EC battles mistakes, win in fourth quarter
The game of football is a sport comprised of two halves and four quarters. After each quarter, there is a break in the action, including an extended break during the two halves. Luckily for the Ellwood City fans the Wolverines stuck around for the four quarters of action as it took all hands on deck for the Wolverines to pull away from the Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles in the WPIAL 2A First Round of Playoffs.
The Wolverines came out excited, anxious, and eager to get the game underway…maybe too excited for that matter as the offense started out of rhythm and had what the ECS broadcast crew called a “non-Coach-Bradley-esque” first half. Keystone Oaks forced five Ellwood City turnovers in the first half while holding EC in check on the scoreboard 7-7. First half scores in order came from the Golden Eagles’ Owen Gearhart who scampered in from the quarterback position from 16 yards out. The PAT kick was good by Luc Phillistine late in the first quarter.
Ellwood City got on the board, right before the end of the first half as Tyler Smiley was able to climb the pocket and make something out of nothing with a floater of the middle to an open DaiLonn Currie who made the adjustment and held on for the touchdown from 18 yards out. The score was completed on yet again a fourth down play by EC (who is now 28 of 54 on fourth down - 51.9%) with the PAT kick good by Aden Huth to take the halftime score to 7-7.
Ellwood City finished over 100 yards in the first half, but with 5 turnovers. Keystone Oaks finished the first half with only 2 turnovers, but barely broke 50 yards. The second half seemed initially to be more of the first half, but the Wolverines finally kicked it into second gear right before the fourth quarter.
After a quick three and out by the Golden Eagles, the Wolverines would get the ball and drive down the field midway through the third quarter. The drive would be capped off by Richard Cureton from 1 yard out. The PAT kick was good by Huth to give EC their first lead of 14-7. Keystone Oaks would keep pace with the Wolverines in the third quarter, scoring 6 points via the second quarterback keeper from 5 yards out by Gearhart. The PAT kick though pinged off the right post to keep the score 14-13 EC going to the fourth quarter.
Ellwood City would take the ball going into the fourth quarter and would go unanswered on offense, scoring 21 straight points. Early fourth quarter saw Guilian Frisk go in on a nice 30 yard rushing touchdown down the right sideline. Interesting enough for one of the largest plays from scrimmage in the game, the score was Frisk’s first carry in the game who made it count big for EC. The PAT kick was good by Huth to give EC a lead of 21-13. Cureton would add another score for the Wolverines, this time from 6 yards out to give EC a two-score lead of 28-13. The final score of the game came from the Smiley to Dom Hogue connection, totaling the longest play of the game of 44 yards on the pass. The PAT kick was good by Huth to make the final score read 35-13 in favor of the Wolverines.
Ellwood City had a rough first half of turnovers, penalties, and not many yards, but completely did a 360 flip in the second half finishing the game with a 21-0 fourth quarter along with a total of 414 yards. Meanwhile, the defense stood tall, forcing 3 turnovers in the end while holding yet again another team below 100 yards in a game, finishing the night at just 87 yards. On top of that, the Wolverines held Keystone Oaks to 0 yards passing, 0-12 from the quarterback position, while forcing 3 interceptions.
Tyler Smiley finished the game 24-36 while throwing for 269 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions that came in the first half. With that being said, DaiLonn Currie and Dom Hogue finished the game with over 100 yards receiving each and over 10 receptions as well. Hogue finished with 10 catches for 148 yard and a score while Currie finished with 11 catches for 102 yards and a score.
Hogue and Currie now are even at 94 career receptions, which means they share the school record. Smiley also broke 5 passing records including passing yards, passing touchdowns, completions, and most importantly completion percentage.
Ellwood City (7-4) will now move on to the WPIAL 2A Quarterfinals to take on the #3 seed Steel Valley Ironmen (7-3) who will host the game at William V. Campbell Athletic Field in Munhall, PA. Ellwood City Sports applied for coverage of the game and will officially know of the broadcast coverage on Tuesday. Links to the game and donations that can help cover the cost of the broadcast will be posted on our social media accounts during the week. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 PM with pregame by ECS starting around 6:40 PM.
2A WPIAL PLAYOFF RESULTS - FIRST ROUND
Ellwood City 35-13 Keystone Oaks
South Allegheny 61-13 Waynesburg Central
Apollo-Ridge 28-7 Riverside
Mohawk 17-14 OLSH
Washington 37-7 Beaver Falls
