Ellwood its own worst enemy in loss
Ellwood City (10) vs. Montour (45)
Written: Sep 19, 2009
By JOE SAGER
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
McKEES ROCKS — A lot went right for Montour High last night.
The same could not be said for Ellwood City Lincoln.
The host Spartans took advantage of six Wolverines turnovers en route to a 45-10 win in a nonconference battle at Birko Stadium.
Ellwood City (0-3), which has lost 27 straight games, handed over three fumbles and threw three interceptions on the evening.
“You can’t turn the ball over. You can’t throw interceptions, and you can’t fumble the ball,” Ellwood City coach Don Phillips said. “We did both and you can’t play a good football team and hope to have any success if you turn the ball over.”
Montour (2-1) transformed a majority of those turnovers into points.
The Spartans scored on their first three possessions. They punted on their fourth, but recovered the muffed ball and converted that into three points. The hosts turned another fumble recovery into a touchdown to go up 31-0 early in the second quarter.
“We tell our kids we have to strive to take advantage of every turnover,” Montour coach Lou Cerro said. “We did that and that’s one of the turning points of the game.”
Phil Peckich was a difficult person for the Wolverines to contain. The senior tailback led Montour with 101 yards rushing and three touchdowns. He added another 65-yard TD reception from Dillon Buechel. The sophomore quarterback completed 12 of 21 passes for 128 yards and two TDs and one interception.
“We have a young quarterback, and we want him to get better. He is maturing each week,” Cerro said. “With Phil back there running, I think we have a nice combination going right now.”
Down 31-0 in the second quarter, Ellwood City received another blow when the two teams brawled after a fumble. The Wolverines’ Codey Hunter and the Spartans’ Anthony Rippole were ejected for fighting, thus earning a PIAA-mandated one-game suspension. That is significant for Ellwood City, since Hunter is the team’s top rusher and kicker returner, as well as a key part of the defense.
More bad news came the Wolverines’ way when Devon Siegfried sustained an apparent upper back injury trying to make a tackle with 6:15 left in the first half. Paramedics carted the sophomore off the field and transported him to an area hospital.
“The good sign was, he was able to move his arms and legs,” Phillips said right after the game. “I know he was in some pain. I am hoping that the injury is more muscular in nature.”
With the mercy rule in effect in the second half, Ellwood City got on the scoreboard when Matt Morella snagged a Buechel pass near the line of scrimmage and carried it five yards into the end zone for the short pick six. Scott Lewis added the PAT kick to make it a 38-7 game.
Montour’s Sherrod Naylor took off for a 33-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to give the hosts a 40-7 advantage.
Lewis, who earlier missed a 24-yard field goal, closed the scoring when he converted a 25-yard field goal.
“This is over. The rest of the games are all conference games, and we have a tough one next week with Beaver Falls,” Phillips said. “As we hit the stride of second half of the season, we need to keep getting better and better.
“I think these kids can rebound and make some noise. We just have to regroup and get it done.”
ELLWOOD MONTOUR
5 First downs 13
139 Yards Rushing 140
31 Yards Lost 42
108 Net Rushing 98
14 Passes Attempted 21
2 Passes Completed 12
3 Passes Intercepted 1
10 Yards Passing 132
118 Total Yards 240
3-3 Fumbles-Lost 3-1
5-29.2 Punts-Average 3-31.3
5-35 Penalties-Yards 7-65
ELLWOOD 0 0 7 3 — 10
MONTOUR 21 17 0 7 — 45
Scoring plays
MONTOUR – Phil Peckich, 7-yard run (Drew Krall kick).
MONTOUR – Devin Wilson, 9-yard pass from Dillon Buechel (Krall kick).
MONTOUR – Peckich, 65-yard pass from Buechel (Krall kick).
MONTOUR – Krall, 22-yard field goal.
MONTOUR – Peckich, 3-yard run (Krall kick).
MONTOUR – Peckich, 33-yard run (Lucas Tourney kick).
ELLWOOD CITY – Matt Morella, 5-yard interception return (Scott Lewis kick).
MONTOUR – Sherrod Naylor, 33-yard run (Tourney kick).
ELLWOOD – Lewis, 25-yard field goal.
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