 with 4:01 left in the first quarter.

“We don’t like that, but at least our kids battled back,” Pritchard said.

After PBL tied the game, IVC started what would be a 12-play possession on its own 28-yard line.

A 4-yard scramble by Dennison and a dropped pass by Russell was followed by a screen pass to Burwell that gained 22 yards and moved the ball to PBL’s 47-yard line. Conklin made a 4-yard reception before Fulton gained 13 yards on a catch to move the ball to the 31-yard line.

Sawyer Floyd tackled Fulton on a 5-yard run before Aaron Kavajecz tackled Fulton on a 3-yard scamper on second-and-5. On third-and-2, Fulton ran for three yards to move the ball to the 20-yard line.

After Burwell ran for three yards on first down, Dennison recovered a bad snap that resulted in a 6-yard loss on second-and-7. Dennison threw an incomplete pass on third-and-13 before Jamison Lee tackled Fulton on a screen pass to give PBL possession on its own 17-yard line.

On the Ghosts’ first possession of the second half, Floyd intercepted a pass to give the Panthers the ball on IVC’s 49-yard line.

“Sawyer Floyd had some problems earlier in the game at corner, but he fought through that,” Pritchard said.

After PBL went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, IVC started an 11-play, 80-yard scoring drive with a 9-yard pass to Russell before Burwell ran for a first down on second-and-1. A pass interference penalty on PBL moved the ball to IVC’s own 45-yard line before Fulton ran for 25 yards to move it to the Panthers’ 30-yard line.

A 6-yard screen pass to Ross moved the ball to the 20-yard line before Dennison threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Russell – who was the IHSA Class 2A state runner-up in the shot put in track and field last spring – to cut IVC’s deficit to 28-20 with 2:19 left in the third quarter.

“He’s another big boy,” Pritchard said. “They’ve got some targets, and they’re going to be alright.”

Lee returned the ensuing kickoff to IVC’s 45-yard line before a 14-yard run by Boyd-Meents moved the ball to the 31-yard line. After runs by Gerdes and Boyd-Meents that resulted in losses of one yard and three yards, respectively, Vaughn overthrew Boyd-Meents on a third-and-14 pass attempt and threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-14 to give IVC the ball back on its own 31-yard line.

Burwell caught a pass for two yards on the first play of IVC’s ensuing possession before Dennison threw a pass that was almost intercepted by Gerdes on second-and-8. Ross caught a pass for six yards on third down before a low snap on fourth-and-2 led to Fulton being stopped short of the first-down marker, giving PBL the ball back on the Ghosts’ 37-yard line with 10:15 left in the game.

“We kind of rely on our defense,” Pritchard said. “Our kids got after the quarterback. We told them if we could roll this quarterback, we’ve got it locked down.”

Johnson and Gerdes each ran for no gain before Gerdes ran for two yards on third-and-10, forcing the Panthers to punt and setting up the first of two IVC drives that stalled in the end zone.

IVC         14   0   6   0   — 20

PBL         8   14  6   0   — 28

IVC – Fulton kick return (Ressler kick).

IVC – Ross 35 pass from Dennison (Ressler kick).

PBL – Boyd-Meents 46 run (Snelling pass from Johnson).

PBL – Gerdes 9 pass from Vaughn (kick failed).

PBL – Boyd-Meents 1 run (Snelling pass from Vaughn).

PBL – Boyd-Meents 64 run (pass failed).

IVC – Russell 24 pass from Dennison (kick failed).