Wolverines fall to Beaver
Ellwood City (3) vs. Beaver (21)
Written: Sep 25, 2010
By JOE SIMON
j_simon@ncnewsonline.com
There’s a strong chance the first drill Ellwood City Lincoln runs during practice Monday will be centered around ball security.
It’s likely the second drill will be focused on holding onto the ball with two hands. The third drill the Wolverines run probably will be keyed on keeping the ball off the ground. The fourth drill ... well, you get the point.
Ellwood City fumbled six times — losing four of them — and dropped its first game of the season, 21-3, to Beaver in a Midwestern Athletic Conference matchup.
The Wolverines (2-1, 3-1) were given multiple opportunities to get back into the game after Beaver took a 14-3 lead, but Ellwood fumbled three times inside the red zone — once on Beaver’s 8-yard line, once on the 11 and once on the 13.
Wolverines coach Don Phillips couldn’t understand why his team couldn’t secure the football.
“They didn’t do anything different than what every team teaches,” Phillips said of Beaver’s defensive tactics. “We just didn’t secure the ball. There’s no reason we should have fumbled that many times. We haven’t had a problem with that, and I don’t understand why it was a problem tonight, but we have to get that corrected. It’s that simple.”
The Wolverines engineered a 70-yard drive on their first possession and took a 3-0 lead on a 27-yard field goal. Ellwood City held Beaver to its second straight three-and-out on the ensuing drive and appeared to have ceased some momentum, but that’s when the butter fingers started. Kyle Crawford dropped a pitch on first down, and the Bobcats (4-0) recovered on their own 21-yard line. Two plays later, Curt Lanctot gave Beaver the lead with an 18-yard touchdown run.
After an Ellwood City interception deep in the Bobcats’ territory, Beaver’s Darian Bradley raced 74 yards for a touchdown to give the Bobcats a 14-3 lead at halftime. Ellwood City pieced together a 64-yard drive to open the second half and was on Beaver’s 8-yard line when a fumbled snap was recovered by the Bobcats.
“We need to finish,” Phillips said. “That’s a term I’ve used a lot. We were inside the 10 how many times? When you’re inside the 10, you have to score. That killer instinct just has to come that you’re going to finish this drive off.”
The Wolverines received excellent field position late in the third quarter after a long punt return to Beaver’s 20. The drive stalled after two sacks, but a bad snap on a field-goal try caused the holder to throw a pass after corralling the loose ball. Running back Garrett Thomas was interfered with on the play, giving Ellwood City a first-and-10 at the Beaver 11. Yet, on the next play, Alexander Grymes fumbled and the Bobcats recovered.
“We do those drills every day,” Beaver coach Jeff Beltz said of stripping the ball. “That’s just how we play. And we saw some things on film that maybe we stressed a little more than other weeks.”
The Ellwood City defense again forced a punt after the turnover. Yet the Wolverines didn’t see a receiver line up wide during the formation, and the punter lofted a pass to him. The pass sailed toward the sideline and the receiver was forced to catch it out of bounds, which meant the Wolverines had the ball at the Bobcats’ 13.
And yet again, Ellwood City, which trailed 14-3 with 8:27 left in the game at this point, fumbled the ball away on the ensuing play as Crawford had the pigskin ripped out of his hands by Tom Helbling.
“They stayed in the game, they kept after it,” Phillips said. “If we take care of the football and score when we felt we should have, this is a different ball game. It wasn’t like they took the ball and stuffed it down our throat and we were getting blown off the ball. It was a very competitive game from that regard. But we have to take care of the football and finish.”
The Bobcats scored late in the fourth quarter on a 4-yard run by Lanctot to seal the victory. Beaver showed quite a bit of depth as eight different players carried the ball. Bradley led the Bobcats with 93 yards and a TD on four carries. Crawford led Ellwood with 99 yards on 12 carries.
BEAVER ELLWOOD CITY
3 First downs 14
174 Yards Rushing 181
7 Yards Lost 24
167 Net Rushing 157
2 Passes Attempted 15
1 Passes Completed 5
0 Passes Intercepted 1
5 Yards Passing 39
172 Total Yards 196
2-0 Fumbles-Lost 6-4
4-32.7 Punts-Average 2-36.0
7-55 Penalties-Yards 2-10
BEAVER 7 7 0 7 —21
ELLWOOD 3 0 0 0 —3
Scoring plays
ELLWOOD CITY — Scott Lewis, 27-yard field goal.
BEAVER — Curt Lanctot, 18-yard run (Nathan Mick kick).
BEAVER — Darian Bradley, 74-yard run (Mick kick).
BEAVER — Lanctot, 6-yard run (Mick kick).
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