Wolverines come up short to the Scotties 20-6

The Wolverines checked two things off the list for the “Keys to the Game” - Keep the big momentum plays in check (only one play longer than 30 yards on the evening against) and maintain good pocket protection (only two sacks on the evening). However, two out of three “keys to the Game” presented by ECS was just not enough for the Wolverines to prevail against the Union Scotties as ultimately the third key was the difference on the evening - turnovers.

The Wolverines almost had a carbon copy to last week’s game against Brentwood as both Union and Ellwood City did very little on offense in the first quarter, totally only 4 first downs and 80 yards between the two teams, heading to the 2nd quarter tied at 0-0.

Once again like last week, Quarter 2 is where the action picked up in the game. The Scotties on their 4th drive of the evening were finally able to march down the field by several run attempts from RB Mike Gun and some RPO plays by QB Braylon Thomas.

The drive was finally capped off by a 2 yard TD run by Braylon Thomas on the QB sneak. The two point conversion was good as QB Thomas threw the ball in the back right corner of the endzone to WR Kaden Fisher as the Scotties took an 8-0 lead at the 11:42 mark of Q2.

This time though, the Wolverines kept the Scotties in check during the quarter, unlike last week where Brentwood was able to capitalize on penalties and turnovers, scoring 28 points in Q2. Instead, the Wolverines were able to answer back right before halftime.

With zeros on the clock, a 10 yard TD pass by QB Chris Smiley was caught on the fade route to the left endzone, a play that was called by the ECS staff, by WR Michael Walters for the touchdown. Instead of chasing points, the Wolverines deiced to kick the PAT - unfortunately - the PAT was tipped and finished wide right to keep the score 8-6 Scotties going into the half.

The third quarter started in the Wolverines favor as they forced an early three and out from the Scotties, but the Wolverines were just not able to capitalize down the stretch.

Union finally broke through in the third quarter on their 7th drive of the evening, with an 8 yard TD run by Matt Stanley after the Scotties switched their backfield to the “Stanley Steamers” - Mark Stanley and Matt Stanley running the option in quarter 3. The two point conversion pass failed to keep the score 14-6.

Knowing that just one touchdown and a two point conversion was enough to time the game, the Wolverines leaned on their passing game to set up short conversions on third down via the run play. Between RB Elijah Palmer-McCaine (106 yards) and RB Dayntae Pierce (27 yards), the Wolverines were finally able to get into the redzone with a touchdown in mind to close the gap.

The play of the game occurred at the 8:04 mark of quarter 4 as the Wolverines were just two yards away from pay dirt as QB Smiley took the ball on a QB sneak. Just about to cross the line, a Union defender came in from the side and knocked the ball loose, which eventually was recovered by Union in the endzone for the touchback.

Down but not out, the Wolverines tried to bounce back from the turnover, but just could not keep Union out of the endzone. Finishing off the Wolverines was a 67 yard TD run by RB Mike Gunn at the 4:44 mark as the Wolverines gave up their only play on defense beyond 30 yards. The two point conversion was failed, ultimately giving our final score of 20-6 in favor of Union.

The Wolverines kept in check with the Scotties in terms of stats, but just could not put points up on the scoreboard. The Wolverines finished with 202 yards on the evening, with 106 of those yards from Palmer-McCaine. QB Smiley finished with 91 passing yards, but the 4 turnovers on the evening proved costly.

Once again the Wolverines pick up the loss; however, there are definitely good signs of things across the board to come as the Wolverines continue to battle through the 4th quarter of games so far this season.

The Wolverines will travel down past Pittsburgh this week (Friday - 7:00 PM) to take on the Carlynton Cougars who are also 0-2 on the season.