Glencoe-Silver Lake had been in this situation before. So it was no surprise the host Panthers took Delano's best, shrugged it off and rallied to hand the Tigers their first loss of the season, 35-28.
The loss Wednesday ended Delano's hopes for an undefeated season and a share of the Wright County Conference title. It was Glencoe-Silver Lake's eighth consecutive victory over Delano.
Eight minutes into the game, it looked as if Delano (7-1) would make it a runaway. The Tigers scored two touchdowns in a span of a little more than two minutes, taking a 14-0 lead.
But Glencoe-Silver Lake's big-game experience came through on the Panthers' ensuing drive. Taking over at its own 26-yard line, Glencoe drove 74 yards in 20 plays, finally scoring on a 2-yard run by Tony Mizuhata. It was vintage Glencoe as the Panthers controlled the line physically, converting on four fourth downs.
"We talked about the game being 48 minutes," Glencoe-Silver Lake coach Scott Tschimperle said. "We had to weather the storm and play the full 48 minutes."
Glencoe tied the score 14-14 on its opening drive of the second half, going 70 yards in six plays, scoring on a 34-yard run by Keaton Anderson and tying the game with a two-point conversion. Glencoe took the lead 21-14 after a fumble by Delano on the ensuing kickoff.
"That kickoff was the turning point of the game," Delano coach Merrill Pavlovich said. "We did some good things on offense, but that made it hard to come back from."
Delano took a page out of Glencoe's book, putting together a 10-play drive and tying the score 21-21 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Bryan Sinkel.
