Early hole too much for Ellwood to dig out of
Ellwood City (21) vs. New Brighton (23)
Written: Sep 12, 2015
By Joe Sager
New Castle News
NEW BRIGHTON — Ellwood City Lincoln High football coach Don Phillips was thrilled with how his team finished last night’s game.
It was the start, though, that bothered him.
The Wolverines fell behind New Brighton, 23-0, through nearly three quarters. They rallied for three scores, but their comeback fell short as the Lions held on for a 23-21 win in a WPIAL Class AA Midwestern Athletic Conference game at Oak Hill Field.
“We dug ourselves a hole and we couldn’t quite get out of it,” Phillips said.
For the second week in a row, Ellwood City (0-2 conference, 0-2 overall), fell victim to a big kickoff return to start a game. The Lions (2-0, 2-0) didn’t return the boot for a touchdown, but gave themselves good field position at their own 44. Methodically, the team drove down the field and converted for a 7-0 lead.
Disaster struck the Wolverines on their next possession as they fumbled the ball away at their own 22. The hosts needed one play to convert as Andrew Mittner broke loose for the TD run and a 14-0 lead.
Gavin Pritchard booted a pair of field goals to give New Brighton a 20-0 edge and the Wolverines appeared poised to score late in the half, but fumbled away the ball once again.
In the third quarter, Pritchard kicked his third field goal to push the advantage to 23-0.
“When you play in this conference, and I am sure other conferences feel the same way, but everyone in the MAC is coming to play and you have to be on your best game,” Phillips said. “When you give someone an edge and they can jump on you, it makes it tough to come back. We didn’t have to make too many adjustments; we just told the kids to go play our game and we’ll get back in it.”
Ellwood City put together a touchdown drive late in the third quarter as D.J. Barrett scored as time expired. The Wolverines forced and recovered a fumble on the Lions’ next drive and Barrett lofted a 34-yard touchdown strike to Nick Ioanilli. A two-point conversion run failed, which left New Brighton with a 23-13 edge.
The Wolverines’ defense stopped the hosts on their next drive and a shanked punt set up the guests in Lions territory once again. And, once again, Barrett fired a 34-yard touchdown pass, this time to Justin Baney. Ioanilli’s conversion run brought Ellwood City within 23-21 with 5:41 to play.
The team recovered a New Brighton fumble with 3:02 left, but could not move the ball and hosts held on for the triumph.
“You have to give Ellwood City all the credit in the world in the second half,” New Brighton coach Joe Greco said. “They got the momentum; they played really tough and they hit a couple big plays on us.”
Barrett passed for 88 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 74 yards and another score to lead Ellwood City.
“The kids did fight back. What was frustrating was the idea we shouldn’t have had to fight back, but they didn’t quit and they made a run at it,” Phillips said. “If we play like that in the first half, we wouldn’t have to play like that in the second half.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
ELLWOOD CITY NEW BRIGHTON
8 First downs 19
155 Yards Rushing 239
11 Yards Lost 10
144 Net Rushing 229
14 Passes Attempted 21
5 Passes Completed 14
0 Passes Intercepted 1
88 Yards Passing 174
232 Total Yards 403
2-2 Fumbles-Lost 3-2
4-29.5 Punts-Average 2-16.5
8-66 Penalties-Yards 9-94
ELLWOOD CITY 0 0 7 14 — 21
NEW BRIGHTON 14 6 3 0 — 23
Scoring plays
NEW BRIGHTON — Justyn Francona, 6-yard run (Gavin Pritchard kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Andrew Mittner, 22-yard run (Pritchard kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Pritchard, 36-yard field goal.
NEW BRIGHTON — Pritchard, 26-yard field goal.
NEW BRIGHTON — Pritchard, 34-yard field goal.
ELLWOOD CITY — D.J. Barrett, 15-yard run (Justin Baney kick).
ELLWOOD CITY — Nick Ioanilli, 34-yard pass from Barrett (run failed).
ELLWOOD CITY — Baney, 34-yard pass from Barrett (Ioanilli run).
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