‘A’ Ellwood gets A-plus grade against ‘AAA’ Char Valley
Ellwood City (28) vs. Chartiers Valley (13)
Written: Sep 21, 2013
By Shawn Fox
New Castle News
BRIDGEVILLE — Despite making a jump in class, the Ellwood City Lincoln High football team more than made the grade last night.
The Class AA Wolverines piled up 318 yards rushing on the way to a 28-13 non-conference road victory over Class AAA Chartiers Valley.
“Number one, anytime you win a game on the road, it’s a big plus,” said Ellwood City coach Don Phillips, whose squad evened its record at 2-2 on the season. “And then when you play a Parkway (Conference) triple-A team, that’s special. Last year, they beat us. We did not feel that we played our best game last year, so we felt we had something to prove. And the kids responded.”
Senior running back Jared Meyers, who lined up at quarterback the entire first half, led the Ellwood City ground assault with 198 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries.
“We used Jared at quarterback in the first half and came out in the second half with Brandon Magnifico,” Phillips said. “It was a little different style of offense, and put Jared back in his comfort level, so to speak, in the second half. It kind of caught (Char Valley) off balance and got our kids going.”
Junior Paul Lutz and sophomore Nick Ioanilli added 67 and 53 yards rushing, respectively. Lutz also scored a touchdown.
“I was very proud of Paul tonight. He ran hard. As a matter of fact, the touchdown he scored was all him,” Phillips said. “Nick also did a great job. I feel for Nick on a humid night like tonight. He’s out there on offense, defense, returning punts and returning kickoffs. The kid’s phenomenal. And, the other good thing is that he’s in tenth grade.”
Paving the way for all of those yards on the ground was the offensive line of seniors Kyle Plotzer, Tyler Maine, Anthony Tanner, Bradley Grinnen and Josh McKelvey.
“We take a lot of pride in being able to move the football on the ground,” Phillips said. “Last week, we got stuffed a little bit by Beaver Falls, and I think that hurt some pride and bruised a few egos. We worked very hard all week with our kids to get into their blocks and maintain those blocks,”
After forcing Char Valley to punt on its opening possession, the Wolverines went to work as Meyers broke free for a 31-yard TD jaunt to give the visitors an early 7-0 lead after the first of four Seth Mley point-after kicks.
“We came out to play tonight,” Meyers said. “Our line was blocking well and the running backs did what they had to do. Our line was smacking people and (Char Valley) wasn’t ready for that.”
The Colts (1-3) got on the board at the 4-minute mark of the first quarter as Thomas Kovach booted a 36-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3.
Ellwood City, however, answered right back on its next possession, driving 79 yards in five plays. The drive was highlighted by Meyers’ 42-yard pass to Kenton Docchio. Meyers capped the drive by bulling his way into the end zone from 13 yards out. Mley’s kick gave the Wolverines a 14-3 lead with 1:30 to go in the opening stanza.
The Wolverines increased their lead to 21-3 early in the second quarter as Meyers roared into the end zone from 40 yards out.
Char Valley then embarked on a 12-play drive that culminated with a 28-yard field goal by Kovach.
After Mike Roper recovered an Ellwood City fumble at the Wolverine 28-yard line, the Colts finally found the end zone. On fourth-and-19 from the 19, quarterback Josh Lapiana scrambled out of trouble and hit Dom Castello in the front corner of the end zone for the score. Kovach’s kick made it 21-13 with 4:23 remaining in the first half.
Lapiana, a senior, completed 19 of 38 passes for 163 yards in the game. Castello, also a senior, was Lapiana’s top target with seven catches for 78 yards.
Ellwood City took the second-half kickoff and marched 79 yards in nine plays capped by Lutz’s 15-yard run up the middle. Mley’s kick gave the Wolverines a 28-13 lead with 7:54 remaining in the third quarter.
“I don’t have many touchdowns this year, and I wanted it bad,” Lutz said.
Char Valley made things interesting early in the fourth quarter, as it drove to the Ellwood City 18-yard line. But, Mley picked off a Lapiana pass to end the threat.
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
ELLWOOD CITY... CHAR VALLEY
14 First downs 14
321 Yards Rushing 104
3 Yards Lost 22
318 Net Rushing 82
2 Passes Attempted 38
1 Passes Completed 19
0 Passes Intercepted 1
42 Yards Passing 163
360 Total Yards 245
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
2-37 Punts-Average 4-32.5
8-52 Penalties-Yards 9-92
ELLWOOD 14 7 7 0 — 28
CHAR. VALLEY 3 10 0 0 — 13
Scoring plays
ELLWOOD CITY — Jared Meyers, 31-yard run (Seth Mley kick)
CHARTIERS VALLEY — Thomas Kovach, 36-yard field goal
ELLWOOD CITY — Meyers, 13-yard run (Mley kick)
ELLWOOD CITY — Meyers, 40-yard run (Mley kick)
CHARTIERS VALLEY — Kovach, 28-yard field goal
CHARTIERS VALLEY — Dom Castello, 19-yard pass from Josh Lapiana (Kovach kick)
ELLWOOD CITY — Paul Lutz, 15-yard run (Mley kick)
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