Ellwood makes a statement with win over Mount Pleasant
Ellwood City (31) vs. Mount Pleasant (28)
Written: Sep 17, 2011
 By Joe Simon
New Castle News
When Don Phillips took over the Ellwood City Lincoln football program four years ago, he noticed something right away.
“We were probably one of the most unaggressive groups that I’ve ever been around,” he said.
The opportunistic coach has changed that in a hurry, and the style paid off once again last night in a dramatic 31-28 nonconference victory over previously unbeaten Mount Pleasant.
Ellwood City’s much-maligned defense was gashed for 365 total yards, but it came through when it counted.
With the Wolverines up 31-28, Mount Pleasant picked off an Ellwood pass — a situation where the aggression backfired — and returned it to the Wolverines’ 45-yard line with 1:50 remaining and two timeouts. Ellwood (3-0) stuffed running back Paul Caletri, who ran for 149 yards and three touchdowns, on first and second down for no gain. The Wolverines’ secondary then did its job in forcing two incompletions from Vikings quarterback Ryan Gumbita, including a key play by Christian Kerns, who batted down a pass that could have resulted in a first down. Ellwood was then able to run out the clock.
Phillips brought nine, 10 and even all 11 players into the box at times on defense, a scheme he knows can falter.
“People will look at me and say, ‘You have 11 guys up on the ball!’ You know what, that’s our style. That’s what we have to do,” he said. “We’re not going to wait for them to do something, we’re going to force the action. We’re going to attack, and as you saw, if someone breaks down, the possibility of the big play is there.”
Caletri took advantage when the opportunity presented itself. He scored all three of his touchdowns in the second half, when Mount Pleasant (2-1) fought back from a 16-point deficit, almost exclusively on big plays.
The Wolverines opened the half with a run-filled, 11-play drive that was capped by a two-yard run by Kyle Crawford, giving Ellwood a 23-7 lead. Caletri fired back with a 75-yard run to the Wolverines’ 5 and scored two plays later on his own two-yard burst. Ellwood turned the ball over on a pair of interceptions by quarterback Bryan Graebing on the next two drives, and the Vikings capitalized on the second one. A fake punt pass on fourth-and-3 covered 41 yards to the Wolverines’ 11, and Caletri leaped over the pile a few plays later to cut the lead to 23-21 and give Mount Pleasant some momentum with 8:47 to play.
Graebing, who’s in his first year as the starter, was hot and cold throughout the game (6 of 10 for 61 yards, two TDs, two interceptions), something Phillips said he expects from an inexperienced player.
“He’s working his butt off,” Phillips said. “He’s doing a lot of good things, but he still, every once in a while, has a little bit of a lapse.”
He and the Wolverines made up for it. Graebing was 3 of 4 for 41 yards on Ellwood’s final scoring drive, which took up 12 plays and 4:14 off the clock. Crawford finished it with a nifty 18-yard run in which he broke a tackle and cut back on a defender to reach the end zone, putting Ellwood up, 31-21. The senior running back finished with 130 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.
“When the game got close again, our kids went down the field and scored that touchdown to get it to 31,” Phillips said. “We had our backs to the wall, and the kids responded.”
A 50-yard kick return by Mount Pleasant to Ellwood’s 39 was followed by a 31-yard pass to Tim Hostettler, setting up Caletri’s final score, a 1-yard plunge. Ellwood threw a pick on third-and-15 on the ensuing drive, but the defense then made its stand.
“The defense did great today,” Ellwood senior Alexander Grymes said. “They knew it was coming down to the wire, and we had to stop them or this game was theirs. So they stepped it up big time for us and made some big plays.”
(E-mail: j_simon@ncnewsonline.com)
ELLWOOD MT. PLEASANT
18 First downs 8
217 Yards Rushing 177
22 Yards Lost 5
195 Net Rushing 172
13 Passes Attempted 11
7 Passes Completed 5
3 Passes Intercepted 1
108 Yards Passing 193
303 Total Yards 365
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
1-50 Punts-Average 4-33.3
3-25 Penalties-Yards 3-20
MT. PLEASANT 0 7 7 14 —28
ELLWOOD 10 6 7 8 —31
Scoring plays
ELLWOOD CITY—Scott Lewis, 20-yard field goal
ELLWOOD CITY—Devon Siegfried, 4-yard pass from Bryan Graebing (Lewis kick)
MOUNT PLEASANT—Tyler Allison, 90-yard pass from Ryan Gumbita (Mark Snyder kick)
ELLWOOD CITY—Beau Ewing, 1-yard run (kick failed)
ELLWOOD CITY—Kyle Crawford, 2-yard run (Lewis kick)
MOUNT PLEASANT—Paul Caletri, 2-yard run (Snyder kick)
MOUNT PLEASANT—Caletri, 4-yard run (Snyder kick)
ELLWOOD CITY—Crawford, 18-yard run (Siegfried, pass from Graebing)
MOUNT PLEASANT—Caletri, 1-yard run (Snyder kick)
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