By RICK SPRUNGER
ELWOOD — The Southern Wells Raiders got the Jeff Sprunger era off to a rousing start with a 29-26 win over Elwood Friday night that snapped a 22-game program losing streak.
A 20-yard Bryar Gearheart run with 5:55 left in the game flipped the scoreboard for the last time as Southern Wells posted its first varsity football victory since a 38-21 win over Heritage on Oct. 11, 2019.
Gearheart finished with 111 yards on 19 carries and three touchdowns, including scoring runs of five and four yards in addition to his game-winner.
As might be expected, Sprunger was all smiles amid a jubilant bunch of happy, back-slapping, and fist-pumping Raiders.
“It feels great,” gushed the first-year coach while accepting well-wishes from numerous passers-by. “It’s been a long off-season with kids dedicated to getting in the weight room. We’ve told them, ‘This, too, shall pass,’” he continued about the long dry spell in recent seasons. “But we’re trying to change the culture and the mindset here, and we’ve got over forty kids out for the program this year.”
Elwood put up a tremendous fight and nearly pulled the game out after getting a big momentum swing in the third quarter.
Southern Wells had stretched a 17-12 halftime lead to 23-12 on Gearheart’s second touchdown run on the Raiders’ first possession of the second half, but Elwood was not about to go quietly.
The Panthers got two quick bolts of lightning from sophomore running back Brylen Mort, who didn’t carry the ball at all in the first half.
With his team facing a first-and-20 and that 11-point deficit, Mort suddenly got loose for 28 yards and a first down at the Southern Wells 24.
After a four-yard carry by quarterback Jayden Mullins, Mort again got the call and burst straight up the middle untouched for 20 yards and the score.
Then came a fluke onside kick that really wasn’t intended to be that when the Elwood kicker topped the ball, which dribbled the necessary 10 yards and dropped dead on the spot.
One play later, Mullins found a wide-open A.J. Flanagan behind the Southern Wells defense for a 49-yard score on the only completed pass by either side all night.
“Brayden Jackson sprained his ankle,” said Sprunger of the two Elwood touchdowns inside the span of a minute. “He missed both those defensive series and the offensive series (a three-and-out) that followed. But he said he thought he could go, and he went back in there. That’s what I like about this team; everyone is stepping up and doing what it takes.”
Elwood appeared poised late in the period to grab a two-score lead after that Southern Wells punt, getting back-to-back gains of 22 and 17 yards plus a late hit penalty on top of the first one that moved the ball all the way to the 11.
But with its back to the wall, the Southern Wells defense rose up and stuffed the Panthers on four shots from there and took over on downs at the four.
Another defensive stand in its own territory at the 35 early in the fourth quarter gave the ball back to the offense.
This time, the Raiders made the most of it with Gearheart’s 20-yard dash with a pitch down the left sideline, capping a 65-yard, eight-play drive and swinging his team back on top.
When the defense held Elwood on fourth down for the third straight series with 3:27 remaining, all the offense needed to do was grind out a couple of first downs and then take a knee.
The first half saw Southern Wells control both sides of the line of scrimmage in taking a 17-12 lead into the locker room.
The Raiders got one score on a seven-yard touchdown run by Case Boxell that capped a 72-yard, 13-play drive and added a second when a Trey Slusher interception set them up at the Elwood 15 moments later.
Gearheart’s five-yard touchdown run enabled his team to counter two 59-yard scoring runs by Mullins that kept Elwood in the game.
The only scoring in the second quarter was a 22-yard field goal by freshman kicker Joshua Aulbach that was set up by a Gearheart interception return to the seven.
But those three points turned out to be the difference in the game.
SOUTHERN WELLS 29, ELWOOD 26
at Elwood High School
Southern Wells 14 3 6 6 — 29
Elwood 12 0 14 0 — 26
First Quarter
EL—Jayden Mullins 59 run (run failed), 11:32.
SW—Case Boxell 7 run (Joshua Aulbach kick), 5:25.
SW—Bryar Gearheart 5 run (Aulbach kick), 3:12.
EL—Mullins 59 run (run failed), 1:08.
Second Quarter
SW—FG Aulbach 22, 6:32.
Third Quarter
SW—Gearheart 4 run (kick blocked), 9:53.
EL—Brylen Mort 22 run (run failed), 5:42.
EL—A.J. Flanagan 49 pass from Mullins (Mullins run), 4:46.
Fourth Quarter
SW-Gearheart 20 run (pass failed), 5:55.
Team Statistics
SW EL
First Downs 19 10
Rushes-Yards 48-252 39-311
Passing (C-A-I) 0-1-0 1-6-2
Passing Yards 0 49
Penalties-Yards 6-65 6-58
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 1-0
Punts-Average 3-25.3 1-30.0
Time of Possession 25:39 22:21
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Southern Wells-Bryar Gearheart 19-111, Case Boxell 17-85, Tucker Worster 7-32, Trey Slusher 4-12, Owen King 1-10; Elwood-Jayden Mullins 13-164, Brylen Mort 15-78, Bracken Jetty 11-34, A.J. Flanagan 4-33.
Passing: Southern Wells-Trey Slusher 0-1-0 0; Elwood-Jayden Mullins 1-6-2 49.
Receiving: Southern Wells 0-0; Elwood-A.J. Flanagan 1-49.
