By ANDREW FEEBACK
Friday night’s season opener between the Southern Wells Raiders and Elwood Panthers could not have gone more differently than last year’s matchup.
The Panthers hit the Raiders with an early haymaker and never looked back — a stark contrast to a year ago when the Raiders traveled south and ended a long losing streak on Elwood’s field.
“Mental toughness,” first-year coach Blake Blaker said when asked what got his team into an early hole. “They had a big play; We quit.”
That big play was the first one of the game when Elwood quarterback Jayden Mullins threw a deep pass that Nathan Bixby hauled in for a 75-yard touchdown pass.
When the Raiders fumbled on a fourth down attempt, the Panthers scored after back-to-back long runs from Mullins and Blaise Jones.
Mullins scored again from 16 yards to put Elwood up 20-0.
It just kept snowballing from there, with the Panthers scoring twice more before the first quarter ended.
Elwood’s Kayden Simpson picked up a Raider punt that no one downed and ran it back 35 yards for a score.
Mullins then intercepted a pass from Raider quarterback Robby Freimuth and returned it 46 yards for his third score of the night, and it was 33-0.
Jones notched his second touchdown early in the second quarter, this one from 26 yards.
The Raiders got on the board with Freimuth’s five-yard run near the end of the first half.
They had the ball for most of the second half with the clock running, but Elwood got another score when Jones picked up a fumble and returned it 73 yards.
It was a rough night statistically for the Raiders with 10 penalties for 75 yards and four turnovers.
“We’ve just got to get better,” Blaker said. “Be more mentally tough, do the little things right. Each week is a process. We just have to keep getting better and play our best ball at sectional.”
Southern Wells will host Madison-Grant next week.
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ELWOOD 47, SOUTHERN WELLS 6
At Southern Wells
Score By Quarters
Elwood 33 8 0 6 — 47
So. Wells 0 6 0 0 — 6
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
E—Nathan Bixby 75 pass from Jayden Mullins (Ryan Munoz kick), 11:38.
E—Mullins 23 run (Munoz kick), 8:38.
E—Mullins 16 run (kick failed), 3:43.
E—Kayden Simpson 35 punt return (kick blocked), 2:37.
E—Mullins 46 interception return (Munoz kick), 1:32.
Second Quarter
E—Blaise Jones 26 run (Mullins run), 10:23.
SW—Robby Freimuth 5 run (pass failed), 0:56.
Third Quarter
No scoring.
Fourth Quarter
E—Jones 73 fumble return (kick failed), 9:57.
Team Statistics
EL SW
First Downs 4 11
Rushes-Yards 16-134 37-118
Yards Passing 102 57
Passing (C-A-I) 2-3-0 5-19-2
Penalties-Yards 10-110 10-75
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-2
Punts-Average 0-0 4-17
Time of Possession 21:45 26:15
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Elwood, Blaise Jones 6-55, Jayden Mullins 7-64, Jace Reese 1-(minus 1), Jace Reese 2-16. Southern Wells, Robby Freimuth 21-59, Bryson Williams 10-31, Levon Goodnight 3-15, Lyric Maddox 2-4, Leeland Goodnight 1-9.
Passing: Elwood, Mullins 2-3-0-102. Southern Wells, Freimuth 5-19-2-57.
Receiving: Elwood, Nathan Bixby 1-75, Ryan Munoz 1-27. Southern Wells, Joshua Aulbach 3-40, Levon Goodnight 1-7, Leeland Goodnight 1-10.
