ELMWOOD, NE - The Knights successfully defended the kingdom of Elmwood-Murdock against the invading Eagles of Johnson-Brock on Thursday night, 24-12, as heard on B103.

That EM defense really showed its strength in the fourth quarter, coming away with a majority of its five forced turnovers for the game in the final frame. JB finished with just one takeaway. Unofficially, each team was held to roughly 300 yards of offense on the night.

Dashiell Coleman put Elmwood-Murdock on top with a 30-yard touchdown toss to Clayton Wagner to wrap up a 73-yard drive with just under seven minutes to go in the first half, making it 8-0. Wyatt Fulton responded for Johnson-Brock, finding pay dirt on the ground from five yards away to conclude a 65-yard drive with less than four minutes left in the half. The 2-point conversion failed, making it 8-6 at halftime, in favor of the Knights.

After a scoreless third frame, Johnson-Brock grabbed the lead just into the fourth frame on a 25-yard TD run from Hayden Gravatt that made it 12-8. About two and a half minutes later, Hadley Belina chugged in from three yards out to regain the lead for the hosts, 16-12. With 6:01 to go, EM added some insurance with a pick six from Wagner that he ran back 45 yards to seal the win at 24-12.

Gravatt led JB with 23 carries for 128 yards and a score to go with three receptions for 44 yards, while EM saw Coleman finish 7/13 passing for 114 yards to go with 12 rushes for 66 yards.

Johnson-Brock falls to 3-2 as they prep for a Friday night home game against Freeman next week, while Elmwood-Murdock moves to 4-1 on the campaign. The Knights will visit Falls City-Sacred Heart on Friday.