“Here’s what I know: (Elder is a) tough football team,” Middies coach Troy Everhart said. “I don’t know what their record will be. Their schedule’s a bear. But I’m glad we took on the challenge because I like our schedule the rest of the way with what I saw our kids do on special teams and defense. We’ve got to get the problems fixed on offense.”
Middletown failed to score an offensive touchdown. Its points came from a 99-yard kickoff return by E.J. Colson, a 42-yard interception return by Brad Carr and two extra points by Zach Green.
Quarterback Allante Simmons ran 19 times for 106 yards, but fumbled three times and lost one. Y’vonte Glover (13 carries, 44 yards) fumbled the ball away at the Elder 10-yard line with 10:14 remaining.
“I can’t remember the last time I was shut out offensively,” Everhart said. “That’s not arrogance. We’ve got too many weapons to be shut out offensively. Knucklehead penalties, we didn’t value the football … you score one offensive touchdown, you win the game.
“I thought we played great defense, and we were explosive in the kicking game. I think that’s our formula for success (along with) executing the football on offense, which we’ve not had a problem here in two years. Now all of a sudden we’ve got a problem. So we’re going to get that fixed. If that means change in personnel, that means change in personnel.”
The Panthers outgained Middletown 375-214 in yardage and stormed to a 17-0 lead behind the hard running of Chris Schroer, who totaled 173 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries.
Elder made it 17-0 on a 35-yard scoring toss from Peyton Ramsey to Andrew Sportsman with 4:41 left in the second period. The Middies looked like they were running on empty. Then the Panthers kicked off.
Colson caught the ball near the goal line. One of his feet clearly went into the end zone, but it was not ruled a touchback (the ball has to cross the plane of the goal line for that call to be made). Fourteen seconds later, the junior safety was in the opposite end zone.
“I just saw the hole and tried to hit it as fast as I could,” Colson said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. All of them were blocking. When I get a kickoff, it’s about doing whatever I need to do to help my team, and that’s to score. So I’m just doing that.
“It feels good. My legs are still tired from it. I didn’t even know I was that close (to the goal line). I thought I was still on the 5.”
Elder took a 20-7 advantage into halftime when Matt Murray kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired. It was his second 27-yard conversion of the half.
It was still 20-7 midway through the third stanza when Carr picked off a Nick Peters pass and rumbled for a touchdown. Suddenly, with 6:45 left in the period, it was 20-14.
“I just took it to the house,” said Carr, a senior linebacker. “The tackle was in front of me. I popped out from the tackle, and he threw it right to me. Simple as that.”
Middletown’s first fourth-quarter possession ended when Kyle Orloff caused and recovered Glover’s fumble. The Middies’ last possession ended on downs at the EHS 25 with 1:44 on the clock.
Included in that final drive was a critical late-hit penalty on Middletown. Simmons hit Chance Sorrell for a 19-yard reception to the Elder 22, but the personal foul pushed the ball back to the 37.
“This is really a strange one,” Panthers coach Doug Ramsey said. “I feel like we played well enough to win by a few scores, but yet we’re hanging on to stop them from beating us with two minutes left in the game.
“I think this will be a good lesson for our guys. You’ve got to finish. We’ve got to take advantage of short fields. We’ve got to hit open guys all the time. I think three times tonight we had a big holding penalty. You can’t do that stuff.”
Elder’s quarterbacks were solid — Peters was 9 of 16 for 119 yards, and Ramsey was 4 of 8 for 59 yards. Sportsman snagged seven balls for 158 yards. And Schroer was the workhorse Everhart expected to see.
“All that fluff that they were doing in the scrimmages with the empties and stuff. Blah, blah, blah,” the MHS coach said. “They’re going to hunker down and go.”
Everhart said he wasn’t surprised by Colson’s highlight-reel kickoff return.
“We’re trying to get him on offense,” Everhart said. “Him and Vince Calhoun, those are great Middie offensive players. We’ve just got to get them to buy into that side of the ball.”
Colson paced the Middies with 13 total tackles. Kyle Junior had eight and Kevin Henry added seven. On offense, Simmons converted 3 of 6 throws for 46 yards.
“To be honest, we had a bad week of practice,” Carr said. “A good week of practice is coming. I’ve got to be older. Young guys are looking at me to set an example.”
“We’ll just take it and come back better,” Colson added. “We’re not worried about it. We’re thinking about the next one.”
Middletown returns home to face Springfield next Friday.
“We preach four things all the time: toughness, being a team guy, being versatile and being smart,” Everhart said. “Tonight, we were not those things. We were tough. We had a great team chemistry. We were not smart on numerous occasions.”
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