E ight seconds into the fourth quarter of Ellsworth’s homecoming game, Hillsboro fumbled the ball. This single event, late in a low-scoring game, turned the tide, allowing the Bearcats a 14-6 victory over the Trojans.

The fumble came at a time when the Trojans had a razor-thin 1-point lead, 7-6.

Newly-elected homecoming king, senior Landin Johnson, picked up the ball and made a 27-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

While the game was a nail-biter to the end, it started at a snail’s pace.

The first quarter went by with radio silence from both teams. Both had strong defenses, so it was touch-and-go for about half the game.

One yard, 6 yards, 5 yards, 10 yards — the seconds ticked away as both teams crawled across the field.

That is, until the dying breaths of the second quarter.

With 1:42 left before halftime, the Trojans finally broke the ice when they managed a touchdown, but missed the field goal.

Halftime, needless to say, left everyone worried.

Throughout the third quarter, the pace of the game hadn’t changed much. Eleven yards, 8 yards — it was agonizing. Finally, with only 2:26 left after most of a quarter spent being at what felt like miles behind, the Bearcats scored when junior Tucker Goss ran the ball 7 yards.

“(It was) the O-line.

They all start up front on the O-line,” Goss said of how he made the touchdown.

“Physicality, just coming out and being the mentality that we are, the more physical team.

Digging deep. You believe in each other, (you) have confidence.

I’ll look at a guy and I’ll say, ‘We got this, I believe in you,’ (you’re) fully confident in your capabilities.”

The quarter ended 7-6, Ellsworth.

“I think it’s just trusting your training, trusting the scheme, trusting what we do in practice every day,” head coach Josh Homolka said.

“When one thing goes bad, you can’t … throw it all out the window.

You’ve got to go back to your technique and do the basic stuff right, and that’s what we did in the second half.”

With only a 1-point lead entering the fourth quarter, the game was far from over. The early fourth quarter fumble would have been bad in most circumstances, but it was catastrophic for the Trojans.

The Bearcats capitalized on the error and took the lead, 14-6.

Despite the lead, victory was far from assured.

The Trojans could force overtime if they scored just one more touchdown and made a 2-point conversion. If they could force overtime, they could win.

The thought was in the back of everyone’s minds. The possibility seemed closer and closer as the quarter went on. In an attempt to alleviate the tension, the Cats punted the ball.

The Trojans obstructed it, making it so the ball only went 20 yards.

Loss was still on the table for the Cats.

After most of the fourth quarter, trying and failing to regain their lead, the Trojans were turning to desperate measures. Despite having a slight of a chance and about 2:30 left, the Trojans made an extremely gutsy decision. They dug their heels in on 24 yards and tried to make a pass.

They stuck to this for five plays, banging their heads against the wall to try to tunnel though. Every time they tried, they got a little closer.

After the fifth, they slipped up again and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by senior Daxton Leiker.

After that, victory was as simple as taking a knee and pulling the plug on the game.

The Bearcats’ record is 5-0. They play Halstead Oct. 11 on the road.