IOWA FALLS, IOWA -- When Marice Whitlock capped a long drive with a 1-yard scoring run early in the 4th quarter, the Ellsworth Panthers pulled within striking distance of 2nd-ranked Iowa Western in an ICCAC matchup at Cadet Field on Saturday. Whitlock's TD made the score, 24-13, and gave the Panthers hope of possibly pulling off an upset on their home field. But Iowa Western scored three touchdowns after that, one on a 41-yard pick-6 and stayed undefeated at 6-and-0 with a 45-13 final against ECC.
The visitors tallied a first-quarter TD and added another score on a punt return in the second period to grab a 14-0 advantage. The ECC defense stiffened after a Reiver drive, holding Iowa Western to a field goal and then came up with another defensive stand in a goal-to-go situation to force another field goal attempt, which resulted in a bad hold and no points. A short time later, Iowa Western fumbled a punt inside its own 10-yard line and two plays later Panthers QB Josh Bauer delivered a 6-yard scoring pass to Darrius Jackson to get Ellsworth on the scoreboard. Jake Vaughn added the extra point and ECC trailed 17-7 at intermission.
After an Iowa Western touchdown started the second-half scoring, the Panthers put together their best drive of the day -- a five-play, 77-yard effort that culminated in Whitlock's rushing TD. The failed point-after try left the score, 24-13, with one minute gone in the final quarter. But the Panthers wouldn't score again and the Reivers punched in three TDs to provide the final score.
Ellsworth struggled to find a rhythm on offense with nearly half of their 161 yards coming on the drive that started in the 3rd period and ended with the Whitlock touchdown. They were 0-for-13 on 3rd down.
Bauer completed 17-of-29 passes for 119 yards. Erastus Antsino caught one pass for 34 yards and Whitlock grabbed four for 30 yards. Tate Lahr also had four catches for 22 yards, Malcolm Gillie two for 12 and Aghogho Eyafe two for 8 yards. Jackson, who snagged the TD pass, JJ Mucha-Owens, Dianta Huffman and Gabe Banks each had one reception. Whitlock led ECC on the ground with 42 yards on 8 carriers, including a 32-yard gain, and David Hall picked up 14 yards on his 4 attempts.
On the defensive side, Jaden Davis recorded a pair of sacks, Tanner Cromer had a couple of tackles-for-loss and Marvin Woods had one, and Daylen Morgan and Michael Newman led the tackle chart with 7 stops each.
Ellsworth CC will celebrate Homecoming next Saturday when the Panthers battle Gordon Fine Arts Sports Academy in a 1:00 kickoff at Cadet Field.
