TriStateFootball.com
Home / Cincinnati / Elder knocks out Darby

Elder knocks out Darby

The Elder Panthers moved past the round of 16 in Ohio Division I playoff action by breezing past the Hilliard Darby Panthers on Saturday night at Welcome Stadium, 41-13.

Elder (9-3) registered 386 yards of total offense and used a 21-point, second-quarter explosion to jump out to an early lead and they never looked back.

Peyton-Ramsey-550x425

Quarterback Peyton Ramsey delivered another monster performance in leading the Purple push. The senior carried the ball 13 times for 112 yards and three touchdowns and completed 13-of-17 passes for 142 yards and another TD before the game reached intermission.

Ramsey was the only player for either team to find the end zone in the game’s opening quarter when he punched it in on the ground from two yards out, capping off an 85-yard drive.

The Panthers got a second Ramsey TD run less than three minutes into the second quarter to open up a 14-0 lead.

Darby (9-3) stopped the bleeding a bit when they answered on the ensuing drive as quarterback Nick Powers scored on a 2-yard run of his own. However, a failed conversion kept it at 14-6.

Ramsey added a third rushing score and threw 2-yard TD pass to Robby Oswald to close out the half as Elder took a 22-point lead.

After going three-and-out on the opening drive of the second half, it appeared as if Darby would force Elder to punt on their first drive of the second half and get a second chance to rime the lead.

But Elder converted on 4th-and-11 when Ramsey hit Nick Hall for a 32-yard TD pass. It was the knockout punch, giving them a 34-6 edge (failed conversion).

Senior Ben Allison came away with an interception to halt the next Darby drive. That led to a 4-yard rushing touchdown by Ja’Vahri Portis and the start of the running clock as Elder was on top 41-6.

Darby’s Kyle Colvin scored the game’s final touchdown in the early fourth quarter. It stopped the running clock, but it was too late to stop the bleeding.

Elder advances to a Division I, Region 2 semi-final matchup with the Colerain Cardinals, who knocked off St. Xavier 42-14 on Saturday night. It will be the first meeting between Elder and Colerain since the 2012 playoffs.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply