Photos: Late-arriving Elder loses big lead but rallies to beat Roncalli with fourth-quarter touchdown

Luke Flowers' fourth-quarter touchdown gives Elder comeback win

The Elder football team's road trip from Cincinnati to Indianapolis started out slowly when traffic issues delayed the Panthers' arrival at Roncalli and pushed back the start time. 

Once the game started, however, Elder showed no ill effects as visitors scored the first 17 points of the game in the first 15 minutes. 

Roncalli and standout running back Luke Hansen fought back to take the lead late in the third quarter, but the Panthers proved to be road warriors as Luke Flowers' fourth-quarter touchdown run capped a wild and unpredictable 24-23 victory the visitors from Ohio.

Flowers was limited to 21 yards on 14 carries but scored two touchdowns for Elder (6-2), the No. 12 team in the SBLive Ohio Power 25 rankings which bounced back from last week's loss to Moeller. 

Quarterback Ben Schoster completed 11 of 15 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown and ran for 54 yards on 13 carries. Justin Re caught six passes for 85 yards. 

Hansen, the Hoosier State's leading rusher, had another heavy workload for Roncalli (7-1), the No. 10 team in the SBLive Indiana Power 25 rankings.

The senior standout rushed for 221 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries and adding a 10-yard touchdown reception. Quarterback Arik Moyers completed seven of nine passes for 52 yards and two touchdowns. 

Elder, which picked up its third win in four games, took a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter on a 23-yard field goal from Max Lemasters. 

The Panthers capitalized on a Roncalli turnover with a touchdown run from Flowers early in the second quarter. And a touchdown pass from Schoster to Ben Collins gave the visitors a 17-0 lead with 9:20 remaining in the first half. 

Roncalli closed out the first half with nine points – on a safety and a touchdown pass from Moyers to Charlie Elsener – to trim the deficit to 17-9 at halftime. 

Hansen scored twice in the third quarter. He scored first on a short run to make it 17-15 after a failed 2-point conversion and then caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with 1:04 left in the quarter. Moyers hit Dylan Coglan for a 2-point conversion pass to give the Royals a 23-17 lead.

Flowers scored the go-ahead touchdown with 8:18 left, and the visiting Panthers were able to hold off Roncalli the rest of the way. 

Here is a look at the game from photographer Mark Evrard:

Cincinnati Elder at Indianapolis Roncalli football

Photos from Mark Evrard

Mark Evrard, SBLive Sports