Colfax football loses lopsided battle to Ellsworth

By Cara L. Dempski

COLFAX — The Colfax Vikings’ football team dropped its second game of the season to a team that out-rushed and out-passed it by a three-to-one margin, eventually leading to a 47-14 loss here last Friday night.

In the August 26 game played on the Vikings’ home field, the Ellsworth Panthers logged 440 combined passing and rushing yards to the Vikings’ 185.

Colfax coach Matt DeMoe credited the Panthers’ study of the Vikings’ game against Eleva-Strum on August 18 for Ellsworth’s defensive tactics.

“It was pretty obvious they saw their (Eleva-Strum’s) run blitz and slants last week, so that’s what they brought,” DeMoe said.

The Panthers held the Vikings to only five yards in gains on their opening drive before taking over the ball on their own 27-yard line following a punt.

The Vikings misread the Panther’s first offensive snap count and jumped offsides for the first of six penalties incurred by Colfax during the game.

Ellsworth continued to move past Colfax’s defenses for another two first downs before Panther quarterback, Drake Flom handed the ball to senior Jake Sigler. Sigler moved to the outside and ran the ball down the sideline 48 yards to grab the first six points of the game. Wyatt Hines’ kick was good, which brought the score to 7-0 in the favor of the Panthers with 7:50 left in the first quarter.

After another three-and-out for Colfax, Ellsworth took over at their own 34 and cruised past the Vikings in three plays to bring the score to 14-0 with 4:39 left in the quarter on another Sigler scoring run, this time from five yards out. The Panthers would continue to score during each possession during the rest of the quarter, missing only one point after, to bring the score to 27-0 at the end of the first with Sigler getting this third rushing touchdown of the opening frame.

Defensively, the opening of the second quarter found the Vikings tightening things up. Though Ellsworth managed to take the ball all the way down to the three-yard line, they earned their first penalty of the game and moved back ten yards after being called for holding. With the ball pushed back to the 13, Viking Mitchell Kiekhafer broke up a pass from Flom intended for Logan Melstrom in the end zone.

Flom next targeted Tyler Hines, who pulled the ball in just after having stepped out of the back of the end zone. On a last-ditch effort, Flom again tried for Hines, and the pass was fell incomplete.

It took until the final five minutes of the half for the Panthers to score again, which they did with touchdowns at 4:58 and :33. Logan Melstrom scored his second TD of the game on a four-yard jaunt for the Panthers’ first score of the second quarter while Sigler added his fourth and final touchdown of the contest on the latter.  During the waning minutes of the second quarter, Colfax incurred the bulk of its penalties, grabbing four false starts in the course of four minutes.

“I don’t like the mental mistakes,” DeMoe said of his team. “I’m not okay with the number of false starts.”

The second half opened with another scoring drive by the Panthers, with Melstrom pulling down a pass from Flom to hit pay dirt. Wyatt Hines’ kick after made the score 47-0 with 4:34 left in the third.

It was the last time Ellsworth would score in the game.

On the next series, the Vikings starting on their own 32 nabbed a first down after losing ten yards to a holding call on a quarterback keep from Treyton Teige. After a succession of passing and rushing first- and second-down plays, Teige connected with Brett Schindler in the end zone to put six on the board for the Vikings.

Following the 12-yard touchdown pass, Teige attempted a pass to Adam Pretasky for the two-point conversion but Pretasky went down hard under a pile of Panther defenders. After calling over DeMoe and the team’s trainer, Pretasky was assisted to the sidelines for the remainder of the game.

With only 18 seconds left on the clock, Teige handed the ball to back Tyler Snyder, who wove past a host of Panthers to slide over the goal line for the six-yard score. This time, Teige kept the ball and used his height and reach to push past Ellsworth for a two-point conversion.

DeMoe said of his team, “We’re still looking for leaders, but they’re inconsistent. They’ll show up in practice, but then not at the game.”

Treyton Teige finished 12-of-20 in the passing department for 118 yard with a score and an interception. Five of Teige’s throws went to Brett Schindler for 53 yards and a touchdown. Tommy Anderson topped the Vikings ground game with 11 hauls for just 17 yards.

Panther Jacob Sigler led all rushers with 184 yard and four touchdowns on just a dozen carries. Ellsworth quarterback Drake Flom completed nine of his 15 attempts for 233 yards and another score.

ELLSWORTH 47, COLFAX 14
Ellsworth 27  13  7  0 — 47
Colfax 0   0   0  14 — 14

 

First Quarter: E —J. Sigler 48 run (W. Hines kick), J. Sigler 5 run (W. Hines kicks), L. Melstrom 19 run (W. Hines kick), J. Sigler 60 run (W. Hines kick failed).

Second Quarter: E — L. Melstrom 4 run (conversion failed), J. Sigler 3 run (W. Hines kick).

Third Quarter: E — L. Melstrom 34 pass from D. Flom (Hines kick).

Fourth Quarter: C — B. Schindler 12 pass from Teige (conversion failed), C — T. Snyder 6 run (Teige run).

 

INDIVIDUAL STATS:

Rushing (att-yds): E (23-250) — J. Sigler 13-202, L Melstrom 2-23, S. Strom 3-15, J. Lansing 2-10; C (25-35) — T. Anderson 11-16, T. Teige 14-19.

Passing (comp-att-int-yds): E (9-15-0-233) — D. Flom 9-15-0-233; C (12-20-1-118) — T. Teige 12-20-1-118.

Receiving (rec-yds): E (7-212) — R. McGregor 4-102, L. Melstrom 3-95, L. Benson 2-15;C (13-118) — B Schindler 5-53, T. Snyder 3-45, M. Kiekhafer 3-11, A. Pretasky 2-9.