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A lot of teams would struggle if their starting quarterback went down almost halfway through the season.
Iowa-Grant did for a quarter Friday, spotting host Mineral Point a 7-0 lead, and then gave the assignment to Derek Peat.
Peat was asked to fill in for TJ Anderson who suffered a broken collarbone last week against Darlington. It has been awhile since Peat has taken snaps...he was a quarterback in previous action but has since taken on the role of explosive running back--but it didn't appear he has forgotten much.
With Anderson slated to be missing for a few weeks, Peat just may have found himself back behind center following Iowa-Grant's 41-14 win over the Pointers Friday.
Especially after he ran for three touchdowns on a 232 yard outing and completed four of six passes for 174 yards and two scoring strikes.
That's no doubt good enough to earn another chance at the position.
"TJ will probably be out for a few weeks," Panther coach Gary Allen said.
So, insert Peat and let him go to work.
"We gave Derek some reps at quarterback this week," Allen said. "It didn't really change the game plan for us. He can throw the ball but he likes to run it more."
The change in positions was not difficult for Peat.
"Derek is a very good leader and team player," Allen said. "He used to be a quarterback when he was younger so he has a good idea about what to do. He made some good throws and some good runs."
Like the runs of 15, six and 76 he turned in for touchdowns and the passes he threw to Dakota Barnes and Eli Wienkes. Barnes took one in from 29 yards out and Wienkes grabbed a 69 yarder.
Cody Rider scored on a 15 yard run for the Panthers that answered a 25 yard Turner Poad run that gave the Pointers their first score. Rider kicked the conversion for the Panthers and Tommy Olson for the Pointers.
After Rider scored, Peat crossed the goal line three times to highlight a 27 point second quarter for the Panthers. The scores came late in the frame.
"We started a little slow but Coach Johannesen had a good game plan and after the first quarter the kids played very well," Allen said.
The only other Pointer score came in the third period when Nolan Barrette ran for nine and Olson toed in the conversion.
"After the first quarter I thought everyone stepped up and did their jobs well," Allen said.
The win keeps the Panthers undefeated in the SWAL and has them on a championship tract.
"I think we are on the right path for a good season," said Allen. "The kids are working very hard. Each week they are trying to play better than the week before."
Because the game was a rivalry match-up Allen noticed the intensity displayed by the young Pointer squad.
"I was very impressed with how hard the Point kids played," Allen said. "Coach Palzkill and his staff had those boys ready to play."
The Panthers entertain another conference contender, Cuba City, Friday.
"They have an excellent team and we will need to play very well," Allen said.
Pointer coach Andy Palzkill felt the Pointers attacked well at the start of the game and held the lead for a quarter.
The first score came courtesy of sophomore Turner Poad who ran in from 25 yards out.
"We made some adjustments to our blocking schemes based on their front and personnel," Palzkill said. "We really wanted to focus on the weak-side of their five man front. The main play we ran was weak-side power on that first drive and it proved to be a solid play for us during that first series."
Peat's appearance at quarterback did not come as a shock to Palzkill and his staff.
"We actually did expect Peat to play at the quarterback spot at some point during the game," Palzkill said. "He is a very good athlete and as the quarterback he basically became the primary ball carrier on every play."
"They did some nice things to get him the ball on short and long trap," the coach added. "The long trap looked like a counter with the action of the play and definitely was the play that hurt us the most in that second quarter scoring flurry."
John Schmitz picked up 45 of Mineral Point's 115 ground yards against a gigantic Panther line.
"We were very aware of their size and personnel and I spent more time that usual preparing for this game to make sure to put our athletes into plays that were good for us," Palzkill said. "Many of our plays were not good plays against them because we would have to single block McFall (285) or Connors (260). The game plan was to either double team or read those two players. That adjustment did work for the most part, but we made too many other mistakes to beat a good team like IG."
The Panthers exploited the Pointer defense in the second quarter until the coaches got it corrected.
"They noticed an alignment problem on our weak side outside linebacker that gave them an advantage," Palzkill said. "Our linebackers were supposed to be aligned behind the defensive end which protects them from being down blocked. Our linebacker began to line up inside the defensive end which gave the tight end a great down blocking angle to him. Due to this, all they had to do was kick out the defensive end with the backside guard and they had Peat one on one with our safety downfield."
"We need to do a better job of fixing an alignment mistake like that and not allowing three scores on the exact same play in less than three minutes. Before that happened it was a 7-7 ball game with under three minutes left in the first half," Palzkill said.
Palzkill said one player really stepped up his play for the Pointers.
"I felt Tucker Pickel played a great game for us at inside linebacker," Palzkill said. "He is a young man that will help us tremendously in the coming weeks. He will also make us better and provide depth on the offensive line as we move forward. It will great to be able to rest some of our players that have been going both ways all game thus far in our season."
"Our kids did prove that they can play at a high level," the coach added. "Initially, we had energy and played very intense on defense. We need to work on maintaining that focus all game and not make simple mistakes that give our opponents big plays. I feel like we are making strides defensively, but we are still giving up way too many big plays."
Taking better care of the football will be a priority too.
"As with all of our losses this year turnovers have played a huge role," said Palzkill. "We need to do a better job of taking care of the ball and if we can do that we will give ourselves a chance to win games against good opponents. It has been frustrating for us knowing that we are making things easy for our opponents at times. We need to put together a good effort all around to beat our next opponent."
That will be the Darlington Redbirds, another conference title favorite.
"We play the Redbirds this coming Friday at their place at 3:30," Palzkill said. "They are always a well coached team and will be another challenge for us. They will be a physical team that will want to establish their running game. If we can avoid turnovers and big plays we will have an opportunity to win the game."