Wolverines blank Lions, improve to 5-0

Last year’s “Fur Series” game between the Wolverines and the Lions was a shootout that broke records across the board, including the most points scored by EC in a long time. But this year’s game against New Brighton brought out the best in the Wolverines defense once again as they pitched their 14th shoutout against the Lions all time winning 33-0.

New Brighton began the night with the ball, but just couldn’t get anything going, as they finished with 95 total yards in the first half. The Wolverines held New Brighton in check on offense, specifically with turnovers by the defense - 2 fumble recoveries and one BIG interception. Meanwhile, the Wolverines offense did just enough in the first half, getting the lead at 6:26 in the first half by a passing touchdown from #12 Chris Smiley to #5 Dailonn Currie from 21 yards out. The PAT kick by #19 Caitlin Kreitzer - also part of the Homecoming Court - was good to make the score 7-0.

That would be it for the first half scoring, as rain kept both teams from opening up the playbook for the most part. Thankfully, the rain held off just long enough for Homecoming festivities where Holly Palmer was announced as Queen for the 2024 school year! A shoutout also goes to #55 Maddox Singer who was crowned Homecoming King during the prep rally early in the afternoon.

Second half action picked up a bit in scoring while the rain started up once again, limiting the passing game for both teams. Smiley finished the game 5 of 19 while #12 Jaron King Jr. and #3 Jayden Salada combined for 5 of 21. Both teams on the night combined for 10 of 42 passes. But, Smiley and company played simple ball on the raining night and it worked. A pass by Smiley to Currie this time for 40 yards doubled up the scoreboard 14-0 with the PAT by Kreitzer being successful.

New Brighton’s offense started to get things rolling on offense with several jet sweeps and reverse handoff plays, but the Wolverines defense forced another fumble recovery and interception to keep the Lions scoreless on the night. Meanwhile, the running started clicking in the second half for EC as #2 Elijah Palmer-McCane carried the ball 31 times on the night, finishing with 184 yards and more importantly, 3 more scores. EPM tallied points on runs of 4, 9, and 15 yards respectively, giving EC 18 more points up on the board. Kreitzer added another PAT conversion to make the final scoreboard read 33-0 in favor of the Wolverines.

Ellwood City outgained New Brighton 329 to 150, while limiting New Brighton to just 32 passing yards a year after they gave up 297. The turnover bug did hit Ellwood as well with a fumble and interception being the 4th and 5th turnover of the year for EC. But 5 forced turnovers on the night did the Lions in, giving EC now 11 turnovers and +6 on the season.

Smiley finished with 90 yards passing doing just what he was asked on offense while passing for two touchdowns, giving him 29 in his career. The other big performer on the night was EC’s very own #50 PJ Dubois who is making a name for himself, especially as a defensive lineman coming up with another great night. Dubois finished with 2 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, a forced fumble that was eventually recovered by the Wolverines, 1 fumble recovery, and added a huge interception on a screen play to end any chane of points by the Lions.

The win pushes the Wolverines to 5-0 (3-0) on the season, keeping EC in first place of the MAC. The win sets up an amazing game that will have to wait for an extra day since Western Beaver does not have lights at their field…till Saturday. The game is slated for a 12:30 PM kickoff with coverage of the game provided by ECS. the victory gives EC five straight wins, the first time since 1986 when they won six games in a row to start the season. EC also now remains as one of the final 14 teams in WPIAL with a perfect record while setting the tone in 2A along with an undefeated Seton LaSalle team previously at the 3A level.

Congrats once again to the Wolverines, Maddox Singer, Holly Palmer, the Homecoming Court, and to the entire community involved with making the Homecoming Blackout Night a great success! Go Blue!