A crucial interception and a 97-yard touchdown in the third quarter helped the Ellsworth Panthers escape a win-or-go-home game against Saint Croix Central in Level 2 of the playous in Ellsworth on Friday, Oct. 28.

Ellsworth head coach Rob Heller admittedly called it one of his team’s poorest performances of the year. After falling behind 7-6 late in the second quarter, Ellsworth rallied and outscored Saint Croix Central 22-6 in the second half to secure a 28-13 victory and advance to Level 3 of the WIAA Division 4 playou bracket.

“I felt like our guys answered the bell really well and obviously bought into the survive and advance mentality," Heller said. “We played one of our poorest games of the year week 11 and still found a way to win. It wasn’t pretty but all that matters is going 1-0 each Friday and that is what we did. The guys just refused to lose, and I’m excited we get another week together." Perhaps no player refused to lose more than Ellsworth junior wide receiver Jakob McCabe, who scored two of the Panthers’ three ouensive touchdowns against SCC Friday night. McCabe got his evening started when he hauled in an 82-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Grivn Blomberg that gave Ellsworth a 6-0 lead with five minutes left in the first quarter.

Saint Croix Central threw its first haymaker early in the second quarter when junior quarterback Caden Wester threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Mason Sullivan. Saint Croix Central booted the PAT through the uprights and took a 7-6 lead going into the halftime intermission.

Ellsworth’s 7-6 deficit against SCC was the Panthers’ first time trailing going into the third quarter of a game since last year’s state championship game against Catholic Memorial . Coach Heller spoke about the first half of action.

“Saint Croix Central was playing some really good football the second half of the season," Heller said. “They came out with an excellent game plan and played an extremely physical brand of football on Friday night." SCC’s physical brand of football pulled Ellsworth into deep water and made it a highly competitive contest going into the third quarter. Saint Croix Central got the ball to start the second half and had its drive end when senior defensive back Lance Gipford intercepted a pass at the Panthers’ three-yard line.

On the first play of Ellsworth’s ensuing drive, Blomberg connected with McCabe over the top of the defense for a 97-yard play-action pass touchdown. A successful two-point conversion gave Ellsworth a 14-7 lead and the Panther faithful at Fuller-Symes field collectively took a deep sigh of relief.

The explosive plays that McCabe made on Friday night to help lift Ellsworth over Saint Croix Central resembled some of the chunk plays that Ashten Quade made last year for the Panthers throughout the playous. Heller spoke about McCabe’s game against SCC.

“McCabe had a great game, one he and his teammates will never forget. He really put the team on his back and created some explosive plays which our ouense has been lacking most of the season," Heller said. “If we can keep getting plays like that from him, we will be tough to stop. I couldn’t be happier with the way this team responded to being down at the half, it wasn’t pretty, but they dug deep and found a way to play ball for another week." Ellsworth scored 14 points in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter to secure the 2813 victory and advance to Level 3 of the playo us. The #2 seed Ellsworth Panthers advance to face the #1 seed Columbus Cardinals in the first round of sectionals. That game will be played at Columbus on Friday, Nov. 4, and will begin at 7 p.m.

Columbus currently holds an 11-0 record this season and is averaging more than 50 points per game. The Cardinals are coming ou a 55-24 victory in the Level 2 playou game against the Baldwin-Woodville Blackhawks, a team that Ellsworth defeated 24-12 earlier this season. Heller spoke about the upcoming matchup with undefeated Columbus.

“Columbus is a good team, they play in a tough league and they are definitely worthy of a #1 seed," Heller said. “With that being said, we will need to go down there, find a way to limit their big back, and just do what we have been doing the last three seasons and play our brand of football." Ellsworth has been dominant in the rushing attack this season and has amassed over 2,600 yards from scrimmage. However, Columbus has eclipsed the 3,200-yard threshold this season, including the 379 yards on the ground against Baldwin-Woodville on Saturday afternoon. Heller spoke about prognosticators picking Columbus to defeat Ellsworth.

“I don’t think many people are giving our boys a chance and we are just fine with that," Heller said. “We weren’t supposed to win our league this year, not many people thought we could bounce back after losing all of our experience last year, these guys just gotta keep grinding and keep proving people wrong. People forget this program is 31-2 in its last 33 games. I like our chances."

Ellsworth senior running back Jurell Gooden bounces a run to the outside during a game earlier this season. Photo by Reagan Hoverman