By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Ellsworth Bearcats got off to a slow start in Friday’s showdown with Sacred Heart and found themselves trailing 8-7 at the half.
Whatever was said to Ellsworth in the locker room seemed to do the trick.
In the second half, the Bearcats outscored the Knights 42-0 to put the cap on a dominant 49-8 victory.
The rout started innocently enough as quarterback Carson Jacobs took the first score of the second half in himself on a short rush from the five.
On the ensuing drive, Cooper McGowan made a spectacular one-handed interception, and the Bearcats wasted no time capitalizing as McGowan took a handoff on the very next play 35 yards to the house to put Ellsworth in front 21-8.
Not to be outdone, Tucker Goss found paydirt on the next drive of the third quarter for his second rushing score of the game to extend the lead to 20.
Now trailing big, the Knights needed a momentum-swinging drive, but deep in their own territory, disaster struck in the form of a Jace Thomasson pick-six that all but put the game on ice.
Carson Jacobs and Rett Bohl would each find the end zone one more time as the Bearcats put the finishing touches on a dominant week one victory.
Ellsworth will be on the road in Belleville next week as they travel to take on Republic County.
Sacred Heart will have to wait for their home opener as they remain on the road for a week two showdown with Plainville.
The full video broadcast of this game is available on-demand below.