Victory continues to elude improving Ellwood
Ellwood City (6) vs. Riverside (24)
Written: Oct 25, 2008
 By STEVE TREU
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
Strictly in terms of wins and losses, Ellwood City Lincoln went oh-for-’08.
But Wolverines coach Don Phillips looked at his team’s season a little deeper than that.
Although Ellwood’s 24-6 Midwestern Conference setback to visiting Riverside last night hung a final ‘L’ on a winless ledger, the year was not without highlights for the Wolverines.
“We’re still a work in progress,” Phillips said. “We think our kids are getting better and I appreciated the comments from the Riverside coaches who also felt our kids were getting better week by week. But you’d like to see progress converted into wins, so hopefully down the road that’s going to occur.”
For a brief moment, it seemed as if Ellwood (0-8, 0-9) had a chance to be able to claim that elusive first victory.
After hanging tough throughout the first half and trailing just 6-0 at intermission, big defensive plays by Michael Tesone and Chad Reed enabled the Wolverines to force a three-and-out and get the ball on the Riverside 42.
On the next play from scrimmage, Ellwood’s first in the third quarter, junior running back Codey Hunter exploded through a gaping hole in the right side of the line and sprinted untouched 42 yards for a touchdown and 6-6 tie.
The home fans rejoiced, but that was the last thing they had to cheer about in the second half.
The Panthers (3-5, 3-6) dominated the rest of the way.
“We shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit in the first half,” said coach Jesse Rosenberger, whose team lost three fumbles and committed eight penalties. “We jumped on (the kids) pretty good at half and they came out and responded in the second half when we were able to move the ball consistently.”
Riverside relied on several different ballcarriers to pile up a 307-80 advantage in rushing yards. Cole Jackson led the way with 19 carries for 133 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Jared Desensi added 83 yards and a touchdown on 11 runs.
Zac Snyder added 81 yards on nine carries before he was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct early in the third quarter.
“We’re a little beat up, especially with our starting quarterback getting hurt last week,” Rosenberger said. “But our sophomore (Matt Wilson) came in and did a good job and we got a lot of contributions from a lot of other guys.”
Hunter was Ellwood’s leading rusher with 51 yards on 10 carries.
Quarterback Joe Galmarini turned in a rare play late in the third quarter, completing a pass ... to himself. The ball was batted at the line of scrimmage right back at him, he grabbed it and fell forward for no gain.
Ellwood sophomore lineman Travis Karenbauer was a defensive terror in the first quarter, nailing three Riverside runners for losses, including a 5-yard sack. Reed and Michael Ierino both recovered fumbles for the Wolverines in the first half.
Despite a fairly even first half, the statistics ended up heavily in Riverside’s favor. The Panthers had 17 first downs to just four for Ellwood, while claiming a 307-106 advantage in total offense.
RIVERSIDE ELLWOOD CITY
17 First downs 4
340 Yards Rushing 95
33 Yards Lost 15
307 Net Rushing 80
4 Passes Attempted 15
0 Passes Completed 6
0 Passes Intercepted 2
0 Yards Passing 26
307 Total Yards 106
4-3 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
3-27 Punts-Average 4-33
8-77 Penalties-Yards 4-33
RIVERSIDE 0 6 6 12 — 24
ELLWOOD CITY 0 0 6 0 — 6
Scoring plays
RIVERSIDE — Jared Desensi, 3-yard run (kick failed) .
ELLWOOD — Codey Hunter, 42-yard run (kick failed).
RIVERSIDE — Cole Jackson, 2-yard run (kick failed).
RIVERSIDE — Jackson, 13-yard run (run failed).
RIVERSIDE — Luc Creese, 13-yard run (run failed).
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