The Ellsworth Panthers had 13 players unable to play last week due to COVID-19 tracing, but they didn’t let that be the story of the game. The story of last Friday night was junior running back Max Grand running all over Somerset. The offensive line worked hard all night to open holes against a big Spartan defense, and Grand made them pay nearly every carry, finishing with 294 yards on 24 carries and four touchdowns on the ground. Grand also had one reception, a 39-yard touchdown. The Panthers converted four two-point conversions with the ball in Grand’s hands. In the last two games, both against Somerset, Grand has totaled 558 yards on the ground and eight touchdowns.

Ellsworth won the game 44-0.

Registering 183.6 yards per game, Grand is Wisconsin’s third leading rusher per game according to wissports. net. Grand also ran for the third-most yards in the state last week. Durand’s Simon Bauer racked up 295 yards and Mondovi’s Tanner Marsh ran for 376 last week.

Grand started strong, breaking away for a 67-yard touchdown on the second play after stumbling near the line of scrimmage. He showed that he’s an allaround football player on the next drive, tackling the Spartan ball carrier for a loss of two yards on third down to force a punt.

The Panthers defense showed up to play as a team. The Spartans couldn’t consistently move the ball, with a slew of Panthers stopping them in their tracks if they crossed the line of scrimmage.

“We needed to improve our pad level on the defensive side of the ball, the guys did a really good job of staying low,” Head Coach Rob Heller said after the game. “Max is a special player, he’s super explosive and when he gets an opportunity, he’s going to make the most of it.”

With so many players out, their teammates knew they had to make the most of their opportunity to get them back on the field for another week.

“It’s really too bad because they had an opportunity to play tomorrow (Saturday), but Somerset chose to play tonight. In a season like this with few and far opportunities to play football, to take an opportunity away from kids, it was really unfortunate. But these guys made the most of it. They were playing for their teammates that didn’t get a chance to play tomorrow. So, hopefully those guys make the most of it Thursday against Northwestern,” Heller said.

The Middle Border Conference released picks for All-Conference, and its full of Panthers.

Jack Janke was named All-Conference Defensive Back, Wide Receiver and Runner Up Player of the Year. Ian Matzek was named All-Conference Inside Linebacker and Offensive Line. Ryan Matzek was named All-Conference Tight End and Defensive End. Max Grand was named All-Conference Running Back and Outside Linebacker. Mason Anderson was named All-Conference Quarterback, Shane Lange received All-Conference Running Back, sophomore Jack Voelker All-Conference Defensive Back and sophomore Jurrell Gooden received All-Conference Inside Linebacker. Braden Matzek was named Honorable Mention Defensive Line, Kyle Anschutz Honorable Mention Offensive Line and Ashten Quade was named Honorable Mention Running Back.

Head Coach Rob Heller was named the Middle Border Conference Head Coach of the Year, while assistant coach Cory Brathall was named the Conference Assistant Coach of the Year.

The Panthers will be back in action for their second and final playoff game this Thursday night at Fuller-Symes Field at 7:00 p.m. The Northwestern Tigers (6-1) finished second in the Heart O’North Conference, their only loss was a 28-0 defeat at Cumberland, who is yet undefeated and hosts Stanley-Boyd this week. The Tigers shut out St. Croix Central (SCC) last week, 14-0. SCC is the only team to lose to Ellsworth by less than fifteen points this season, back in the Panthers third game of this strange season.

Photo by Jack McLoone

Photo by Jack McLoone

On the second play of Ellsworth’s first series, Max Grand stumbled through a hole to the right before he saw the endzone 67 yards away and found paydirt.