As quickly as the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva football grabbed the lead Friday in Waterville against the Buccaneers it faded as Waterville-Elysian-Morristown scored 18 unanswered points to hand the Panthers their first loss of the season in an 18-7 win.

The Bucs (4-0, 3-0 Gopher Valley AA), ranked No. 7 in Class 2A responded 25 seconds after NRHEG took a 7-0 lead with a touchdown from Reid Roemhildt from 10 yards out in the first quarter and rolled from there.

Tate Harmon added a 32-yard touchdown reception from Conrad Masberg in the second quarter to build a 14-0 halftime lead and the W-E-M defense added two safeties against the 10th-ranked Panthers.

“I am very proud of the effort our kids put forth tonight,” said NRHEG head coach Dan Stork. “W-E-M’s defense is always solid and we struggled getting our offense clicking. We’ll bounce back.”

That vaunted Buc defense limited the Panthers to just 117 yards of offense and grabbed four turnovers from NRHEG.

The Panther defense forced three turnovers of its own, but W-E-M still rolled up 293 yards of offense, including 192 on the ground.

Masberg led the running attack with 126 yards and he also passed for 101. Masberg broke off a 60-yard run on the Bucs first play from scrimmage, which set up Roemhildt’s 10-yard touchdown run.

Danny Wagner rushed for 106 yards on 24 carries for NRHEG.

The Panthers host Maple River next Friday.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 18, NRHEG 7

NRHEG 7 0 0 6 —  7

WEM 6 8 2 2 — 18

First Quarter

NRHEG—Wagner 7 run (conversion failed), 8:46.

WEM—Roemhildt 10 run (kick failed), 8:21.

Second Quarter

WEM—Harmon 32 pass from Masberg (run good), 8:21.

Third Quarter

WEM—Safety

Fourth Quarter

WEM—Safety

NRHEG WEM

First Downs 5 10

Total Net Yards 117 293

Rushes-yards 31-95 3 7-192

Passing 22 101

Punt Returns 1-1 2-19

Kickoff Returns 2-19 4-56

Interception Ret. 1-2 3-7

Comp-Att-Int 8-21-3 10-23-1

Sacked-Yards Lost 1-(minus 10) 1-(minus 2)

Punts 4-32 8-25.4

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-2

Penalties-Yards 8-33 5-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—NRHEG, Wagner 24-106, Lindell 1-3, Ramaker 3-2, Bolinger 3-(minus 16). WEM, Masberg 13-126, Roemhildt 12-42, Stangler 5-12, Ayers 5-12, Kinniry 2-0.

PASSING—NRHEG, Bolinger 8-21-3-22. WEM, Masberg 10-23-1-101.

RECEIVING—NRHEG, Schlaak 2-4, Palm 2-4, Lindell 2-0, Firme 1-9, Wagner 1-5. WEM, Gregor 4-36, Pope 2-13, Harmon 2-44, Williams 1-7, Ayers 1-1.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.