The Aplington-Parkersburg football team had a two-score lead slip away, and was defeated 20-19 at Jesup Friday, as aired on RadioOnTheGo’s YouTube channel.
AP got on the board twice in the first half with touchdown runs by Benny Waller from 44 and 58 yards out, giving the Falcons some breathing room. But it was quickly answered after the second score when Jesup’s Aiden Youngblut returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, making it 13-7.
In the third quarter, many of AP’s run plays were stuffed, and they had trouble flipping the field on special teams. The J-Hawks scored two straight touchdowns, aided by a fumble recovery, and went up 20-13. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Falcons got their run game going again, and Mason Pruisner plunged in a short score. AP went for two and was stuffed, then turned it over on downs on their final drive. Head Coach Jeff Pikna says while the running game should have been more effective in the second half, he’s shouldering the weight of the loss himself.
“I let them down,” Pikna says. “That’s it. I let them down. Outcoached by the other team, put in a spot that we haven’t been in all year, and I folded. Plain and simple.”
“We’ll to watch the tape and see. It’s kind of hard to see on the iPad, but a lot of inside pressure that we shouldn’t be having to deal with this late.”
Waller finished with 174 rushing yards.
AP will return to action next week by hosting Hudson.
Jeff Pikna interview:
