The NRHEG football team’s blazing start cooled off against No. 5 (AA) Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.

Palmer Peterson’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Perry Peterson with 11:42 left in the fourth quarter tied the game at seven, but the Buccaneers responded five minutes later with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Kallen Dorenkamper to Mitchell Wolter to hold off the Panthers 13-7 Friday at Waterville.

NRHEG had more than twice as much time of possession as Waterville-Elysian-Morristown, but the Panthers lost the turnover battle 3-2.

“At times we looked in control, but the penalties and turnovers were the difference,” said Panthers coach Dan Stork. “We made far too many mistakes against a good WEM team.”

Palmer Peterson led the Panthers from the pocket by going 6-of-20 for 103 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Jason Jongbloedt rushed for a NRHEG team-high 24 yards on 14 carries. The best rushing average produced by either team was 3.5 yards per carry by the Panthers’ Perry Peterson, who had 21 yards on six carries.

NRHEG’s defense held Waterville-Elysian-Morristown’s Mitchell Wolter to 37 yards on 19 carries and Brody Boran to 29 yards on 10 carries.

Zeke Erickson posted a team-high seven tackles for the Panthers, and Perry Peterson added six.

“We have a great bunch of kids who really play together, and I’m confident that we will bounce back strong,” Stork said. “We hope to get another shot at WEM in the playoffs.”

Next, NRHEG (2-1, 2-1 South Central) will host Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop (0-3, 0-2 South Central) at 7 p.m. Friday.

On the young season, NRHEG and Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop had a common opponent: Mayer Lutheran. NRHEG beat the Crusaders 14-7, and Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop lost 55-14.