Air attack from WB downs EC 41-18

Traditional Western Pennsylvania football is played in the trenches, between the front lines, amongst the big men up front. Friday night proved that for one team - Ellwood City - but for the other, it showed a “changing of the guard” mentality as Western Beaver went pass heavy all night long to put up the necessary points to win the MAC Conference clash at Helling Stadium.

Football kicked off Friday after another great pregame show by the Lincoln High School Marching Blue Band with a bang for Ellwood City - one play, one fumble recovery on the first drive by the Golden Beavers. The fumble was recovered by #28 Ethan Patterson as RB #5 Tyson Florence was jammed up the middle and ran into his own player. The Wolverines were starting off on the right foot in this one with the turnover.

The first drive for the Wolverines at the WB’s 42 yardline was quickly capped off as for the fourth straight week SR #8 Michael Walters had caught a receiving touchdown pass from QB #12 Chris Smiley. This time it was a quick hitter slant over the middle of the endzone for the touchdown. PAT kick by #19 Caitlyn Kreitzer was blocked up the middle by Florence to keep the early score 6-0 Ellwood City.

Western Beaver made quick adjustments on their second drive, taking only 50 seconds off the clock to put up their first points of the game. A big run by Tyson Florence from the backfield up the right side for 38 yards capped off a three-play rushing touchdown to tie up the game at 7:07 first quarter. PAT kick by #14 Jaden Winterhalter was good as Western Beaver took the early lead 7-6.

The Wolverines on the ensuing drive made their way all the way down to the WB 7 yardline, leaning on the shoulders of “Big Man on Campus” RB #2 Elijah Palmer-McCane for most of the yards. However, something were very raley see ever happen for EPM was a turnover, a fumble at the line of scrimmage. Western Beaver quickly fell on the ball and the drive was cut short.

But EPM and the Wovlerines did not let the turnover bring them down. On the very next play, LB #39 Deklan O’Brien along with two-way star Michael Walters combined on a forced fumble and fumble recovery to give the ball back to the Wolverines at the 8 yardline. Wolverines this time did not disappoint.

One play, up the middle, is all it took - Palmer-McCane took the handoff right up the middle for the 8 yard rushing touchdown. 2 PT conversion run was no good, but the Wolverines took back the lead 12-7.

At this point most of the fans at the game knew that this game was going to turn into a score fest and it did in the first quarter. The last score of quarter one came from the Golden Beavers as they took just over a minute this time to add to the scoreboard. A big 3rd and 10 screen pass from FR QB #7 Jaivin Peel to Florence went 45 yards as Florence weaved his way through the defenders to the endzone for the score. The PAT kick was wide left, to close the first quarter in favor of Western Beaver 13-12.

First quarter saw 25 total points, but the second quarter both defenses were able to make adjustments that made a big difference on the scoreboard. But on the evening, the passing game of the Golden Beavers would break through in the second half to allow Western Beaver to pull away.

Western Beaver would score back to back touchdowns as the Wolverines continued to drive up and down the field with Palmer-McCane, but the bend don’t break defense by the Golden Beavers got them the ball back late in the second quarter. At the same time, the Wolverines defense did stop the Golden Beavers on the goaline, which kept the first half score close.

Western Beaver finally broke through before halftime as a 49 yard touchdown pass from Peel was caught by the tall and length WR #9 Dorian McGhee. McGhee turned up field and with a couple of miss tackles by EC, scampered into the endzone. PAT kick by Winterhalter was good and halftime score read 20-12 Western Beaver.

Third quarter action saw more of the second quarter play by both teams where Ellwood was able to run the ball while Western Beaver was able to throw the ball with ease, but…no one was able to finish off drives. But that changed late in the quarter, as a big run once again by Florence up the sideline had it seem like the Golden Beavers had the edge to score.

But sure enough another forced fumble by the Wolverines and recovery by #5 DaiLonn Currie had them back in business on offense. The Western Beaver turnover turned into points for EC as the drive was capped off by Palmer-McCane from 2 yards out. A great attempt at the 2 PT conversion fell just short from Smiley to Gagric, kept the score 20-18 in favor of WB.

Every time Ellwood City scored, Western Beaver had an answer. Once again it was the Peel to McGhee show, this time from 63 yards out as it took just one play after the Ellwood score for the Golden Beavers to answer. PAT kick was good by Winterhalter and just like that the lead was back to 9, 27-18, headed to the fourth quarter.

Fourth quarter action unfortunately for the Wolverines went completely in favor of the Golden Beavers as the pass heavy offense prevailed on this night. The first play of the fourth quarter saw Peel once again connect with one of his wid receivers, this time #1 Mikey Crawford from 27 yards out as Peel completed the trifecta of touchdown passes to Florence, McGhee, and Crawford on the night. PAT kick was good by Winterhalter to make the early quarter score 34-18.

The Wolverines offense just could not keep pace with the Golden Beavers offense as another short drive gave the ball back to WB. They quickly answered, taking just under 2 minutes to add their final tally of the night. A 31 yard rushing touchdown by Florence sealed the game for the Golden Beavers with the PAT kick good by Winterhalter. The scoreboard read 41-18 with 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Ellwood City would have one more chance to put up points on the board as they drove down close to the redzone. Unfortunately the Wolverines could not capitalize as the Golden Beavers took the ball over on downs to finish off the game with three kneel downs. Western Beaver defeated the Wolverines 41-18 with the win coming from the quarterback play of Jaivin Peel.

Western Beaver outgained the Wolverines 475 to 326 on the night with 338 yards coming from Jaivin Peel along with 4 passing touchdowns. On the flip side, Elijah Palmer-McCane put up big numbers, carrying the ball 38 times for 216 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. With the 216 yards, EPM officially has 779 rushing yards on the season, meanwhile, giving him 2,056 rushing yards in his career for the Wolverines.

Ellwood City will look to bounce back in Week 5 as they will play host to the first place Mohawk Warriors who continue to lean on the shoulders of Jay Wrona and the passing game. Expect a similar offensive play style from the Warriors while the Wolverines will have to adjust again back-to-back weeks for the pass game. ECS will have the coverage once again, starting around 6:45 PM for pregam ceremonies.