Tigers best Wolverines on Homecoming Night
The Wolverines knew coming into Week Seven that the matchup was not favorable against the Beaver Falls Tigers, a team that had won 5 straight games at the time and had not given up more than 14 points in a game during that stretch. Ellwood City knew they would have their hands full, and they did with the Tigers. The scoreboard may not have been in their favor, a 42-13 victory for the Tigers, but the night meant so much more than just playing a game as the Wolverines along with the Ellwood City community was able to show off their newly turfed and renovated field at Helling Stadium, all on Homecoming night.
Homecoming festivities kicked off at 6:15 PM as Ellwood City Sports presented a video feature of the new Helling Stadium in Ellwood City along with interviews from AD Curt Agostinelli and Superintendent Dr. Wes Shipley. Along with the help of grounds crew Gary Rozanski Sr., ECS was able to get photos and video of the new stadium.
At the bottom of the hour, the Lincoln High School Marching Blue Band kicked off live coverage on the night completing their pregame routine along with their first march in uniforms across the new field. Meanwhile, the Homecoming court started to set up and walked across the field to be introduced to the packed house stadium. The court was represented by the following individuals - Bell Rinker, Mia Newman, Chloe Duncan, Liz Mihalko, Maddy Biondi, Brooke Roth, Madylin McCommons, Jordyn Diplacido, Gianna Fotia, and Makenna Hamilton. Homecoming King was determined during the pep rally that took place Friday afternoon at the high school, where Jack Landis was crowned as King. The court was represented by the following individuals - Grady Smith, Lennon Lloyd, Parker Coachman, Hunter James, Kaden Schlichtkrull, Benjamin Pesce, Jack Landis, and Gage Myers.
After pregame finished up, the Wolverines and Tigers took the field and Week Seven during EC’s first home game was under way. The Tigers came out quickly in the first quarter scoring 22 straight points. The first points came on just the second play of their first drive after the opening kickoff. The touchdown was scored by RB #2 Richard Singleton 58 yards out from QB #11 Jaren Brickner. The two point run conversion failed, keeping the score 6-0.
The second score in the first quarter by the Tigers came on the fourth play of their second drive after the Wolverines went 3 and out. The touchdown was scored by RB #24 Drey Hall from 4 yards out. Two point conversion run was good by RB #3 Datalian Beauford making the score now 14-0.
The third score in the quarter came via the run again, this time by Beauford from 7 yards out. Two point conversion pass by Brickner to RB #25 Da’Sean Anderson was good, making the end of the first quarter read 22-0 Tigers.
The Wolverines did show some resilience in the first half, as a mid quarter score was added to the board by RB #2 Elijah Palmer-McCaine from 17 yards out. The extra point was good by K #19 Caitlen Kreitzer to make the score 22-7.
Unfortunately, that would be the closest the Wolverines would be on the night as the Tigers added one more scored before halftime by Singleton via the pass by Brickner. This time the touchdown came from 21 yards out with the two point conversion attempt failing, making the halftime score read 28-7 in favor of Beaver Falls.
Halftime festivities had the crowning of the Homecoming Queen, where Brook Roth was officially crowned. Both bands also performed their halftime shows as they night continued on with the blue and white colors from the track and field brightening the look at the stadium.
Third quarter action started in favor of the Wolverines as they were able to stop the first drive by the Tigers in the second half, forcing the first punt by the Tigers on the evening. The Wolverines then took the ball and marched down the field, scoring from 4 yards out by Palmer-McCaine to make the score 28-13. The PAT attempt was no good, as once again the lead was back down to 15.
From here on out, the Tigers size, depth, and speed proved unmatched by the Wolverines as two more scores in the quarter would make the night a convincing win by the Tigers 42-13. The two scores included a 5 yard run by Brickner and a passing touchdown by Brickner to Singleton, and a two point conversion play by Singleton as the Tigers added 14 more points to the board.
As the Brickner, Singleton, and Beauford show put up 42 points, both teams began subbing in players in the fourth quarter. Both teams finished with 3 drives a piece in the quarter, with neither team adding to the scoreboard, finishing the game at 42-13 in favor of the Tigers.
The Wolverines were outgained 367 to 218 on the night, but had 19 more offensive plays than the Tigers while also having 3 more first downs as well. The Wolverines defense held the Tigers to just 105 yards rushing, but the focus on the night was passing as Beaver Falls’ Jaren Brickner finished 14-24 for 262 yards while passing for 3 touchdowns. Elijah Palmer-McCaine led the way for the Wolverines with 37 carries (after 32 last week) and 143 yards while having both scoring touchdowns on the evening.
Palmer-McCaine now has six 100 hundred rushing games on the season, totaling 161 carries for 903 total yards. Palmer-McCaine is averaging 113 yards per game and is on pace to have over 1,100 yards rushing on the year, something that hasn’t been done since 2014 (Nick Ioanilli - 1,134). Meanwhile, QB #12 Chris Smiley continues to show improvement in the passing game as he has completed 63 of 136 passes on the year with 4 passing touchdowns. Smiley also adds 828 yards passing, averaging 104 yards per game. Smiley is on pace to finish with over 1,000 passing yards, a total that has not been reached by an Ellwood quarterback in the past decade.
With the victory, Beaver Falls improved to 7-1 (5-0) on the season to clinch playoffs while riding a section best 6 game winning streak. The loss left Ellwood City at 2-6 (1-4) on the season, but still not mathematically eliminated from playoffs.
Coming into the back end of the schedule, the Wolverines knew they had to come up with three wins in a four game stretch. The Wolverines got the first victory last week against New Brighton, and know their next best match would be at the end of the year against rival Riverside. That meant either upsetting the number one team in Beaver Falls or…defeating the second best team in Neshannock next week. Now the picture becomes more even more clear for the Wolverines after the loss to the favorite Tigers - win the last two games and you are in.
Up next for the Wolverines is a trip to Neshannock as the Wolverines take on the Lancers who are also clinched for playoffs at 7-1 (4-1) on the season. ECS is not able to be in the press box during the game, but we will have live stream coverage from a “unique view” starting at 6:50 PM while kickoff is slated for 7:00 PM. Be sure to check out post game results and stats from the entire season on our football page and our website today!
