Wolverines can’t strike on offense, lose 28-0
The Wolverines’ win streak stops at one as the Freedom Bulldogs handled business on Friday night at Bulldog Stadium during Veteran & Military Appreciation night, shutting out the Ellwood City wolverines 28-0.
With the traditional 7:30 PM kickoff, ECS and the entire stadium was able to witness a great event put on by the Freedom staff where Veterans and Military families or individuals were recognized before kickoff and were able to “run through the tunnel” out onto the field. The Wolverines brand new full blue jerseys came in specifically for the game while the Bulldogs wore their full red jerseys on the night for the patriotic red, white, and blue attire.
Wolverines received the kickoff as the Bulldogs deferred to the second half. The first drive of the night looked very promising, as the Wolverines drove from the 32 all the way down to the Bulldogs 27 as a 4th down pass by QB #12 Chris Smiley was caught by WR #8 Michael Walters all the way down to the 15 yard line. Unfortunately, Walters was just a yard short of the first down as the Bulldogs took over on downs. The 53 yard drive would be the best on the night for the Wolverines.
The Bulldogs took the ball at the 7:06 mark in the first quarter and drove all the way down the field as a 44 yard scamper by FB #44 Damian Grunnagle at the 2:14 mark made the score 6-0 in favor of Freedom. The extra point was good by K #10 Garrett Drutarsky as the Bulldogs took the 7-0 lead.
One of the bright aspects of the night for the Wolverines was the kickoff return as the ensuing kickoff was returned by RB #26 Dayntae Pierce for 47 yards setting up the Wolverines with their best starting field position at that point at the Bulldogs 47 yard line.
The Wolverines drove down to the 32 yard line after converting on 4th down, while a good pass was dropped near the endzone with good defense as a Wolverine score seemed possible. However, on 4th down the Bulldogs sent a full on blitz to get to Smiley in the backfield who threw the ball away, giving the ball back to Freedom.
The Wolverines were able to stop the drive as #72 Rydar Grinnen and #17 Brighton Mariacher were able to combine on a tackle during 4th down that stopped the QB scramble by #13 Ty Schultheis, giving the ball back to the Wolverines while also keeping the score 7-0.
Unfortunately the Wolverines were not able to get anything going on offense as they were held to just 5 first downs all night long along with just 97 yards of offense. The Bulldogs took over after the 4th down punt at their own 45 yard line, and was starting to break through the defensive line of the Wolverines, which was severely out measure and out weighed on the night.
A wide open 24 yard pass by Ty Schultheis to WR #7 Cody Patterson out of the backfield made the score 13-0 in favor the Bulldogs. After a lot of confusion and finger pointing by the teams and officials during a random penalty call on the extra point, the Bulldogs lined up for the third time, unfortunately hitting the left goal post. The score remained 13-0 heading into halftime.
The Bulldogs offensive line and defensive line was able to control the entire second half as the size difference became a factor mid third quarter. The opening second half drive was taken by the Bulldogs and they answered quickly, scoring on a 9 yard rushing TD by RB #4 Tyler Welsh to make the score 19-0. Two point conversion run by Grunnagle made score 21-0 Freedom at the 6:30 mark of the third quarter.
Once again another great return by the Wolverines #7 Anthony Barberio set the Wolverines up with great field position, the third time on the night in Bulldog territory, and a great catch by #5 DaiLonn Currie from Smiley on 4th down kept the Wolverine drive alive and all the way down to the 14 yard line. But once again, a turnover cost the Wolverines any thought of points on the night, as the Bulldogs recovered the ball.
Back and forth went the drives late in the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter, but the Wolverines could just not sustain any drive beyond the first down marks. The final score on the night came at the 7:45 mark of the 4th quarter as a 15 yard run by Patterson went to the house and the extra point by Drutarsky was good to make the final score of the night 28-0 in favor of Freedom.
The Wolverines battled all night long, but the oversized lineman for the Bulldogs prevailed in the second half as Freedom ran for 361 yards on the night while holding Ellwood City to just 47 yards. The lone bright spark of the night was the return game for the Wolverines which finished with 5 kickoffs for a total of 98 return yards.
Ellwood City falls to 1-3 (0-1) on the season while the Freedom Bulldogs battled back to .500 as they go to 2-2 (1-0). The Wolverines will look to bounce back in the second section game as they will travel to Western Beaver (3-1) on Saturday for a 12:30 PM kickoff. ECS will have the live video stream coverage.
