Prexies take care of the Wolverines 48-6

Being an underdog in the playoffs can be a doubtful advantage - all the pressure falls on the home team to not be upsetted, meanwhile, everything in terms of the sport called football favorites the opposing side. Unfortunately, one side has to previal in the playoffs and football, and it was clear Friday night who had the advantage on the evening as the Washington Prexies took an early lead in the first quarter to take care of the Wolverines 48-6 in the first round of WPIAL 2A Playoffs.

The evening started 15 minutes late as transportation issues occurrred for the Wolverines, but all were safe and were able to make it to Wash High Stadium ready to go. Wolverines came out with some great energy while gretting close to half of the fans behind them as the Ellwood City community traveled very well to Washington, PA.

Washington wanted to jump out early, but were not able to as the great front line of the Wolverines almost forced a first play of the game turnover with #13 Kaden Docchio and company. However, the quick play offense for the Little Prexies came through after an offsides was called on 4th down against EC, as wildcat keeper #5 Zxavian Willis took the ball and ran 49 yards for the touchdown. The PAT attempt by #18 Bodie Cumer was good to make the early score 7-0 Wash High.

A chaotic drive that involved the starting quartback #8 Tristan Reed for the Prexies getting injured (would not return) while also including an initial touchdown being called back with the 4th down offsides, was just the start of the troubles for the Wolverines.

After the touchdown, the Prexies kicker Cumer kicked off a high squib kick that was taken by #39 Deklan O’Brien from about the 30 yardline and was quickly hit by the wall of the Prexies. Unfortunately, the ball was fumbled and right before the ball rolled out of bounds, it looked as though the Prexies recovered. After about a two minute conversatio to figure out who’s ball it was (and with the refs pointing in both directions), the refs deemed what look like no possession on the sideline…possession in favor of Washington. That is not where the turnovers for the Wolverines ended on the night.

The Wolverines fans were very displeased with the call, but the game continued on. Wolverines were able to keep certain plays in check from the defensive side of things, but the speed and athleticism of the Prexies broke through early and often.

Just a couple plays later, #0 Ruben Gordon finished off a 48 yard shovel pass from QB #5 Zxavian Willis for the quick score to take a 13-0 lead. A bad snap and hold on the extra point had the Prexies scramble for a 2 point try, but was unssuccessful, keeping the score 13-0 Washington.

Prexies defense showed up as well, sacking QB Chris Smiley in the backfield while also recovering the fumble on the play, setting the Prexies offense with a short field of just 24 yards. Just three plays later, WR Gordon caught a 22 yard touchdown pass from the third string quarterback #13 Caleb Patton to make the score 19-0 Washington with still 5 minutes remaining in quarter one. The 2 point conversion was good via pass from Patton to #3 Elijah Thomas, making the score 21-0.

After the crazy fireworks by the Prexies, the game slowed down a bit going into the second quarter, but the struggle on offense for EC continued on. The ensuing drive saw another 4th down conversion issue that forced the Wovlerines to punt the ball. The lone bright side in the first half would go to punter #15 Declan Gray, who had punts of 49 yards and 44 yards to keep the scoring at bay by the Prexies.

But Washington did add another score, this time via the run by star running back #7 Eddie Lewis from 18 yards out. PAT was good by Cumer to make the halftime score all in favor of Washington 28-0.

After being stunned in the first half where the Wolverines were held to 43 yards on offense while giving up 4 scores and 275 yards on offense, EC was looking to just hold onto the ball and drive the ball down the field, kill some clock, and hopefully finish a drive off with points. Unfortunately, the Prexies defense who was averaging under 10 points per game given up on defense, kept the Wolverines from scoring in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Wolverines defense did make some decent adjustments, but could not keep the pace of play from the Washington offense.

The lone score in quarter three went in favor of the Prexies as Lewis added his second rushing touchdown, this time from 5 yards out. The PAT was good by Cumer as Wash High led 35-0 heading to the fourth quarter.

Washington did not lift their foot off the pedal in quarter four, scoring back-to-back touchdowns in the quarter, both via the run. Just 12 seconds into the quarter speedster Gordon rush the ball up the sideline for 86 yards to continue the mercy rule (2 point conversion play was no good), while backup RB #25 James Carter capped off a great time-consuming drive from 10 yards out. The PAT was good by Cumer to make the score 48-0 Washington.

The Wolverines had one more attempt on offense after the kickoff, and they were finally able to break through. RB #26 Dayntae Pierce capped off a great run-heavy drive from 15 yards out as he broke through the initial wave of tacklers to score the touchdown. The PAT attempt by #19 Caitlin Kreitzer was blocked by the Wash defensive line to keep the final score 48-6.

As the clock struck three zeros, the Wovlerines knew they were defeated. But, the Ellwood City fans stuck with the team all the way, cheering and congratulating the Wolverines on a great season, even though the outcome was not what everyone wanted.

The Prexies move on to take on #6 McGuffey next week, a team they just played week prior to the Wolverines. Meanwhile, Ellwood City will be turning in the pads on Monday as their season comes to an end, not without a bang though as Ellwood City was able to break several records on the year.

With the 92 rushing yards on the evening, RB #2 Elijah Palmer-McCane officially became the single-season rushing yard record holder (1485) for the Wolverines. Palmer-McCane also finished with the 2nd most total offense (1631) in a season for EC while posting the third most touchdowns in a season at 16. The list of accolades continue on - Chris Smiley posted three first place holders, officially holding the passing yard single-season total at 1689 while also throwing for the most touchdowns in a season at 17 while completing the most pass at 112.

Senior #8 Michael Walters finished 2nd in receiving touchdowns in a year (7), 3rd in receptions at 35, and 4th overall in receiving yards at 537 in his second year with EC. Walters finished his career with 9 receiving touchdowns, 52 receptions and 793 receiving yards, averaging over 15 yards per reception.

Kaden Docchio had a great season as a junior LB for the Wolverines, tallying a total of 87 tackles for 3rd overall in a season for the Wolverines. Docchio also officially had 18 tackles for loss, the most on record since 2012 (last year of stats) while also having a total of 8 sacks, the most since 1994 (last year of stats). Caitlin Kreitzer also recorded 22 PATs on the season, best for 7th all time in EC history.

The Wolverines offensive side of the ball also put up the 3rd most points with 290, to be just outdone by the 1927 and 1925 squads. EC’s offense also totaled 3711 yards of offense, the most by the Wolverines since 1973 (last year of stats).

The Wolverines finish the season 5-6 (3-4) on the year and earned a trip to playoffs for the first time since 2011. The year will be considered by most fairly successful, as the past couple of years have been rough times for football. But the Wolverines will not take long to reload for next year, as the Wolverines Junior squad will become Seniors next year and will look to build off the recent success and set a new bar for Ellwood City football.

Thank you to our sponsors for the evening, as 28 members were able to raise $1,000 to help pay for the broadcast and the FREE live stream on our YouTube channel. It has been a great year of coverage for tooball here at ECS, but we now switch things off to Winter sports, just 4 weeks away from the first even. Congrats to the EC football team, coaches, and all of those who volunteer their time with the program. Finally, and like always…Go Blue!