Elder Gets Revenge

On a cold night in Fort Thomas, the Highlands Bluebirds took the field looking to extend their streak of consecutive wins to 29. However, the Elder Panthers, after suffering a 34-29 defeat at The Pit in 2011, executed their revenge as the Panthers defeated the Bluebirds 38-24.

It seemed as if Elder was going to set the tone for the game on the opening drive, as the Panthers' offense marched down the field into the redzone. From the 5-yard line, Elder quarterback Josh Moore rolled out to the right and threw to the corner of the end zone for wide receiver Joe Ramstetter, but was intercepted in the end zone by Highlands' cornerback Quentin Murray.

With the ball on the 20-yard line, the Bluebirds began their opening offensive drive, but ended it one minute later when quarterback Donovan McCoy ran for a 63-yard touchdown run, his longest carry of the season.

McCoy would go on to throw an interception late in the third quarter, but would redeem himself in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Luke Brockett.

Elder running back Chris Schroer carried the Panther offense to victory. The junior carried the ball 45 times for 259 yards and five touchdowns. His performance tonight set him over the century mark for the season, as he has accumulated 1,037 rushing yards.

The Panthers' passing attack struggled as Moore was flushed in the pocket throughout the game by Bluebird rushers. Moore only completed 5 of his 14 attempts for 110 yards. Wide receiver Max Mazza pulled in three of those passes for 85 yards.

McCoy finished the night with 113 yards and one touchdown rushing while adding another 168 yards and score on 16-of-30 passing. Zach Harris added 95 yards and a TD on 11 carries in the loss.

Elder (6-3, 1-1) finishes their season at The Pit next week as they host GCL South opponent LaSalle (4-5, 0-2). Highlands (8-1, 4-0) will travel to Ryle to begin a new winning streak, ironically their last loss before the streak came at the hands on the Raiders on the same field.