It was an impressive opener for PCM Friday night as the Mustangs beat the Knoxville Panthers 40-14 in Monroe in a game heard on both AM 1320 and kniakrls.com.

The Mustangs got on the board early and often, hanging 28 points on the Panthers in the first half. Senior tailback Hutch Burns had two touchdowns in the first half and the Panthers went into the locker room down by four scores, 28-0.

On the first series of the second half, Knoxville got its first score – a 77-yard run by quarterback Bryant McWilliams. After a couple quick three and outs for PCM, the Panthers were able to strike again to make it 28-14.

With the game in question and the Mustang offense struggling for most of the third quarter, Bryce Wignall came up with one of the biggest plays in the game. McWilliams had a pass deflected, and Wignall made the interception, returning it 44 yards for a touchdown. The Mustangs didn’t look back and even added two points on a safety late in the game to finish with a 40-14 win.

PCM will take their 1-0 record on the road for a challenging match-up at Madrid next week, while Knoxville will get a crack at another 0-1 team when they host cross-country rival Pella High.