End of the dream
Ellwood City (15) vs. Greensburg Central Catholic (18)
Written: Nov 12, 2011
  By Joe Simon
New Castle News
NEW KENSINGTON — Greensburg Central Catholic coach Muzzy Colosimo couldn’t help but admit it.
Ellwood City Lincoln had the strength of the Centurions’ football team, their powerful rushing attack, figured out.
“They did everything they could to take away our running game,” Colosimo said. “They’d blitz every down. They’d put people in the holes. They’d overload. They studied your film well enough to know what you’re doing. They had us schemed pretty well. But in the film, we saw that we could throw the ball. That was our plan.”
With the game on the line, he went back to the plan, and it led to an 18-15 Greensburg Central Catholic victory over Ellwood City in the WPIAL Class AA quarterfinal last night at Valley High School’s Memorial Stadium.
Centurions quarterback Bobbie Noble threw a near-perfect 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Justin Kempka with 2:58 left in the fourth quarter that gave Greensburg Central Catholic (10-1) the lead for good. Ellwood (7-4) had a chance with 2:50 remaining and the ball at its own 18, but the Wolverines struggled to move the ball, gaining one first down before Julian Cox threw an interception on fourth-and-4, sealing the Centurions’ victory.
“The bottom line is we didn’t make enough plays,” said Ellwood coach Don Phillips, who led the Wolverines to their first playoff win since 1987 last week against Freeport. “If we are doing the things that we are supposed to do, and the things that we practiced all week, we would be OK.”
The situation at the end was one Ellwood put itself in — again.
The Wolverines took a 15-10 lead with 5:31 remaining in the fourth quarter on a double pass that went from Julian Cox to Bryan Graebing on a quick hitch route. Graebing caught the ball and launched a 60-yard touchdown to Kyle Crawford, who made a nice grab and broke a tackle to score. But an excessive celebration penalty on Crawford, who threw the ball in the air after scoring, and a big return on the kickoff gave the Centurions the ball at Ellwood’s 46-yard line.
Noble finally found his rhythm on the drive, going 3 of 4 for 47 yards and a touchdown. He also made a key 19-yard pass to Kempka on second-and-20 and ran for nine yards on a fourth-and-2 play. He then threw a strike on a slant pass to Kempka, who reached the ball over the goal line for the TD.
“The throwing game was absolutely ugly going into that last drive,” Colosimo said. “And we went into what we call tango, where we’re in the shotgun, and he (Noble) was able to find a receiver right before he got hit.
“We had planned to be in spread all day, but I’m not comfortable in the spread because I’m not calling the plays. My son calls the plays in the (spread). And he actually called that last touchdown drive.”
Prior to that, the Ellwood defense played well, allowing 44 yards to running back Jordan McCrae, who came in with more than 1,100, and 78 yards passing. The offense did its part as Crawford gave the Wolverines a 9-7 lead with a seven-yard run in the second quarter. It remained 9-7 into the second half, and Crawford again came up big. After getting beat on a deep pass, he caught up to tight end Travis Andring and popped the ball out of his hands. Ellwood recovered at its own 5, but it was on that drive that a crucial mistake occurred.
Ellwood was punting from its own 19, and when Crawford knelt down to catch the snap, the referee said his knee touched, giving Greensburg Central the ball at Ellwood’s 7. While many spectators questioned the call, the defense kept its poise and held Greensburg Central to a 35-yard field goal. Yet, those three points proved crucial considering the final score.
“In my personal opinion, he wasn’t down,” Phillips said of Crawford’s punt. “From my view, it looked like (he might be down), but you could see light underneath there.”
That set the stage for the final six minutes, which included the 60-yard bomb and Noble’s clutch drive.
While some may feel the Wolverines’ season ended a bit prematurely, they did advance to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since a three-year stretch from 1985-87, and made an improbable, 15-point fourth-quarter comeback last week against Freeport. Phillips admitted it was a season to remember.
“I can’t say enough good things about our kids,” he said. “We belonged here. We belonged here, and we know we’re ready to make that next step.”
(Email: j_simon@ncnewsonline.com)
BOX SCORE
GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC ELLWOOD CITY
10 First downs 10
90 Yards Rushing 142
14 Yards Lost 23
76 Net Rushing 119
19 Passes Attempted 13
8 Passes Completed 7
1 Passes Intercepted 1
125 Yards Passing 107
201 Total Yards 226
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
2-42.5 Punts-Average 4-31.8
3-20 Penalties-Yards 1-5
GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC 0 7 0 11 — 18
ELLWOOD CITY 3 6 0 6 — 15
Scoring plays
ELLWOOD CITY — Scott Lewis, 35-yard field goal.
GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC — Jordan McCrae, 2-yard run (Benjamin Kisel kick).
ELLWOOD CITY — Kyle Crawford, 7-yard run (kick blocked).
GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC — Kisel, 35-yard field goal.
ELLWOOD CITY — Crawford, 60-yard pass from Bryan Graebing (pass failed).
GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC — Justin Kempka, 16-yard pass from Bobbie Noble (Zach Guiser, pass from Noble).
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