Ellwood its own worst enemy in loss
Ellwood City (21) vs. New Brighton (42)
Written: Aug 31, 2013
By Steve Treu
New Castle News
One game into the season, Ellwood City Lincoln should be considered a .500 team with a 1-1 record.
That’s because the Wolverines defeated the Wolverines last night.
A half-dozen catastrophic blunders turned a promising opening night on its head, as Ellwood did a 180-degree turn during a 42-21 WPIAL Class AA Midwestern Athletic Conference loss to visiting New Brighton.
Deep into the first quarter, this game appeared to be shaping up as a rout for the Wolverines. It ended up as a rout of the Wolverines.
“We can’t make mistakes like we made and beat anybody,” Ellwood coach Don Phillips said.
Unless he includes beating themselves.
How did the Wolverines manage to flip a thrilling victory into an agonizing defeat? Let us count the ways.
1. They committed an unsightly five turnovers, including two fumbles that were returned for touchdowns.
2. They scored a first-quarter touchdown that was negated due to a penalty and eventually lost the ball on downs.
3. They botched an attempted punt for a 23-yard loss that gave New Brighton (1-0) the ball on the 10, which the Lions quickly converted into a touchdown.
4. They lost a fumble at the goal line when they were about to score to make a game of it in the third quarter.
5. On their next possession after that goal-line fumble, they threw an interception deep in New Brighton territory.
There were arguably five touchdowns that could have gone from New Brighton to the Ellwood side of the ledger had the Wolverines played error-free. Instead of 42-21 loss, it could have been a 35-21 triumph.
“You can’t make those kind of mistakes and hope to compete with anybody,” Phillips echoed, “It’s as simple as that.”
Ellwood was on the board just three plays into the season, as Jared Meyers burst through the right side of the line and galloped 60 yards for a touchdown.
After a three-and-out by the Lions, Meyers and Nicholas Ioanilli took turns rushing Ellwood right back down the field into the red zone and seemed to be poised to take a 14-0 lead.
That’s when the mistakes started and the Lions took advantage of all of them.
“A lot of guys stepped up and made big-time plays in big-time spots,” New Brighton coach Joe Greco said. “It took a total team effort. That was a marathon.”
Not quite 26.2 miles, but both teams did run all over the field, combining for 827 total yards of offense.
Meyers led all runners with 187 yards on 21 carries as the Wolverines outgained the Lions by nearly 200 yards (324-141) on the ground.
“That doesn’t matter,” Phillips said of his team’s impressive rushing totals, adding a familiar refrain for the evening, “because if we keep making those mistakes, we’re not going to beat anybody.”
Ioanilli also had a huge night with 113 yards on just six attempts, including a 73-yard breakaway for the game’s final touchdown. Meyers threw for Ellwood’s other score, taking a handoff on a reverse and tossing a 70-yard strike to Seth Mley.
The Lions piled up 255 passing yards, which more than offset their 110 yards on 14 penalties.
“We did a lot of good things,” Greco said, “and beat a pretty good football team.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
NEW BRIGHTON ELLWOOD
11 First downs 11
160 Yards Rushing 355
19 Yards Lost 31
141 Net Rushing 324
15 Passes Attempted 8
12 Passes Completed 3
0 Passes Intercepted 1
255 Yards Passing 107
396 Total Yards 431
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 6-4
2-33 Punts-Average 1-40
14-110 Penalties-Yards 9-63
NEW BRIGHTON 7 21 7 7 — 42
ELLWOOD 7 0 7 7 — 21
Scoring plays
ELLWOOD — Jared Meyers, 60-yard run (Meyers kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Payton Fath, 1-yard run (Gavin Pritchard kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Scott Florence, 6-yard run (Pritchard kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Lamar Taft, 22-yard fumble return (Pritchard kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Tyler St. Esprit, 2-yard run (Pritchard kick).
ELLWOOD — Seth Mley, 70-yard pass from Meyers (Meyers kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Andrew Mittner, 6-yard pass from Gabe Greco (Pritchard kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Rhett Beightley, 80-yard fumble return (Pritchard kick).
ELLWOOD — Nicholas Ioanilli, 73-yard run (Meyers kick).
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