Panthers fall the ranks of the undefeated

After outscoring its first two opponents 60-20, the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (NRHEG) Panthers’ defense gave up 21 first-half points to the Lake Crystal-Welcome Memorial (LCWM) Knights and their offense couldn’t make up the deficit in the second half so the Panthers fell to 2-1 after losing 12-27 on Friday, Oct. 23.
The Knights struck first, scoring a touchdown and a success extra point attempt to take a 7-0 lead with four and a half minutes left in the first quarter.
LCWM tacked on another six points early in the second quarter to extend their lead to 13-0.
The Panthers responded with a touchdown with 4:46 left in the first half, but the point after attempt failed so they trailed 6-13.
Unfortunately, the Knights had enough time to score another touchdown and LCWM took a 21-6 lead into halftime.
With 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter NRHEG made the game more competitive by scoring another touchdown, but the extra point attempt failed so the Panthers trailed by two possessions, 12-21, at the end of the third quarter.
The Knights put the game away for good by scoring another touchdown to increase their lead to 27-12 with 5:18 left in the game.
LCWM’s defense didn’t allow NRHEG to score again so that ended up being the final score. The Panthers’ record fell to 2-1 while the Knights’ record improved to 2-1.
NRHEG will have to wait to get back on the winning track as the next two games have been cancelled as the team came down with a positive COVID-19 case over the weekend.