Unbeaten Beaver hands Ellwood first loss
Ellwood City (7) vs. Beaver (24)
Written: Sep 26, 2011
BEAVER — Things didn’t go in Ellwood City Lincoln High’s favor Saturday.
An early-season showdown between two of the top football teams in the Midwestern Athletic Conference went all Beaver’s way in a 24-7 verdict at Pat Tarquinio Field.
The Bobcats (4-0 conference, 4-0 overall) took the opening kick from their 23 yard line and took only six plays to reach the Ellwood 8. But the Wolverines’ defense stiffened and held Beaver to a 25-yard field goal by Brandon Rogowski.
Ellwood City (2-1, 3-1) took over at its own 37 and senior Kyle Crawford took a handoff and gained 13 yards for a first down at midfield. The next play went the Bobcats’ way though, as Christian Herstine returned an interception of Wolverines quarterback Julian Cox 50 yards for a score and a 10-0 lead following Rogowski’s conversion kick.
“You just can’t make those kind of mistakes and expect to beat a good team like Beaver,” Ellwood coach Don Phillips said.
The hard hitting intensified the remainder of the half. Cox was lost for the remainder of the game on the final series of the half.
“Looked like he re-aggravated a deep thigh bruise from earlier in the year,” Phillips said. “We knew what it would be like, this is the MAC, we expect it, and expect to play that way.”
On Beaver's first possession of the third quarter, it scored on a 51-yard pass from Herstine to Curt Lanctot. Rogowski drilled the extra point for a 17-0 buffer.
The Bobcats entered the game having blanked their first three opponents. The shutout string ended though when Crawford plowed in from 2 yards out. Scott Lewis added the extra point to close to 17-7.
The Bobcats put the game away when Darian Bradley raced in on a 9-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Rogowski’s point after closed the scoring.
The Wolverines kept fighting, though. Crawford took off on a 70-yard scamper on the next drive but Ellwood wasn’t able to stick it in from the 3 with four attempts and the game ended.
Crawford finished with 128 yards on 13 carries.
Ellwood turned the ball over five times, compared to none for the Bobcats.
The Wolverines will host Mohawk (0-4, 0-4) in a conference encounter Friday.
(E-mail: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com.)
*****
ELLWOOD BEAVER
12 First downs 13
224 Yards Rushing 211
20 Yards Lost 24
204 Net Rushing 187
8 Passes Attempted 13
2 Passes Completed 6
2 Passes Intercepted 0
30 Yards Passing 104
234 Total Yards 291
3-3 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
2-38 Punts-Average 2-48
6-36 Penalties-Yards 7-80
ELLWOOD 0 0 7 0 — 7
BEAVER 10 0 7 7 — 24
Scoring plays
BEAVER — Brandon Rogowski, 29-yard field goal.
BEAVER — Christian Herstine, 50-yard interception return (Rogowski kick).
BEAVER — Curt Lanctot, 51-yard pass from Herstine (Rogowski kick).
ELLWOOD CITY — Kyle Crawford, 2-yard run (Scott Lewis kick).
BEAVER — Darian Bradley, 9-yard run (Rogowski kick).
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