By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
Coming off a disappointing loss to Wilmot, the Union Grove football team made sure there wasn’t a repeat offense at Elkhorn Friday, Sep. 25.
The Broncos outscored the Elks 20-0 in the second half on its way to a commanding 27-7 victory in Southern Lakes Conference action.
With the impressive victory Union Grove (5-1, 3-1) remains tied for second place with Lake Geneva Badger and Wilmot in the Lakes race.
The Broncos can move into a first-place tie with Waterford tonight by virtue of a victory over the visiting Wolverines.
Union Grove will surely need its star offensive players to have another strong game against Waterford after leading the way to victory over Elkhorn.
Quarterback Matt Nelson led the charge, completing 11 of 18 passes, along with a passing and a rushing touchdown. Running back TJ Cadd rolled up 111 yards and a touchdown, while wide receiver Tyrell Laxton finished off the Elks with an 86-yard touchdown catch to seal the victory.
“We bounced back well after our loss against Wilmot,” Union Grove coach Craig McClelland said. “Elkhorn is a very physical team, but we handled their physicality with our athletes well.”
The Broncos’ superior athleticism took a half to warm up before taking over in the second half.
Nelson broke a 7-7 game in the third with an 18-yard touchdown run.
With the game still in question, Cadd finally broke through the Elks’ defense and scampered 57 yards for a touchdown in the fourth. That made it 20-7 Union Grove.
Laxton later put the finishing touches on the victory when he connected with Nelson on an 87-yard touchdown midway through the fourth.
“We just grinded it out,” McClelland said. “We attempted 18 passes and ran the ball four times. In this conference, you often have to grind those games out, and it was no different against Elkhorn.”
The Broncos grinded out a score on their opening drive of the game when Nelson capped the long drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Union Grove maintained a 7-0 lead into the second quarter before Elkhorn fullback Jordan Barr plowed into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown run to even the game at 7.
“Elkhorn’s score was set up when we missed a key tackle on a slant pass,” McClelland said. “But other than that, we didn’t allow many big plays defensively.
The game remained knotted at 7 before the Broncos broke the game open in the second half behind Nelson and the offense.
“Nelson grows every week and makes all the right choices,” McClelland said. “The other kids follow Nelson as a leader because he is just steady and consistent. He just gets better week to week.”
McClelland and the Broncos will certainly need another strong effort from Nelson and the rest of the offense to hand Waterford its first conference loss of the season.
The Wolverines, who were picked by many as the favorite to win conference, have certainly lived up to the prognostications thus far.
“Waterford will be here for our homecoming game tonight,” McClelland said. “It will be a big challenge to try
to compete with them and just hang around with them and be in it at the end so we have a chance to win. We just have to play solid and not make mistakes and maybe capitalize on any mistake Waterford might make.”
-
-
-
-
-