Ellwood lights up the scoreboard in rout of Freedom
Ellwood City (57) vs. Freedom (21)
Written: Sep 03, 2011
Ellwood lights up the scoreboard in rout of Freedom
By STEVE TREU
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
Freedom scored on runs of 97 and 90 yards, so you know what kind of night it was for Ellwood.
Yep, one of the best opening days in Ellwood City Lincoln football history.
Football can be a funny game, especially when the only team laughing afterward is the one that surrendered two huge touchdown runs. The Wolverines did exactly that, brushing off Freedom’s big gainers with an avalanche of scoring of their own en route to a 57-21 victory to begin Midwestern Conference action.
“A good start to the season for us,” Ellwood coach Don Phillips said.
Just one game in and already Phillips claims ownership to the Understatement of the Year.
It was a spectacular start in most every way for the Wolverines, those Bulldog breakaways notwithstanding.
Five different players had touchdowns as Ellwood lit up the scoreboard in nearly every conceivable manner — on the ground, through the air, on a reverse, on a fumble recovery, on an interception, on a safety and on a long field goal. Plus, a bunch of extra points, of course.
Kyle Crawford led the barrage with a TD hat trick, jump starting the Wolverines with a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown just two minutes into the season. One minute and a three-and-out by Freedom later, the versatile senior made it 12-0 on a 47-yard run. He added a 3-yard touchdown to make it 51-15 at halftime.
(Yes, you read that right, 51 points at halftime.)
“Kyle did a great job, his interception return was big, no doubt,” Phillips said. “He’s such a competitor, a great kid, a tough kid.”
And he was only one of many great, tough competitors on this night.
Nick Polka was a beast, gathering in 101 yards of touchdown glory on two catches (42, 59) in the first half.
The latter score was perhaps the biggest play of the game, coming right after Freedom got within 24-15 midway through the second quarter. Sophomore running back Jared Meyers took the ball on a reverse and lofted a strike to Polka, who danced in for a touchdown that took the bite out of the Bulldogs.
“That was a great throw by Jared, we knew he could do that because we worked on it all week in practice,” Phillips said. “The timing of that play was appropriate, because they had the momentum and we wanted to swing it back to us. We came right back after their score and put that (reverse) up there.”
The Wolverines were now whipped into a frenzy, punishing Freedom on its next offensive series with consecutive losses of 3, 11 and 3 yards, the last of which resulted in a fumble that Gage Schilling pounced on in the end zone for a 38-15 lead.
Freedom’s next series ended in disaster as well, as Ellwood’s Christian Sarver and Matt Morella tag-teamed for a 16-yard sack on a fourth-down conversion attempt. That crushing loss was followed two plays later by a 29-yard touchdown reception by Alexander Grymes from Julian Cox.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Freedom coach Frank Hernandez said. “We have to get back to practice and work harder.”
“I know Frankie’s team will bounce back,” Phillips said. “They were obviously able to move the ball on us and we can’t give up that much rushing in this league.”
Phillips was referring to Jalen Witt’s 97-yard sprint in the first quarter and Sam Beckey’s 90-yarder in the fourth. Their runs were similar, both cutting to the left and racing down the sideline.
Other than those two plays, however, Ellwood outscored Freedom 57-7. Morella had a sack for a safety, Scott Lewis banged home a 43-yard field goal and Meyers tacked on a 25-yard run to close the scoring for the Wolverines in the fourth.
“You can’t let a team go 97 and 90 yards on you,” Phillips said, “but the first game of the season is always a little sloppy. I’m happy with how the kids responded.”
FREEDOM ELLWOOD CITY
7 First downs 9
313 Yards Rushing 258
84 Yards Lost 20
229 Net Rushing 238
10 Passes Attempted 6
3 Passes Completed 4
1 Passes Intercepted 0
38 Yards Passing 138
267 Total Yards 376
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 3-2
4-33 Punts-Average 1-33
5-43 Penalties-Yards 2-10
FREEDOM 8 7 0 6 — 21
ELLWOOD CITY 21 30 0 6 — 57
Scoring plays
ELLWOOD — Kyle Crawford, 38-yard interception return (kick blocked).
ELLWOOD — Crawford, 47-yard run (run failed).
FREEDOM — Jalen Witt, 97-yard run (Zeke Stroupe pass from Sam Beckey).
ELLWOOD — Safety, Matt Morella sacked Beckey in end zone.
ELLWOOD — Nick Polka, 42-yard pass from Bryan Graebing (Scott Lewis kick).
ELLWOOD — Lewis, 43-yard field goal.
FREEDOM — Stroupe, 22-yard pass from Beckey (Jon Cleak kick).
ELLWOOD — Polka, 59-yard pass from Jared Meyers (Lewis kick).
ELLWOOD — Gage Schilling, recovered fumble in end zone (Lewis kick).
ELLWOOD — Alexander Grymes, 29-yard pass from Julian Cox (Lewis kick).
ELLWOOD — Crawford, 3-yard run (kick blocked).
ELLWOOD — Meyers, 25-yard run (fumbled snap).
FREEDOM — Beckey, 90-yard run (kick failed).
|