Another strong third quarter helped lead the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva football team to victory Friday in New Richland.

The Panthers (3-0, 2-0 Gopher Valley AA) got a 22-7 victory over Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial as they overcame penalties and a slow start to remain undefeated.

NRHEG held a 2-0 lead at halftime after a safety, but opened the game up in the third when Evan Ferber hauled in a 45-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Bolinger to give the Panthers a 9-0 lead.

Thirty-one seconds after Ferber’s touchdown Danny Wagner scored on a 5-yard run as NRHEG took control of the game. Wagner went on to add a touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard run and finished with 103 yards on 20 carries.

Bolinger finished with 178 yards passing as he completed nine of 21 passes.

The Panthers were penalized 10 times for 92 yards.

The NRHEG defense continued to shut down opponents, this time limited the Knights to six first downs and 154 yards of total offense.

The win sets the stage for clash with undefeated rival and defending conference champion Waterville-Elysian-Morristown next Friday in Waterville.

NRHEG 22,

Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial 7

LCWM 0 0 0 7 — 7

NRHEG 0 2 13 7 — 22

Second Quarter

NRHEG—Saftey, 4:20.

Third Quarter

NRHEG—Ferber 45 pass from Bolinger (kick failed), 3:36.

NRHEG—Wagner 5 run (Lindell kick), 3:05.

Fourth Quarter

LCWM— 24 run (PAT failed), 11:37.

NRHEG—Wagner 10 run (Lindell kick), 4:49.

LCWM NRHEG

First downs 6 8

Total net yards 154 268

Rushes-yards 29-66 39-90

Passing 88 178

Punt Returns 5-12 3-17

Kickoff Returns 2-77 2-27

Interception Ret. 0-0 0-0

Comp-Att-Int 9-21-0 9-21-0

Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 0-0 Punts 7-32.3 6-29.7

Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1

Penalties-Yards 10-70 10-92

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial, No. 8 10-33, No. 23 12-15, No. 30, 6-12, No. 20 1-6. New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva, Wagner 20-103, Ramaker 6-6, Lindell 1-0, Bolinger 12-(minus 19).

PASSING—Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial, No. 8 9-20-0-88, No. 9 0-1-0-0., New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva, Bolinger 9-21-0-178.

RECEIVING—Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial, No. 40 4-40, No. 19 2-12, No. 9 2-29, No. 11 1-7. New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva, Ferber 2-54, Schlaak 2-50, Firme 2-27, Wagner 1-27, Sorenson 1-29, Ramaker 1-(minus 9).

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.