Streak over! EC scores 40 straight to win big
The longest losing streak (27 games) in the WPIAL is officially over as the Wolverines cruised to their first victory in 4 years, defeating the Carlynton Cougars 46-6 on Friday night.
The Wolverines once again checked off a bunch of ECS’ “Keys to the Game” marks that included: early start (turnover and TD within 2 minutes and 4 seconds on offense), turnovers (+1 on the night), and more importantly, pedal to the metal (40 straight unanswered points to win by 40).
The Cougars started the night off with electing to receive the ball after winning the coin toss, showing that they wanted to start on offense early. This back fired quickly as a fumble recovery by #20 Jackson Kerr at the 10:35 mark set up the Wolverines with great field position at the Cougars 35 yard line. The Wolverines quickly capitalized on the play, scoring on a 14 yard rushing TD by RB #2 Elijah Palmer-McCaine while just taking 2 minutes and 4 seconds to put up points. The PAT attempt was blocked at the line of scrimmage to keep the score 6-0 EC.
Just as quickly as the Wolverines started the night, the Cougars found at least one counter back on offense after the ensuing kickoff was brought back to the 37 yard line. Carlynton took one play and schemed trickery to perfection - a pitch out to the running back was then handed off to talented WR #3 Jaydin McKnight who scampered 63 yards to the endzone to even up the score at 6. Cougars decided to go for two but the pass was off, keeping the score at the 8:09 mark in the first quarter 6-6.
After the quick scores by both teams, the play seemed to settle down just a bit, as it took almost 5 minutes for another point to be scored. But once the next points were scored, they continued to pour on as 40 straight points were scored by the Wolverines, making sure that this Friday night would have no question in doubt who was winning the game.
Ellwood City took their longest (time wise) scoring drive on the night of over 3 minutes and a 12-6 lead when Palmer-McCaine crossed the goal line 5 yards out. The Wolverines then added another score before the end of the first quarter, as QB #12 Chris Smiley ran the QB sneak to perfection. PAT kick was failed, leaving the score after quarter one 18-6 in favor of the Wolverines.
Ellwood City added one more score before halftime, as a 34 yard pass by Smiley was caught by an upcoming WR #8 Michael Walters running into the endzone for the touchdown. PAT was good by K #19 Caitlen Kreitzer, making the score 25-6 at halftime.
Looking at the stats during halftime, it was clear who had the advantage on the night, as the Wolverines outgained the Cougars 258 to just 78 yards, while averaging 6.6 yards per play. One of the weirdest stats of the night also came at halftime, as the Cougars had 78 yards but zero first downs in the half (comparted to 11 for EC).
Second half kickoff and scoring was all in favor of the Wolverines as they added three more scores, all in the third quarter. At 10:46, RB #9 Luciano Gagric ran the ball in for the 1 yard TD while TE #87 Aaron Hobel caught a 2 PT conversion pass from Smiley making the score 33-6.
At 5:27, RB #26 Dayntae Pierce finished off a drive with a 3 yard rushing TD. 2 PT pass was incomplete, keeping the score 39-6. Finally, with zeros up on the board in the third quarter, a run of 11 yards by Palmer-McCaine capped off the touchdown list for the Wolverines as 5 different players scored 7 TDs on the night. PAT was good by Kreitzer, making the tally 46-6 at the end of the third quarter.
As lead commentator Thad “the Dad” Sturgeon loves to say, “Mercy mercy me!” was in full effect as the 35 point mercy rule was crossed by the Wolverines on the last play of the third quarter. With that being said, the Wolverines and Cougars flip flopped 4 total drives in the quarter while trading off a couple turnovers late in the game with substitutions occurring on each drive.
The Wolverines cruised to the victory 46-6 over the Carlynton Cougars, ending the 27 game losing streak while starting a new streak - with a win. More importantly, the Wolverines found a way to dominate their opponent, the first time statistically this lop-sided since Week 6 of the 2018 campaign (EC defeated Shenango 42-14). The Wolverines finished with 432 total yards compared to just 93 for the Cougars, meaning that Carlynton had only 15 yards in the second half.
The weird stat of the night finished off with 21 first downs for Ellwood City, only 1 on the night for the Cougars. Wolverines finished with an average of 6.5 yards per play while having possession of the ball for almost 30 minutes of game time.
Individually, the Wolverines had three standout players that surpassed the 100 yard mark in passing, rushing, and receiving. QB Chris Smiley finished 9-18 with 1 TD and 1 INT, but more impressively with 179 yards passing, which is the most for the Wolverines since 2016 (Andrew O’Brien - 200 yards vs. Quaker Valley). RB Elijah Palmer-McCaine finished with 102 yards on 18 carries with 3 rushing TDs after backing up last weeks 106 yards against Union. Breakout night goes to WR Michael Walters, who finished with 4 receptions, 1 TD, and 118 yards receiving on the night, the most for the Wolverines since 2016 (Luca Botti - 132 yards vs. Quaker Valley).
The Wolverines with the victory finish off non-conference play with a 1-2 record and now will turn to Friday night conference play as they will travel to Freedom to take on the Bulldogs (1-2 as well). Kickoff is slated for 7:30 PM. Live Video Stream coverage will be presented by ECS.
