LEADING RUSHER … Delta sophomore Marcus Nagel (above) carried the ball 20 times for 112 yards and two scores.
PHOTOS BY RACHEL NAGEL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
BALL SECURITY … Delta’s Gunner Taylor protects the football on a run in the Panthers’ Division V playoff game at Liberty-Benton.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
FINDLAY (October 31, 2025) – Every once in a while, numbers lie. The final rushing totals for Delta said the Panthers ran for 267 against undefeated Liberty-Benton.
Two of those runs were of 45 and 22 from Marcus Nagel. Two more were 80-yard gallops by Vincent Martinez, along with another 33-yard burst from Martinez.
However, the rest of the night was tough sledding for the Panthers. Twenty-eight more rushes accounted for just 87 more yards as the Eagles stymied the Panthers much of the night, rolling to a 49-13 victory in the first round of the Division V Region 18 playoffs.
Liberty-Benton will travel to Creston Norwayne on November 7 for a Region 18 quarterfinal matchup.
University of Toledo recruit Seth Elchert got the Eagles rolling on the opening kick, returning it 58 yards to the Panther 20.
It took the Eagles just five plays to find the end zone, a one-yard run by quarterback Connor Barbara. Barbara’s short TD run would be the first of a huge first half for the junior signal caller.
Nate Elchert picked off an Emric Friess pass on the Panthers’ third play from scrimmage, and on the following play, Barbara went right for a seven-yard score to make it 14-0 just four minutes into the game.
A third Barbara scoring run, this one from 44 yards away, put the Eagles ahead 21-0 with three minutes still to go in the first.
Barbara went to the air the next series, hitting Reid Irwin for a 39-yard touchdown the second play of the second quarter for a 28-0 lead.
Nagel’s 45-yard rumble got the Panthers into Eagle territory, but he was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-one three plays later to end a Panther threat.
Barbara tacked on two more touchdowns before halftime, one a 24-yard run, the second a 12-yard strike to Seth Elchert to institute a second half running clock lead at 42-0.
Martinez’s 80-yard run set up a short Nagel touchdown two minutes into the second half to get Delta on the board.
Nate Elchert went 25 yards to pay dirt to counter the Panthers’ score, the final Eagle score of the night.
Delta (6-5) got back on the board late as Nagel’s 22-yarder and 33 more from Martinez put Delta in position for a 14-yard Nagel touchdown to finish scoring for the game.
Martinez and Nagel each had 112 yards on the ground, Martinez in eight carries, Nagel in 20.
Barbara went 14-18 in the air for 174 yards, all in the first half, to account for all of the Eagles’ passing total.
He also ran for 85 yards in five carries, again all in the first half, as Liberty Benton ran for 159 more for a total of 333 for the evening.