FOOTBALL: Horst leads Elco to 31-20 victory over Columbia

Elco's Tyler Horst was a one man wrecking crew in leading the Raiders to a 31-20 win over Columbia Friday night.

Horst rushed for 239 yards on 31 carries to pace the Raiders, who spoiled Columbia's Homecoming with the win. Horst scores on short runs of 2 and 4 yards and also added a 35 yard score.

The Tide took an early 6-0 lead on a 21-yard run by Javon McIntyre with 8:50 to go in the first quarter. The Raiders came right back, driving 66 yards in 14 plays with Horst scoring from the two. The PAT was good and the Raiders led 7-6.

Elco took a 13-6 lead when Jeff Martin found Dylan Stoops for an 11-yard score on a fourth down pass with 6:13 left in the first half.

They scored again on their first possession of the second half on a 35-yard run by Horst, which was offset by a 1-yard run by the Tide's Jaden Vazquez.

Elco on Horst's third score went ahead 25-12 before the Tide pulled within five on another Vazquez touchdown with 2:54 left in the third quarter.

Turning point: With Elco leading 25-20 early in the fourth quarter, Columbia forced the Raiders to punt. On first down following a timeout from the Raider 45, Tide quarterback Meleik Crenshaw found wide receiver Tyreese Musser streaking down the sidelines for what should have been a 45-yard score. However, a hustling Dylan Stoops stripped Musser of the football as he crossed the goal line. The ball went out of the end zone for a touchback, which prevented the Tide from taking a 26-25 lead.

Star of the game: Elco's Tyler Horst, who dominated the ground game, rushing 31 times for 239 yards. He also scored three touchdowns on runs of 2, 35 and 4 yards.

Key statistic: Columbia not only fumbled once into the end zone but in the final seconds of the first half following a Musser interception of a Jeff Martin pass were stopped inside the one yard line as time ran out in the half.

Up next: Elco plays its final Section 3 game of the year at home with Ephrata, while Columbia travels to Annville-Cleona for its final road game of the season.

Elco 31, Columbia 20

Elco76126—31Columbia60140—20

Scoring

C - J. McIntyre 21 run (run failed)

E - T. Horst 2 run (D.Miller kick)

E - D. Stoops 11 pass from J. Martin (kick blocked)

E - T. Horst 35 run (pass failed)

C - J.Vazquez 1 run (pass failed)

E - T. Horst 4 run (kick blocked)

C - J. Vazquez 3 run (D. Miller kick)

E - R. Rolan 7 run (kick failed)

E C

19 First Downs 13

38-257 Rushes-Yards 36-222

8-13-1 Passes 6-12-0

88 Yards 141

1-34 Punts 1-16

1-1 Fumbles/Lost 1-1

7-70 Penalties/Yards 8-55