MARION — The last time Elgin won a league championship in football, the guy wearing the head set as the head coach was wearing pads as a player.
In 2005, the Comets won the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference Red Division championship and finished the season 9-2. Twenty-one years later, the program won its first ever Northwest Central Conference football title after joining the league in 2017. Elgin defeated Hardin Northern 41-13 Oct. 23 in the final week of the regular season.
"I was on the last conference championship team as a player," Elgin coach Zack Winslow said. "It means something to me to be the guy in charge of this program to win the next one. I think we’ve had chances before and not been able to get it. We’ve been runner-up multiple times."
But this is the squad that ended up breaking through, going 8-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference. Elgin will share the NWCC title with North Baltimore, a 50-42 winner over Upper Scioto Valley in Week 10. Waynesfield-Goshen, which also could have won a piece of the title, was upset by Ridgemont 53-21 on Friday.
The win also solidified Elgin in the Division VI Region 23 playoff field, unofficially as a 10 seed out of 12 teams. Its opponent is to be determined, according to JoeEitel.com, but possible road trips could be to Fredericktown or Garaway Oct. 30 in Week 11.
Dominant start everywhere but the scoreboard
Elgin easily scored on its first series of the game as it put together a zippy 7-play drive in 2:09 that was finished by a 10-yard run from Archer Johnston. The defense forced a 3-and-out, and the offense was driving again before losing a fumble at the 4.
The Comets finished their third possession of the game with a Johnston 11-yard TD to go up 14-0, and had a chance to add more points late in the first half but was intercepted in the red zone.
Midway through the third period, the Polar Bears (3-7, 2-6) cut the lead to 14-6, but Elgin bounced back when Abram Norton hit Luke Nelson for a 35-yard touchdown pass and a 20-6 edge. Two plays later, HN hit a 70-yard bomb to again make it a one-touchdown game at 20-13, but just as quickly, the Comets bounced back with a three-play drive capped by Braydon Lowry's 24-yard run to start the fourth quarter.
The final 12 minutes belonged to Elgin as it stretched out the lead, getting an interception from Jackson Rice then a 17-yard TD reception from him. Following a fumble recovery, Johnston picked up his third TD of the game from 26 yards.
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"A little bit of frustration (at halftime), but we knew we were going to dominate the rest of the game, and we had to dominate the rest of the game," Johnston said. "It was a little frustration, but nothing crazy. We knew what we had to do, and we knew we were going to do it."
Fellow senior Drew Brown, an offensive and defensive lineman, agreed with Johnston that they had a positive mindset coming out for the second half.
"We talked in the locker room at halftime that we’re going to come out here and do what us Comets do and that’s dominate and perform well and come together as a team. That’s what we did," Brown said.
Elgin's dominance shows in the numbers
Elgin held the ball for more than 30 minutes, and if not for the three turnovers in the red zone, it could have gone to a running clock in the second half. As it stood, Johnston finished with 252 yards on 23 carries, while Norton had 83 yards on nine tries and Lowry 72 yards on six chances. Norton was 7-for-11 passing for 113 yards, two TDs and two interceptions.
Brown led with eight tackles with three sacks and six tackles for loss, and Cooper Lykins had eight tackles, two sacks and four tackles for loss, while Billy Lingrel had seven tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss. Norton and Rice had interceptions, and Henry Greenleaf forced a fumble that was recovered by Johnston.
"I said after the game to the kids that there were plenty of times we could have gone off the rails emotionally," Winslow said. "Things could have got a lot worse with chippiness back and forth. I was super proud of our guys for keeping composure and not talking."
"To only score 14 in the first half and have turnovers in the red zone, there were plenty of chances our guys could have let it come off the rails and they didn’t. They kept battling and kept battling."
And because of it, they can add the numerals "2026" to the football banner in the gym.
"It feels amazing. It’s our last game on our home field for us seniors, so it felt really good," Johnston said. "We just showed up and did what we had to do. Our offensive line was killing them tonight, and that was the highlight of the game I think."
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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Elgin makes history in its victory over Hardin Northern