By Andrew Koob

New Castle News

When Nick Ioanilli has the ball in his hands, it spells bad news for his opponent.

Freedom’s offense and defense both got a taste of that in a 51-14 Ellwood City Lincoln victory Friday night.

Ioanilli rushed for 188 yards on 18 carries and scored four total touchdowns, three on the ground, and returned an interception 50 yards for a score in the win.

The big performance earned him Lawrence County Athlete of the Week honors, an award sponsored by Washington Centre Physical Therapy and selected by the New Castle News sports staff.

“It was really all on our (offensive) line, they were making big holes,” Ioanilli said. “All I had to do was just run through them, they did a really good job. On the interception, I had a good catch and it was the (defensive) line just blocking well on the return.”

Ioanilli was fifth in rushing totals throughout the county before the matchup against the Bulldogs, but his big day vaulted him into the top spot with 409 rushing yards through four games. He currently leads Shenango tailback Tyler Root, who holds the second spot with 382 yards.

But that’s just one of the many things that Ioanilli can do, both on and off the football field.

“He returns punts and kickoffs, he’s a really a talented kid,” Wolverines coach Don Phillips said. “I know at times he gets a little frustrated because his teammates aren’t as giving of their efforts, but he’s a great kid and he’s very active in all sports. He goes from us to basketball then goes to track, but he’s always in the weight room every chance he gets. He’s a part of everything we do.”

Being a part of all three phases of the game ensures that Ioanilli will be on the field almost the entire way.

Phillips knows that he has to keep the junior as fresh as possible but it’s hard to take the ball away from the hot hand.

“I don’t worry about Nick in that regard, but we try to pace him,” Phillips said. “I know after long runs, I try to be careful of going back to him too soon, just to let him catch his breath.

“He’d probably chuckle at that comment because there are times when he makes a big run and I’ll go right back to him because the circumstances are such that I know that they’re reeling I want to send him right back at them. I do try to pick my spots and make sure he has a chance to get out of the game and get some water and get his breath.”

As a 6-foot-2, 200 pound running back, Ioanilli is almost expected to use his size and strength to rush through the opposition. The bad news for the defense? He can run through and around it on his way to the end zone. It didn’t help Freedom that the Wolverines’ offensive line was winning the battle in the trenches.

“His speed is deceptive, he runs on our 4x100 relay team that went to states this year,” Phillips said. “He’s got very good speed, but I know when you see him run sometimes you think ‘OK, he’s pretty fast’ but then nobody catches him.”

Ioanilli remains humble, though.

“It was definitely nice to have everything break open and not get tackled,” he said. “I just made a good cut and hit the end zone.”

Now that Ellwood City had added another mark to the win column following tough losses to WPIAL Class AA powerhouses New Brighton and Aliquippa, both Ioanilli and Phillips hope the momentum starts to swing in favor of the Wolverines.

“It was very important to build confidence in that regard,” Phillips said. “We won our first game against Summit Academy and then we played New Brighton and Aliquippa back-to-back. We got beat and I think the kids were questioning if this was the way the season was going to go. We needed to play the game last week, come out with a victory, we knew how important it was to have a victory to get our kids back on track.”

Ioanilli feels the team is headed in the right direction.

“I think we need to come together, it’s too much individual with everyone,” Ioanilli added. “We’re starting to come together after the win and we had a good practice, so we just have to keep it positive.”

*****

THE NICK IOANILLI FILE

POSITION: RB/OLB

TEAM: Ellwood City

GRADE: 11

PARENTS: Linda Barrett and Dave Ioanilli

KNOWN FOR: Rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries and added a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown in Ellwood City’s 51-14 win over Freedom.

FAVORITE PRO PLAYER AND WHY: Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings). “I love the way he runs, he’s fast and big.”

FAVORITE PRO TEAM AND WHY: Pittsburgh Steelers. “They’re the hometown team.”

FUTURE PLANS: “I definitely want to play college ball somewhere. I want to get a scholarship for sure.”