By Reagan Hoverman

It’s easy to live in the past after having one of the most successful seasons in Ellsworth history, as the Panthers did last year. However, head coach Rob Heller and the players are set on moving forward and writing a new chapter in the Ellsworth history books.

That new chapter began this spring after school got done for the year. Younger players began taking on leadership roles previously occupied by longtime varsity starters Jack Janke, Max Grand and Ashten Quade, and a whole host of others who’ve all gone on to their respective collegiate programs.

That included new leaders taking on roles in the weight room, setting up and executing captains’ practices, and doing all of the little things that a successful football program needs to be done. Coach Heller spoke about turning the page and starting a new chapter in Panther program history.

“Last year was an exceptional year, one of the better ones in program history, that and the 1990 season,” Heller said. “But we’ve challenged these guys to write their own chapter in program history. They’ve done a good job since school got out of leadership in the weight room, and leadership in captain’s practices.”

Although Ellsworth had a senior-laden roster last season, the Panthers had juniors sprinkled throughout the starting lineup that returned to this year’s team. Some of those juniors include quarterback Kaeden Grau, Jurell Gooden, Carson Nugent, Bo Hines and many others. According to Heller, those players, now seniors, have stepped up as the new leaders of the program.

“We’ve got a good group of seniors and a lot of them got significant playing time as juniors,” Heller said. “They’re ready to go and they’ve been good all summer and all fall so far.”

Ellsworth has continued to have success in the first three weeks of the season, with two victories and the lone defeat happening on the road against New Richmond, a Division 2 school that many pre-season polls indicated could win the Big Rivers Conference.

The Panthers steamrolled the Arcadia Raiders 52-0 at home in week one. In that contest, Arcadia elected to not even play the second half because of the score and inclement weather concerns.

The New Richmond loss came in the form of a 22-8 defeat that dropped Ellsworth to 1-1 for the season in non-conference action.

On Friday, Sept. 2, Ellsworth began the Middle Border Conference schedule on the road against the Amery Warriors. After a scoreless first quarter by both teams, Ells worth kicked it into gear in the second frame by outsourcing the Warriors 16-0.

Senior running backs Bo Hines and Jurell Gooden accounted for the scores. It was Gooden finding the endzone with six minutes left in the first half. A successful two-point conversion made it 8-0 for the Panthers.

Three minutes later, Hines capped off an other scoring drive with an 11-yard touchdown carry. Another successful two-point conversion made it 16-0 for Ellsworth going into the halftime intermission.

Ellsworth also got on the board via special teams. Less than two minutes into the third quarter, the aforementioned Hines fielded an Amery punt, followed a couple of blocks and broke loose for a 56-yard punt return touchdown.

The Panthers continued to roll throughout the remainder of the third quarter and cruised to a 44-6 victory to improve to 2-1 for the season and 1-0 in the Middle Border Conference. The combination of talent in the back- field between Gooden and Hines has paired perfectly with the experience and size of the offensive line. Heller spoke about the offensive line and returning four starters from last year’s championship-caliber squad.

“The offensive line is the strength of this group,” Heller said. “We just graduated Ian Matzek from there. We lost senior Kyle Anschutz (last year) to injury but we had sophomore Andrew Gutting step up as a sophomore last year. That’s by far the group with the most experience and we’ve got four starters coming back.”

Perhaps the second strongest portion of Ellsworth’s roster is on defense. The defensive line features many of those same offensive line starters and the aforementioned Gooden and Hines play critical roles at the linebacker and in the secondary, respectively.

“Defensively, Jurell (Gooden) is a monster. If he stays healthy, he’s going to break the school record for tackles,” Heller said. “Bo Hines is a three-year starter for us in the secondary. We have experience in certain places and I think that they’re different position groups.”

Ellsworth will look to continue its winning ways on Friday, Sept. 9, at home against Baldwin-Woodville in the second conference game of the season. Ellsworth is one of four teams to win the opening conference game, joining Baldwin-Woodville, Rice Lake and Prescott. That contest on Friday night is slated to begin at 7 p.m.

Ellsworth senior running back Bo Hines bounces a run to the outside during the Panthers’ road game against New Richmond on Friday, Aug. 26. Hines has been a valuable player both offensively and defensively this season for Ellsworth. Photo by Reagan Hoverman