Elder can’t overcome slow start

CINCINNATI, oh – The Pickerington Central Tigers narrowly defeated Elder, 20-14, at Nippert Stadium in the Skyline Crosstown Showdown Saturday night.

After taking a 20-7 lead into halftime, the Tigers were shut down by the Elder defense, holding their opponents to 96 yards in the second half.

Elder Head Coach Doug Ramsey (photo by Mike Noyes/TriStateFootball.com)

“I was disappointed in the first half, but the second half we played,” said Elder head coach Doug Ramsey. “Our effort tonight was outstanding.”

Elder had an opportunity late in the fourth quarter when the offense started on their own 13-yard line and drove down inside the Pickerington Central 10-yard line, but junior quarterback Danny Nieman’s passed was knocked down. Elder received the ball again with 48 seconds on their own 19-yard, but were not able to move the ball downfield.

“We felt like we were getting better as the game went on,” Nieman said. “Our defense is our strong point and helped us out a bunch. We will keep getting better as a young team”

In his first career start on the varsity level, Nieman finished the game 26-of-43 for 245 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

“It was crazy coming out at Nippert Stadium under the lights,” said Nieman. “I was feeling sick all week but once I got out here I was fine.”

The Tigers defensive line was pressuring Nieman all night as Elder lost two offensive lineman to injury during the game. According to Ramsey, there were times where there was not one starter from last season in the offensive huddle.

Elder QB Ryan Nieman (photo by Mark Pinto/TriStateFootball.com)

“We lost two lineman, one for a while and we do not have a lot of size,” said Ramsey. “That is a great defense and our guys just kept working and that is all we ask them to.
We are going to get better each week”

This Columbus-based team is coming off an 8-3 record a year ago, and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Upper Arlington.

Pickerington Central senior quarterback Darius Coker led the offense with 74 yards on 10 rushes, and completed 5-of-8 passes for 129 yards. Coker was responsible for the game’s first touchdown when he ran the ball into the end zone on a four-yard run.

Elder took an early 7-6, in the second quarter, but Pickerington Central was able to quickly answer with a 4-yard touchdown run by senior Jermycole Graham to take a 13-6 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Elder fumbles, setting up a 2-yard touchdown run by Pickerington Central senior Morgan Ellison to extend the lead 20-7. Ellison finished the night with 96 total yards. Elder had four turnovers in the game.

Elder narrowed the lead with just over four minutes left in the third quarter when senior linebacker Nick Niehaus recovered a muffed punt in the end zone. The football touched numerous players, including two Tigers before the ball landed in the hands of Niehaus.

Elder will look to get in the win column as they travel to Oak Hills next week.

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