The varsity football team traveled to Springboro Friday night to take on a feisty Panther squad that was prepared to take any opening the Elks gave them to knock off the Elks. That is just what the Springboro Panthers did in handing the Elks their first loss of the year 17-21.

The Elks controlled the majority of this game but huge penalties and untimely turnovers kept the Elks from putting this game away. Drake Wells hit Jamar Montgomery for a 12 yard TD pass with 2:08 left in the 1st quarter to give the Elks a 7-0 lead at the end of quarter one. The second quarter saw the defense continue to force Boro to punt and Wells hit Montgomery for a 6 yard TD pass with :32 to go in the half. Elks took a 14-0 lead into halftime.

The Elks had the ball to start the second half but could not get things going and were forced to punt. The punt was a shank and Boro took the short field and drove all the way to the Elks 1 yard line but could not convert on 4th and goal from the 1 yard line. After a Ross Coppock interception the Elks had the ball at the Boro 28 yard line with 3:57 left in the 3rd quarter. Wells hit Montgomery for a gain to the Boro 1 yard line and Elks were in business to put this game away. The Elks looked to have scored on the next play from scrimmage but were called for a penalty and then a dead ball penalty and now were moved back to the 16 yard line where Wells was sacked and all of the sudden we were 3rd and goal from the 25 yard line.

The Elks chose to go for 4th and goal from the 25 yard line and Wells was sacked and from that point on the Boro offense woke up. Springboro drove immediately down the field to score to make it 14-7 Elks heading into the 4th quarter. The teams traded punts to start the 4th quarter and then the Elks were able to get a 26 yard FG from Jackson Courville to take a 17-7 lead with 6:44 to go in the game. Boro score with 2:31 left in the game to cut the lead to 17-14 and Nic Bruder recovered the Boro onside kick right at midfield but the Elks could do nothing on offense and were forced to punt. A bad snap led to a blocked punt and Boro had the ball at the Elks 11 yard line with 1:12 left and were able to punch in the game winner with :14 remaining.

The number of penalties and penalty yardage on the Elks were a huge factor in this game. Going into the 4th the Elks were penalized 12 times for 105 yards and in the 4th quarter there were many more penalties called. Hats off to Springboro for playing a great game but if our Elks clean up the mistakes and take care of the ball they will be fine moving forward, there is a lot of football left in this season and sitting at 5-1 overall and 2-1 in GWOC play is not a bad spot to be in!