Wolverines make strides against Aliquippa
Ellwood City (7) vs. Aliquippa (27)
Written: Sep 12, 2009
 By JOE SAGER
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
ALIQUIPPA — Ellwood City Lincoln High ended one drought, but saw another continue last night.
The Wolverines scored their first points against Aliquippa in three years, but their losing streak rose to 26 games with a 27-7 setback to the Quips in a WPIAL Class AA Midwestern Athletic Conference football clash at Carl A. Ashman Stadium.
Ellwood City (0-2 conference, 0-2 overall) last scored against Aliquippa in a 43-7 loss in 2006. The Wolverines suffered consecutive 47-0 drubbings the past two seasons.
However, last night was anything but a blowout.
The two teams were scoreless when they went into the locker room at halftime, mainly due to some strong defensive play. The Quips (1-0, 2-0), the defending WPIAL champs, forced three Ellwood City turnovers — two fumbles and one interception.
The Wolverines, too, played championship-caliber defense. They forced six Aliquippa fumbles — and recovered four of them — on the team’s seven possessions of the first half. Ron Grymes, Michael Ierino, Taran Spielvogel and Bobby Hozick all pounced on loose pigskins for Ellwood City.
“It was ugly. You almost have to expect that, at times, since we are so young and inexperienced. We have some talent here and there,” Aliquippa coach Mike Zmijanac said.
“But, the kids on the other side are playing, too. Don Phillips is a terrific coach; they are going to play, too. It’s not like we were out there by ourselves.”
The first-half performance proved the Wolverines have made considerable progress under Phillips.
“This is a tough place to play. To have a 0-0 game at halftime, it gave our kids confidence. It gave them the sense that we could play,” Phillips said. “This is one of the better teams in the conference, and we were sitting there 0-0.
“If we play hard and don’t make any mistakes, we’ll be there at the end of the game.”
It took the Quips nearly half of the third quarter to get on the scoreboard. Troy Jeter’s 26-yard run broke the stalemate for a 6-0 edge.
Aliquippa, which last lost to Ellwood City in 1970 and owns a 15-game winning streak over the Wolverines, boosted its lead to 14-0 with 9:55 remaining in the game when Darious Walker broke loose for a 17-yard scamper. He added the 2-point conversion run.
The Quips seized control of the contest when Davion Hall foiled a positive Ellwood City drive as he intercepted Tyler Lucarelli’s pass and raced 60 yards untouched into the end zone.
The Wolverines struck back when Grymes lofted a 27-yard scoring strike to Codey Hunter on a flea flicker play. Scott Lewis added the PAT kick to trim the deficit to 20-7 with 5:49 to go.
Aliquippa put the game out of reach when Jeter raced 47 yards untouched up the middle on a quarterback keeper 1:25 later.
“The quarterback sneak and the interception return, you take those two out, and we’re looking at 14-7 and who knows what happens after that?” Phillips said. “I am not going to look at this as a moral victory or anything like that.
“We’re looking at it as we lost a football game, and we need to get better. But, I know right now, I had a bunch of kids grow up and our young kids now know we have to get after it and be competitive and we can make some noise down the road.
“Our kids played very, very well. We created situations where we caused them to fumble the ball and punt to us. Our kids played hard and gave us some opportunities,” he continued.
“Offensively, we sputtered. Obviously, you can’t come to Aliquippa and try to get away with one touchdown and a victory. They score points and you have to keep the ball away from their offense.
“We did generate some offense, at times, but it was sporadic. We have to find that consistency. Once we find it to go with the defense and all the stuff we do on special teams, it’s going to make us more competitive. It’s one thing to do well, but now we have to finish.
“It’s starting to get there, but we’re not going to be satisfied until the “W” comes.”
ELLWOOD ALIQUIPPA
7 First downs 11
82 Yards Rushing 249
10 Yards Lost 31
72 Net Rushing 218
10 Passes Attempted 4
4 Passes Completed 2
2 Passes Intercepted 1
52 Yards Passing 13
122 Total Yards 231
4-2 Fumbles-Lost 7-4
7-32.7 Punts-Average 2-43.5
3-25 Penalties-Yards 6-50
ELLWOOD 0 0 0 7 — 7
ALIQUIPPA 0 0 6 21 — 27
Scoring plays
ALIQUIPPA – Troy Jeter, 26-yard run (Kick failed).
ALIQUIPPA – Darious Walker, 17-yard run (Walker run).
ALIQUIPPA – Davion Hall, 60-yard interception return (kick blocked).
ELLWOOD CITY – Codey Hunter, 27-yard pass from Ronnie Grymes (Scott Lewis kick).
ALIQUIPPA– Jeter, 47-yard run (Lord kick).
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