Cincinnati Enquirer
8/27/06
12th man plum perfect
Panthers' fans play a key role in 13-3 victory
BY RYAN ERNST | ENQUIRER STAFF
Elder football fans' loyalty has been tested in the past year. The normally imposingly raucous Purple Nation was neither imposing nor raucous last season, as the Panthers, two years removed from back-to-back Division I state titles, struggled through a 4-6 season.
But both the team and the fans made amends Saturday at Nippert Stadium in the finale of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown. The Panthers did their part with a 13-3 victory over Covington Catholic. The fans chipped in by disrupting the Colonels in a pair of late red zone opportunities.
"Our fans did a great job," Elder coach Doug Ramsey. "That's the way it was two and three years ago, where our fans make a difference in the game. They did that today."
After the Panthers took a 13-3 lead with 9:40 to go in the game, CovCath drove 65 yards to the 10-yard line, directly in front of the Elder cheering section and band. After the referees silenced the band for playing loudly, the cheering section turned up its own volume. The Colonels committed two false-start penalties on their first two plays from the 10.
On their third play, quarterback Josh Bleser collided with running back Brent Buckley and fumbled. Elder recovered.
"(The noise) was a problem," CovCath coach John Rodenberg said. "But that's what makes Elder Elder. You've got to love Elder's fans. They got into it. That's not illegal. It might have been illegal for the band, but it wasn't illegal for the fans."
A similar situation occurred on CovCath's last-ditch comeback attempt. After driving to the 20, the Colonels committed another false start. On the next play, senior defensive back Ross Metz picked off a Bleser pass at the goal line to seal the win.
Turnovers played a key role in the game for both teams. The Panthers fumbled the opening kickoff, giving CovCath possession at the Elder 33-yard line. After driving to the three-yard line, the Colonels settled for a 19-yard Shane Popham field goal. The two teams traded punts on the next six possessions before Elder started to get its offense going. The Panthers put together a 15-play drive on their last possession of the half, converting a fourth-and-four on an eight-yard pass from Derrick Ventre to Nick Olthaus. But four plays later Ventre threw an interception to Will Geisen and CovCath ran out the clock, taking a 3-0 lead into the locker room.
"I was not too pleased (at halftime)," Ramsey said. "I told them our defense was playing lights out, but the offense is walking up to the line of scrimmage like we were tired. I challenged those guys in the second half."
In the second half, Elder's offense responded. The Panthers rushed for 107 of their 152 yards in the second half. Most of those yards came from running back Patrick Williams, who finished the game with 112 yards on 30 carries.
"He's our guy," Ramsey said. "We put it all on Pat and he had a big game. I think we wore them down. You can give Pat the ball 40 times and he'll run the 40th like he ran the first."
Williams ran the ball three times on Elder's first scoring drive, which Ventre capped with a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Rudolph. On the Panthers' next possession, Williams carried three more times, including the two-yard touchdown run that capped the scoring.
Williams said the team was ready for a new start after 2005.
"All summer, and really all winter," Williams said, "this is what we've been working for and thinking about."
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