BELOIT — Traveling on the road for the first time of the season to rival Beloit for their home opener with their new field upgrades, after a rough loss to Southeast of Saline, the Concordia High School football team fell 42-30 to the Trojans.
The Trojans struck first, taking the opening kickoff down the field and going up 8-0. After a good kickoff return, the Panthers got the ball at their own 44-yard line, but penalties would stall the drive before it could even get going, and they were forced to punt. Beloit wasted no time, scoring in six plays to go up 16-0. Concordia would strike on the following kickoff, with Ayden Krier taking the ball 82 yards to the house, and a two-point conversion made it 16-8 Beloit, which would be the score to end the first quarter.
Beloit opened the second quarter with a touchdown drive to go up 24-8. A promising Panther drive was cut short by three negative plays, and they were forced to punt. The Trojans bled a majority of the clock on the following drive, and a splash play got them back on the board to make it 30-8, with under two minutes in the half. After the Panthers got the ball down to the Trojan 39-yard line, a dropped pass on fourth down killed the drive; both teams went into halftime, with Beloit leading 30-8.
Concordia received the kickoff after halftime, with the Panthers getting into Trojan territory quickly. Jett Flax hit Krier on a run-pass option and he took the ball 17 yards for a touchdown, to make it 30-14 Beloit. The Trojans responded by taking a lot of time to go a small distance, before they were forced to punt. After the Panthers were forced to punt from deep in their own end zone, Beloit scored in one play to go up 36-14 with four minutes to go in the third quarter.
The Panthers took the ensuing kickoff all the way down to the Trojan 41-yard line, and one play later, after a Flax pass to Kale Schroeder, the Panthers were at the 14-yard line, and two runs later, Braytin Hake scored a rushing touchdown to cut into the lead, making it 36-22 going into the fourth quarter.
Beloit opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown, to make it a three-possession game, 42-22, and put the pressure on Concordia. The Panthers slowly made their way downfield with Flax finding Krier for a 31-yard reception to get into the red zone. After two penalties and a sack, Flax hit Krier once again for a 27-yard touchdown to make it 42-30 with 3:22 left in the game, and after a failed onside kick the Trojans ran out the clock as the Panthers fell 42-30.
Flax had 152 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-20 passing. Hake had 47 yards on eight carries, with a touchdown. Krier had 108 yards on eight receptions, with a touchdown and a kick return touchdown. Matthew Naillieux, Koehn Williams, and Krier led in tackles with eight, with Williams having two for losses; Deekon Holbert had seven; Burke Kindel had six; Ryker Wildeman had five; Hake had four; Jakub Brooks, Jerrick Williams, and Schroeder had three; Liam McNutt had two; Landon Jorgensen and Javen Garcia had one.
