The Antlers’ Homecoming game on September 16 continued Antler Football’s habit of pulling out the game in the fourth quarter.  The game started with a defense-heavy approach, with the Bears’ first possession ending after just 7 yards.  However, a fumbled punt gave the Bears the ball right back, and the game quickly turned in favor of Blair after a 25-yard pass by Bode Soukup, moving the ball to the Antler 1.  Blair then scored on the next play, completing a 13 play drive, leaving the score at 7 Bears, 0 Antlers after a successful PAT kick by Tanner Horacek.

Elkhorn immediately responded with an 11 play drive, ultimately failing on the Bear 20, and ending with a missed field goal.  The rest of the first half was very low-scoring, with Elkhorn finally making a comeback with just 43 seconds left in the second quarter, leaving the score 7 Blair, 6 Elkhorn into halftime.

The second half was much quicker-pace, with Blair scoring right out of the gate, sending the score to 14:6.  The Antlers took a bit to gain their momentum, but they made their comeback with 5:02 left in the third quarter, and with a successful two-point conversion by Hank Kroger, the game was tied 14:14.  The fourth quarter went much the same, with Blair scoring, then Elkhorn again, again tying the score 21:21 with 3 minutes left in the game.  Then came the final score of the game, where Blair was forced to their own end zone, and under heavy pressure threw the ball to an incompletion.  The play was ruled an intentional grounding, pushing the line of scrimmage into the end zone, resulting in a safety. Thi would result in the Antlers commencing consecutive victory formations and a final score of 23 Antlers, 21 Blair.

Even though the game was ultimately ruled on a penalty, the Elkhorn student body was ecstatic to have finished their homecoming game with a win, especially after the poor start and low scoring theme throughout the game.

When asked for an overall comment on the game, Elkhorn head coach Dan Feickert said, “When it came down to crunch time, our boys found a way to pull out another win with our backs against the wall.”

4-0 Elkhorn will play tomorrow against the Rams at Ralston, and the 1-3 Bears will play Bennington tomorrow at Blair.

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