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La Salle nips Elder in OT thriller

La Salle QB Zach Branam (photo by Greg Shoemaker/TriStateFootball.com)

CINCINNATI, Ohio – The much-anticipated high school football season got underway in thrilling fashion Friday night at The Pit as a pair of GCL South foes faced off.

The last time Elder and La Salle each took the field they were playing for state championships and the way they played on this night that feat is well within their sights. La Salle, ranked No. 1 in our Preseason Blitz 5 Top 25, is the reigning Division II state champs. Elder finished as the runner-ups in Division I a year ago.

The two heavyweights traded punches for four quarters and two overtimes before La Salle dealt the knockout blow as quarterback Zach Branam followed up his 19-yard TD pass to Gi’Bran Payne with a successful 2-point conversion run as the Lancers prevailed in double overtime, 53-52.

Branam, the 2020 Preseason All-TriStateFootball.com First Team quarterback, threw for three touchdowns, ran for two more scores, and hit a key field goal late in the fourth quarter in the win. Running back Gi’Bran Payne caught two of the touchdowns and ran for two more in the victory.

Elder started the game with a 12-play, 82-yard opening drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock that resulted in a Drew Ramsey 2-yard TD.

The Panthers then turned a Lancer fumble into a second first-quarter TD as Ramsey ran in another score, this time from 10 yards out.

Ramsey did a bit of everything in this contest, finishing with four touchdowns on the night.

Branam and Payne finally got the Lancers on the scoreboard when they connected for a 35-yard TD pass connection on fourth down.

The Lancers scored again less than three minutes into the second quarter as Branam hit paydirt on a 20-yard run to tie the game.

From that point on it was a back-and-forth battle. The game was tied at halftime. It was tied at the end of the third quarter. It was tied at the end of regulation and it was tied after the first overtime.

POSTGAME INTERVIEWS
Pat McLaughlin, head coach, La Salle
Zach Branam, La Salle
Gi’Bran Payne, La Salle

SCORING BY QUARTERS
La Salle 7-14-7-10-15-53
Elder 14-7-7-10-15-52

SCORING PLAYS
E: Drew Ramsey 2-yard run (Andrew Mueller kick)
E: Drew Ramsey 10-yard run (Mueller kick)
L: Zach Branam 35-yard pass to Gi’Bran Payne (Mason Luensman kick)
L: Zach Branam 20-yard run (Luensman kick)
E: Marco Sabato 5-yard run (Mueller kick)
L: Zach Branam 5-yard pass to Cole Schneider (Luensman kick)
L: Zach Branam 25-yard run (Luensman kick)
E: Ben Hambleton 5-yard pass to Drew Ramsey (Mueller kick)
L: Gi’Bran Payne 19-yard run (Luensman kick)
E: Ben Hambleton 69-yard pass to Scott Nieman (Mueller kick)
L: Zach Branam 28-yard field goal
A: Andrew Mueller 22-yard field goal
L: Gi’Bran Payne 20-yard run (Branam 2-pt conversion good)
E: Drew Ramsey 3-yard run (Mueller kick)
E: Ben Hambleton 16-yard pass to Scott Nieman (Mueller kick)
L: Zach Branam 19-yard pass to Gi’Bran Payne (Mason Luensman kick)

RECORDS: LaSalle (1-0, 1-0 GCL South); Elder (0-1, 0-1)
UP NEXT: La Salle at St. Xavier; Elder vs. Floyd Central (IN)

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