Tigers fall in shootout, 45-44
SHINNSTON — The Elkins defense couldn’t stop a 2-point conversion late in the fourth quarter Friday, as Class AA No. 11 ranked Lincoln came from behind to take a 45-44 victory in Big 10 Conference football action.
“In hindsight, there are always things you wish would have went differently,” EHS coach Evan Hott said. “Things that we wish we would have done a little bit better. Things that we wish we would have done a little bit differently, but the kids again gave a tremendous effort. They fought to the very end.
“They didn’t do anything different than what we thought they were going to do. We knew exactly what they were going to do and we just knew we had to find a way to stop it. Their quarterback was tremendous. If you don’t blitz him, he has time to create things. If you do blitz him, he gets away from you and makes you pay. It’s a catch-22.
“It was a tough situation. I just don’t know what to say. The message after the game was, ‘we win together, we lose together, we practice together.’ We’ve got to remain as a family and be supportive of one another. What goes on outside Wimer Field doesn’t matter. If we stay as the one tight-knit group that we have been, then we’ll be all right next week,” Hott added.
After Lincoln got out to a 21-10 lead at halftime, the Elkins offense came alive in the second half. With 8:41 to go in the third quarter, Thomas Talkington found the endzone on an 8-yard run. George Triplett’s extra point made the sore 21-17. However, Lincoln quarterback Kobie Carpenter capped the following drive with an 11-yard TD strike to extend the advantage to 29-17 after a successful 2-point conversion.
The shootout started in the fourth quarter, after Talkington found paydirt on a 5-yard run to make the score 29-24. EHS then took the lead with about 5 minutes left on the clock, after Daniel Romans scored from 12 yards out to make the tally 31-29.
Not to be outdone, the Cougars scored on their next possession with a 75 yard pass from Carpenter to Braydon Johnson. Another successful 2-point conversion attempt made the score 37-31. Elkins tied the game again when Talkington broke through the line of scrimmage and rumbled to a 31-yard score. Triplett’s extra point attempt was blocked, knotting the game at 37-37.
With less than a minute on the clock, the Tigers took the lead on a 55-yard TD scamper from Talkington to make the score 44-37, after Triplett’s PAT. Lincoln sealed the victory with 34 seconds left in the game when Carpenter hit Colten Havermale for a 55-yard TD to tie the game and successfully completed a 2-point conversion for the victory.
Thomas Talkington set the pace for the Tigers with 285 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns. Romans ground out 104 yards on 10 carries with 2 TDs.
On the defensive side of the ball, Gabe Jordan led the Tigers with 10 tackles. Romans chipped in 8 tackles and Austin Story grabbed an interception.
The Elkins offense racked up 467 yards on 47 plays, including 416 yards on the ground and 51 yards through the air. Lincoln amassed 530 yards of total offense with 475 yards coming through the air and 76 yards on the ground.
Elkins (3-5) is set to travel to Grafton next Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff.