ELLSWORTH — The first half of the football season has not broken Ellsworth’s way. At 0-5, Ellsworth has four games to right the ship and get into the win column.

The Panthers lost to St. Croix Central 42-0 Thursday, Sept. 17 during their Homecoming game. The game was moved from Friday to Thursday night due to the forecasted storms.

“It’s obviously not the ideal start to the season going 0-5. You have high hopes when the season starts in August, but we knew this season was going to be challenging graduating all the seniors, and all the stuff we’ve already talked about all year, being young and inexperienced,” Head Coach Rob Heller said. “We’re going to keep working hard and try to put the kids in positions to have success. Keep lifting weights in the morning, and watching film, and doing all the stuff that leads to success. We’ve just got to find the right recipe.”

The Ellsworth offense has not moved the ball at the rate it needs to in order to put points on the board and win games. Ellsworth has scored six or fewer points in each of the five games thus far. The Middle Border is as strong as ever this season, meaning the Panthers must play clean football and take advantage of every possession down the line.

“You’ve got to simplify things. You’ve got to find something that works. I know that’s probably a frustrating answer for the students, and the players and fans, but we’ve just got to find something that’s going to get the ball moving in the right direction,” Heller said. “I guarantee you it’s not from a lack of effort on the kids’ part, but that’s where we as coaches have to come in and figure out a successful gameplan.”

The Panthers play Amery, Somerset and Altoona on the road, with the final home game for the senior class Oct. 2 against Baldwin-Woodville. Heller said this senior class has put in the work, and he and his staff are looking to send them off on a positive note. The Panthers have an even dozen seniors this season.

“I love those guys. They’ve worked exceptionally hard. In the summer, when everyone else was finding excuses not to play football, they were making sacrifices, lifting weights, going to camps, getting the contact days and putting in the time,” Heller said. “I know they deserve better, but unfortunately that’s the way it goes a lot of times in the [Middle Border Conference]... We’ve got to find a way to get these guys some success because they deserve it.”