Wolverines battle, Tigers prevail late

The Wolverines walked into Week 7 action as the underdog on the night against the Beaver Falls Tigers, but had the better record on the season. At the same time, the Tigers have not been the same complete package that we are used to seeing - a team that relied on the run game, but when needed, could throw for days as well. Meanwhile, the Wolverines have shown recently that they can rely on the pass game that has been something that EC hasn’t done very well in over 10 seasons. Something had to give on the night, but both teams battled for a full 60 minutes to determine the 4th place team in the MAC conference.

Beaver Falls came out striking early, taking 4 minutes to open the scoring on the night as RB #23 Brixx Rawl couldn’t be contained by the Wolverines let alone his own jersey (ripped his #28 jersey during warmups), scoring the 16 yard rushing touchdown. The 2PT conversion was good by Rawl as well, making the early score 8-0 BF.

Wolverines would not back down early, as QB #12 Chris Smiley continued his great season by throwing an amazing, in-stride 63 yard bomb to upcoming WR #5 DaiLonn Currie who was back in action on the night after his ejection/suspension. 2PT pass conversion was failed though, keeping the early score 8-6 BF.

The Wolverines were able to take a lead in the game after forcing a punt by BF, when RB #2 Elijah Palmer-McCane capped off a huge drive by EC to make the score 12-8 Ellwood. The 2PT conversion by EPM was good, making the early second quarter score 14-8 EC. The drive featured a big-time catch by WR #21 A.J. Grinnen who made his first catch of the season for 21 yards.

The Wolverines had a big opportunity to go up by two scores after a successful onside kick was taken by EC. The Wolverines drove down the field, but the Tigers held the Wolverines on fourth down.

Beaver Falls battled back to put up the last score of the half, on a very late drive capped off by Rawl once again with 53 seconds remaining in the half. The run was from 15 yards out with the 2 PT conversion pass failed to make the halftime score of course, 14-14.

Second half action was under way, and it finally seemed as though the Tigers had found their bread and butter - Rawl up the middle, or a jet sweep run to the outside corners.

Beaver Falls won the third quater, putting up two scores and 16 total points. A big jet sweep run by #2 Di’Nari Harris from 36 yards out along with the 2PT conversion by Rawl to make the score 22-14. With 2:22 remaining in the third quarter, backup QB #10 Kadin Brickner ran up the middle for a 1 yard keeper that took forvever for the officials to make the call. 2 minutes later, the air was taken almost completely out of the Wolverines sideline as it read 30-14 with the 2PT conversion good by #4 Za’Saun McElvy.

On the flip side, the Wolverines offensive run game was held in check all night. That meant that Smiley had to step up with the passing game, and he did. With just 3 seconds remaining in quarter 3, Smiley and company drove all the way down to the 2 yardline with a drive that featured an amazing catch by SR #8 Michael Walters. EPM finished with the rushing touchdown from the 2 yards out. The 2PT conversion pass by Smiley was caught by the amazing Walters who outreached everyone to make the game 30-22 heading to the fourth quarter.

A statement was made by the Wolverines - they may have been dominated by the run game of the Tigers, but the Wolverines would not give up from the passing game. Sure enough, the Wolverines broke through to get the score down to just 2 points as a 24 yard pass was caught by EPM from Smiley to make the score 30-28. The 2PT conversion pass was failed as #9 Luciano Gagric was left wide open, but unfortunately his momentum put him right into the backline judge and knocked the route off pace. The ball fell to the ground to keep it in favor of BF, 30-28.

From there, we got to see the powerful Rawl take the game over, putting up big numbers on the night. But before Rawl took over the game, another big weapon for the Tigers added his stamp on the game - #6 Michael Blackshear - who ran the kickoff after the big touchdown by EC 77 yards back to the house, to regain the lead back to 8 points. The 2PT run conversion was failed, but that would be as close as EC would get to the Tigers - 36-28.

Brixx Rawl took over the final 6 minutes of the game after the Tigers were able to stop the Wolverines on a couple of late drives. Rawl added to the score, this time from 2 yards out to make the final score 42-28. The 2PT conversion was failed, keeping it just a 14 point lead.

The Wolverines had one more chance late with 3 minutes remaining, but a tough pass by Smiley in the endzone was intercepted to seal the deal. Beaver Falls ran on the legs of Rawl to finish the game 42-28 in favor of Beaver Falls.

The Tigers had played the better four quarters to the full 60 minutes, but it wasn’t without a big, big fight by Ellwood City. As much as the loss hurts the Wolverines faithful, they were able to go home knowing that they battle to the very end.

Beaver Falls finished with 391 yards on offense, ALL via the run game (51 rushing plays). Ellwood City finished with a total of 278 yards, with 227 yards via the pass game (53 offensive plays). Brixx Rawl ran the ball 29 times for 227 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns while Di’Nari Harris added 87 yards on 5 rushes. Za’Saun McElvy also had 61 yards with 7 carries. On the flip side, EPM was held to 18 carries and only 35 rushing yards, but made it happen in the endzone with 2 rushing touchdowns.

The Tigers threw the ball only 3 total times while Chris Smiley went 13-30 for 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, while totaling 227 passing yards. DaiLonn Currie added 67 yards to his total with the receiving touchdown while Michael Walters finished with 3 catches and 47 yards.

Brixx Rawl led all scoring with 22 points while EPM total 20 for the Wolverines.

On the season, the Wolverines have outgained their opponents 2,827 yards to 2,692, but have been more effective on offense throughout each week in general. The Wolverines have run for 1,523 while passing for 1,304 on the season.

EPM officially has 1,133 yards with 12 rushing touchdowns only on 194 carries, all marks that may break some records in the coming two weeks. Smiley now has 1,304 yards passing on the season with 14 touchdown passes which officially is the passing touchdown record for the Wolverines now. Smiley has also completed 90 total passes on the year. Finally, Michael Walters continues to add to his receiving totals, now at 29 catches and 403 receiving yards on the year. More importantly Walters has 6 receiving touchdowns.

Up next for the Wolverines is once again another big battle, this time with 2nd place Neshannock Lancers who come into play 7-1 (5-0) for Week 8 action. The Lancers have already clinched playoffs, to join the likes of 1st place Mohawk (7-1) and Western Beaver (5-3). Week 8 is also Senior Night for Ellwood City, so coverage will begin early (approx. 6:30 PM) on the evening by ECS.

Playoffs

The playoff scenario is pretty straight forward for the Wolverines who have +10 gardner points (-10 WPIAL points) for tiebreakers. EC has the edge over New Brighton Lions via head-to-head victory. Riverside could still get in, but will have to defeat the Wolverines in Week 9. Freedom has a chance with a 1-4 record, but finish their season with Beaver Falls and New Brighton, with the outcome of Freedom finishing with 2 victories. If that is the case, EC would have the edge over Freedom via head-to-head victory. The picture is fairly clear for EC - win both remaining games and clinch playoffs. Win against Riverside the last week, and clinch playoffs with a Freedom loss to Beaver Falls in Week 8.

Mohawk, Neshannock, Western Beaver

My goodness it’s a great time to be alive in the MAC conference. What a great finish we having coming the final two weeks.

Mohawk: Western Beaver, @ Neshannock

Neshannock: @ Ellwood City, Mohawk

Western Beaver: @ Mohawk, Beaver Falls

Goodluck to the three teams to figure out who takes first place, but more importantly to stay healthy during the last two-week stretch of the regular season!