Lions tame Wolverines as EC falls to 3-3
Friday night lights. Instant classic between two teams with much history. The 68th meeting between New Brighton and Ellwood City continued the trend of close and dramatic endings with the Lions coming out on top of the Wolverines by just two points.
The Lions won the opening coin toss and decided to kickoff to the Wolverines. EC took the opening kickoff and drove down the grass field with ease until a couple of penalties set them behind the sticks. EC could not convert on fourth down and had to give the ball back to New Brighton. The Lions got the ball deep in their territory and had 3 plays that ended in negative yards, forcing them to punt the ball away. This was the trend between both teams as penalties, interceptions, and miscues kept both teams off the scoreboard through the first quarter.
The first score of the game came from EC half way through the quarter, when a long drive by the Wolverines was capped off by a 28 yard screen pass from Tyler Smiley to Dom Hogue ended in the endzone. Hogue broke several tackles and went from the entire far sideline to the close sideline getting into the endzone. The PAT kick by Aden Huth was blocked to keep the score 6-0 EC.
Just when EC thought they would head into the locker room up six, the Lions were able to put together their best drive of the night, and found a way to double their total yards before half. New Brighton would find a way to tie up the game, but not without a little drama including another 4th down score by a team this year, this time from 27 yards out via the pass from Carter Jackson to JoJo Montanez with just 38 seconds left. The two point conversion was no good as the scoreboard read even 6-6.
EC would kick the ball off in the second as both teams continued to trade blows, penalties, miscues, and even turnovers. It wasn’t until 4:50 left in the third quarter that New Brighton would break thru on the scoreboard as Jackson found a streaking Joseph Kennedy up the sideline for the 46 yard touchdown reception. Kennedy was able to bobble the ball into his hands, just outside of the reach from Dom Dinucci. The Two point conversion was good as Jackson found a wide open Michael Cleckley II in the endzone. The conversion did come after a penalty against the Lions and…a fumbled snap that Jackson was able to find quickly and recover for the pass play. The scoreboard read 14-6 New Brighton.
Just like the Lions in the first half, EC would find a quick way to counter on the scoreboard, getting things going via the passing by Smiley. Smiley also took control with the run game, keeping things positive for the Wolverines faithful. With just a couple minutes left in the third quarter, Smiley was able to find DaiLonn Currie in the endzone after the defender slipped and fell on the wet and sloppy grass field for the 24 yard touchdown reception. The score made it 14-12. The two point conversion continued to show how much the field impacted the game with the wet and sloppy grass field with Smiley not being able to hold the ball long enough for the corner toss up. Smiley fell to the ground, keeping the score 14-12 NB.
Fourth quarter action saw the Lions begin to run the ball and control the clock, taking more than five plus minutes off the clock. EC defense would bend but not break, giving the offense one more shot at the win. The Wolverines would battle penalties, injuries, and just in general sloppy play all night with the field conditions, but the offense found a way to make a play as Currie was left wide open down the middle of the field for a big catch to set up the Wolverines in business from the six yard line with just two minutes left. Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Wolverines would get to the puddle-covered endzone on the right side of the field as the next snap saw the Wolverines quarterback / running back exchange go awry with a fumble. Sure enough the Lions defense was able to fall on the ball to recovery and end the hopes of EC scoring points.
New Brighton would take the remaining minutes and time off the clock just running the ball with the old school wishbone formation that included Heath Lewis and Jaxson Zahn running the ball from the fullback position. With one more snap and kneel down, the New Brighton Lions had defeated the Ellwood City Wolverines 14-12.
EC outgained the Lions on the night, with most of their yards coming from the passing game. ECS predicted that the ground game would be key since Oak Hill Field was a grass field and with all the rain they had in the past couple of days…it just seemed like handing the ball off would be important down the stretch. It was for New Brighton, who was held to under 100 yards on offense before halftime, but bounced back late to rack up 139 rushing yards - a total that would have been a lot more if it weren’t for miscues and tackles for loss.
Ellwood City, now 3-3 (2-1), will have to turn to the likes of undefeated Western Beaver, 6-0 (3-0), to possibly get back into the win column. The loss does not remove playoffs for the Wolverines who still sit in second place, but…the road to the finish becomes very tight with no wiggle room. Homecoming festivities will begin around 6:30 PM with live coverage presented by ECS from Helling Stadium.
2A-2 MAC RESULTS - WEEK FIVE
Western Beaver 48-19 Riverside
New Brighton 14-12 Ellwood City
Beaver Falls 12-7 Freedom
Mohawk 28-21 Union
