4th quarter no issue for Elco in 43-24 romp over Columbia
Determined not to let history repeat itself, the Elco Raiders took the field on Homecoming night and scored on their first seven possessions spanning the first three quarters while the defense held down an athletic Columbia team for a 43-24 L-L Section 3 football victory.
Tyler Horst scored three touchdowns, Kyle Knight ran for one and passed for two, and Dane Miller added a 32-yard field goal at the start of the third quarter for Elco (3-4, 1-3).
Horst, who carried 20 times for 117 yards said, “The line blocked great; they were aggressive. They deserve the credit just as much as anybody. They made it easy for us.”
Indeed it looked pretty easy for the Raiders at times. Knight, who carried 10 times for 92, had a huge 50-yard run at the start of the second quarter and was over 100 yards himself at one point before a sack. He also accounted for the good field position the Raiders had to start drives with his return yardage and tacked on 93 yards passing with touchdowns to Nate Beamer and Ryan Eshleman.
Eshleman, after scoring the touchdown in the third quarter, recorded one of three sacks defensively for the Raiders. Billy Petruska-Rhoads had one to end the first quarter and another in the second that led to punts by the Tide.
“They have some athletes,” Elco coach Robert Miller said of the Tide. “It was outstanding to see our guys have success and stop them and make them earn the field position and earn the drives and shut people down.”
After enforcing the mercy rule late in the third quarter, the Raiders were able to get some of their younger guys into the game as well, which allowed Columbia to make the game appear closer than it really was. But there was no danger of a fourth section game fourth-quarter heartbreak.
“It’s a great feeling to know that the kids throughout the entire season have never wavered in their commitment and in their drive,” Miller said. “Those fourth quarter games were tough, but we never backed down and tonight we just kept doing the same thing.”
The Raiders' commitment and fight will be tested once again next week as Northern Lebanon comes to town, but for now, they get to enjoy a section victory and build on the momentum of a Homecoming win.
Knight said, “We just want to go out and win the rest of our games. As a senior, I want to have a winning record, so we’ll see what happens.”
Elco 43, Columbia 24
Columbia _ 8 _ 0 _ 0 _ 16 _ — _ 24
Elco _ 12 _ 14 _ 17 _ 0 _ — _ 43
First Quarter
E — Kyle Knight 15 run (kick failed), 6:54
C — Jovon Sanford 17 pass from Meleik Crenshaw (Crenshaw run), 3:46
E — Nate Beamer 12 pass from Knight (pass failed), 0:31
Second Quarter
E — Tyler Horst 5 run (pass failed), 10:07
E — Horst 4 run (Damon Rankin pass from Knight), 0:36
Third Quarter
E — Dane Miller 32 field goal, 10:02
E — Ryan Eshleman 30 pass from Knight (Miller kick), 7:00
E — Horst 7 run (Miller kick), 4:41
Fourth Quarter
C — Isaiah Acosta 9 run (Tyler Harman pass from Crenshaw), 4:28
C — Luke McGinnis 17 run (Acosta run), 0:54
Team Statistics
_ Col _ Elco
First downs _ 9 _ 11
Rushes-yards _ 38-112 _ 35-204
Passing _ 6-13-0 _ 6-11-1
Passing yards _ 102 _ 93
Total yards _ 214 _ 297
Punts _ 3-28.0_ 0-0
Fumbles-lost _ 2-0 _ 2-1
Penalties-yards _ 8-45 _ 4-35
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Col: Harman 18-75, Ramos 5-9, Crenshaw 6-(-23), Musser 1-0, Acosta 6-32, McGinnis 2-19; Elco: Horst 20-117, Knight 10-92, Stump 2-1, Rank 1-(-4), O’Neil 2-(-2).
Passing — Col: Crenshaw 6-13-0-102; Elco: Knight 6-10-0-93, Ulrich 0-1-1-0.
Receiving — Col: Harman 1-(-4), Musser 2-48, Sanford 3-58; Elco: Kline 2-24, Miller 1-13, Horst 2-17, Eshleman 1-39.