Panther runners ground Falcons

Greendale - The explosive Whitnall passing game was slowed on Friday night, both by the Greendale defense and the Falcons' own receivers.

The Greendale running game, though, was not stopped all evening.

Those two facts added up to a 40-7 romp for the Panthers over the Falcons at Stephen J. Gavinski Field before a big Homecoming crowd.

Whitnall could not get its aerial attack going, partially because of a number of dropped passes in key situations.

Quarterback Luke Mentkowski completed 17 of 39 throws for 192 yards, numbers which could have been much better if not for the drops by his normally sure-handed receivers.

"We dropped a lot of passes; that's the story of the game," said coach Rob Leboeuf, whose squad slipped to 3-3 in the Woodland Conference Black Division and 3-4 overall. "The dropped passes killed us. (That is a) lack of concentration and focus."

Greendale coach Rob Stoltz, whose team improved to 6-0 in conference and 6-1 overall, was surprised the Panthers were the beneficiary of those kinds of mistakes.

"That's not the Whitnall team that normally executes," Stoltz said. "(The Falcons) have outstanding perimeter kids, they have a quarterback who's very impressive, and they are well-coached. I like their scheme a lot. Our kids made some plays in the secondary, but they had some drops."

Greendale, meanwhile, turned to its ground game to churn out yards and first downs.

Mike Scheidt carried 14 times for 133 yards and a touchdown, while Sebastian Garcia-Bankowski had 11 attempts for 101 yards and two scores. Quarterback Sam Brick added 53 yards on eight carries.

"We have some talented perimeter kids, but we have a really impressive offensive line and some good people who can run the ball, including our quarterback," Stoltz said. "That was pretty evident. I was very pleased with the way we executed at times."

The tone was set on the Panthers' opening possession as they moved 65 yards in 13 plays with just one pass. Scheidt, Garcia-Bankowski and Brick each carried four times, with Brick plowing in from 1 yard for the score.

Whitnall answered with its own 66-yard, 13-play drive featuring four passes for 39 yards by Mentkowski and ending with Travis Karweik's 19-yard burst through a big hole to his left for a touchdown. The extra point by Manuel Schumann tied it at 7-7 with 1 minute, 24 seconds left in the first quarter.

Gaelan Seibold returned the kickoff to the Falcons' 36-yard line, and the Panthers scored seven plays later from the 19 when Brick rolled right and fired to Brett Nethery in the right corner of the end zone.

The Falcons then moved downfield again, as Stephen Pelkofer made a leaping sideline catch of a Mentkowski pass for a 39-yard gain. They reached the Greendale 14 but stalled, and a 31-yard field goal attempt was blocked.

Later in the second period, Mentkowski slightly overthrew Pelkofer and the ball went into the hands of Greendale's Mitchell Brees, who ran right, cut back left and sped down the sideline to the Whitnall 14.

The Panthers scored on the next play as Garcia-Bankowski went through a hole to the left side. Greendale was up 21-7 at the half.

On the Panthers' first possession of the second half, Scheidt ran down the left sideline for a 53-yard touchdown.

On Greendale's next possession, Brick ran a keeper for 26 yards to the Whitnall 36 and Garcia-Bankowski took it from there with another score as the Panthers went up 34-7.

Late in the third period, Seibold made an interception to set up Brick's 44-yard scoring pass to Nethery as the margin grew to 40-7.

One bright spot for Whitnall was the running of Karweik, who finished with 121 yards on 18 carries.

"That kid battles on every play," Leboeuf said of Karweik. "He doesn't quit and he's got a terrific attitude when it comes to competition. I'm very proud of him and happy for him."

The night, however, belonged to Greendale, which won its sixth straight after an opening loss to Franklin.

"I'm happy for all of our kids," Stoltz said.

The Panthers next visit Wauwatosa West (1-5, 1-6) and the Falcons welcome South Milwaukee (3-3, 4-3) on Friday.