It was a game full of tricks instead of treats for the Collinsville Pirates, with them losing their first district game of the season to the No. 2 ranked Muenster Hornets 49-28 on Halloween night.
Collinsville struggled with ball security, committing three turnovers that the Hornets took advantage of and turned into touchdowns.
The Pirates received the opening kickoff and moved the ball to the Muenster 42-yard line with a nine-play drive but were forced to punt, pinning the Hornets at their own 8-yard line.
Muenster quarterback Casen Carney flipped the field with a 40-yard run, providing the Hornets with a spark that allowed them to score on a Carter Heller 7-yard run.
The Hornets followed their opening touchdown with a successful 2-point conversion, putting them 8-0 in the first quarter.
On the ensuing Collinsville drive, the Pirates were poised to answer the score after their quarterback, Paxton Davidson burst through the Muenster defense for a 58-yard gain, giving Collinsville a first down at the Hornet 9-yard line, but the Pirates fumbled the ball on the very next play.
Muenster took over at their own 8-yard line and went on a 12-play drive that went into the second quarter, ending with Carney throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to running back Dustyn Croft.
The point after was no good, but Muenster was up 14-0.
The Pirates’ offense found a spark of their own on their first drive of the second quarter, with Paxton finding receiver Chad Davidson for receptions of 19 yards and 30 yards, moving the ball to the Hornet 6-yard line.
Paxton capped the drive by calling his own number for the 6-yard touchdown, cutting Muenster’s lead to 7 points after a successful extra point kick by Isaiah Smith.
The rest of the second quarter belonged to Muenster, however, as Hornets running back Nolan Peel ran for a touchdown and caught another to give the Hornets a commanding 28-7 lead heading into halftime.
Muenster got the ball first to start the second half and controlled the ball for almost half of the third quarter before Carney ran for a 15-yard touchdown.
A 22-yard pick-6 by Hornets defensive back Titan Binder ended the Pirates’ next drive, making the score 42-7.
The Pirates responded with back-to-back touchdown throws from Paxton, connecting with Chad and running Chase Sheppard and cutting Muenster’s lead to 21 points early in the fourth quarter.
Despite the late scores, Collinsville was unable to complete the comeback, and Muenster held on to win 49-28.
Collinsville will wrap its regular season in a road matchup against the 1-8 Chico Dragons at 7 p.m. Friday at Dragon Field.
Assistant editor Martin Edwards contributed to this report.
