By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School football team tried stopping Union Grove quarterback Matt Nelson Friday in a Southern Lakes Conference football game at Union Grove, and Nelson was having none of it.
Coach Tom Lee said the Elks tried different fronts and combinations, but Nelson solved them all with his arm and feet, and led the Broncos to a 48-20 victory.
Elkhorn (1-5, 0-4 SLC) plays Badger (6-0, 4-0 SLC) Friday in a SLC game at home as part of the Elks’ Homecoming festivities.
Badger is ranked 10th in Division 1 in the latest Wisconsin Football Coaches Association state poll, and beat Wilmot 27-21 Friday at home. Badger beat Elkhorn 21-7 last season in a SLC game at Badger.
An inability to contain or limit Nelson hastened the Elks’ demise against Union Grove. Nelson finished 17-of-26 for 324 yards and five touchdowns. The senior quarterback rushed for 79 yards on 13 carries and added two rushing touchdowns.
“He’s the best quarterback I’ve seen since I’ve been in the conference as a head coach,” said Lee, who took over the Elks in 2009. “He can see a lot, and he’s strong in the pocket.”
The Elks and Broncos (4-2, 2-2 SLC) traded scores through the first and second quarter. Grove never trailed, and punted only once.
The Elks trailed 21-14 after a 63-yard touchdown pass from Carm Consolino to Tyler Robers with 9:31 left in the second quarter.
The Broncos scored twice more in the second quarter and took a 35-14 halftime lead. Nelson threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Ross nine minutes before halftime and threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Holden Whybark with 38 seconds left in the second quarter.
Nelson threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Alex Rewolinski with 7:23 left in the third quarter. The Elks’ Dakota Biefeld scored on a one-yard touchdown run before Nelson closed the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Devin Shibilski with 1:18 remaining in the third.
Nelson opened the scoring on a one-yard touchdown run with 7:03 left in the first quarter. The Elks answered with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Consolino to Biefeld to tie the game 7-7 with 4:42 left in the first. It’s the only time in the game the Elks did not trail.
Elkhorn turned in its most prolific offensive performance of the season against the Broncos. The Elks passed for 180 yards and rushed for 131.
“We established the run and, as a result, we could throw some play-action passes,” Lee said. “Carm threw the ball pretty well.”
Consolino finished 7 of 12 for 172 yards and two touchdowns. Biefeld caught four passes for 87 yards and Bryce Jacobson caught two passes for 21 yards. Braeden Mohr rushed for 61 yards eight carries and Robers rushed for 48 yards on eight carries.
