The Ellsworth Community College football team won its fourth straight game on Saturday beating Hutchinson Community College 42-35, but the score doesn't do justice to the intensity of the second half of the game. The Panthers pulled off a huge comeback after being down 35-0 early in the third quarter!

The first half of the game belonged to Hutchinson, which was up at halftime by a score of 28-0. ECC came out strong in the second half of the game, with quarterback Jujuan Young-Battle throwing for four touchdown passes and 430 yards, while completing 27 of 44 passes. Ellsworth scored 42 unanswered points in the second half.

Xavier Washpun had two touchdowns for ECC, including a 9-yard run and a 1-yard run. Marcel Williams caught a 47-yard pass from Young-Battle for a touchdown. Jaleel Scott came up big for the Panthers when Young-Battle hit him on a 50-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 35-all. Scott then caught a 28-yard touchdown pass with 48 seconds left in the game to take the final score to 42-35. Scott also had a 1-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter to start the Panthers' run.

On defense, the Panthers were led by Ryan Guthrie who had 15 tackles. KeAaris Ardley added 10 solo tackles, and Alex Caldwell and Javahanne Neal each had 10 tackles.

"Being down 35-0 with 8 minutes left and coming back showed a lot about the team's character," says ECC Head Football Coach Jesse Montalto. "The guys left it all on the field. They showed great maturity to stick with our game plan. The team is learning how to win."

ECC will finish its regular season at home on Saturday, Nov. 7, with a 1 pm against Butler Community College.