Montour defeats Ellwood City
Ellwood City (13) vs. Montour (35)
Written: Sep 13, 2008
 By JOE SAGER
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
Rebuilding a football program is a tough thing to do.
Playing some of the best teams in the WPIAL — especially early on in the season — makes that task more difficult.
Ellwood City Lincoln High head coach Don Phillips and his staff were reminded of that again last night. Visiting Montour posted a 35-13 win over the Wolverines in nonconference play at Helling Stadium.
After falling to Freedom, 24-14, in the season opener, Ellwood City entered a daunting stretch of schedule for any team, let alone one that is rebuilding under Phillips, who enjoyed success for many years coaching at Center.
Last week, the Wolverines dropped a 47-0 decision to Aliquippa, one of the WPIAL’s top Class AA teams. Last night, they faced one of the best in Class AAA.
“One thing I was happy about was our kids’ resolve. We gave them gifts in the first half and we didn’t tackle well, but we’re working on it,” Phillips said. “The positives I am seeing are the kids are starting to be more assertive and starting to get out there and be more aggressive. But, we need it from the opening kickoff and not just in the second half. We’ve made some strides and we’re not going to just be satisfied with that. We have to get better because we have some teams coming in here that we know we have to play.”
He’s exactly right as the schedule only gets tougher next week when Beaver Falls pays a visit. After beating Aliquippa on Thursday, the Tigers (3-0) should sit atop the WPIAL Class AA rankings.
“With the Tigers coming in, they are a good football team. Coach (Ryan) Matsook and his staff have done a great job with that program since they’ve taken it over,” Phillips said. “They are a force; there’s no doubt about that. They are a force in Class AA and I know we are looking forward to that challenge. I don’t know how it will all wash out, but I know we’ll come prepared to make it a game.”
The Wolverines (0-3) could not afford to look ahead, though. Montour (2-1) entered last night’s contest coming off a disappointing 20-12 upset loss to Highlands. The visitors certainly showed no ill effects as they scored the game’s first 35 points in the first half.
“That was our goal, to come out and play better than we did last week. We did that. We played a nice first half of football,” Montour coach Lou Cerro said. “That’s something we can build on for next week when we start Parkway Conference play. The kids had a rough week of practice. We really dogged them, so that conditioning paid off for them in the first half.”
The Spartans feature one of the WPIAL’s most-dangerous players in senior quarterback E.J. Banks. The Notre Dame recruit did not play offense in Montour’s first two series, though, as punishment for arriving late to a practice. Nevertheless, when he got behind center, he punished Ellwood City with his arm and legs. He passed for a touchdown and ran for another. He finished with 110 (91 rushing, 19 passing) in limited action in the first half.
While the Spartans dominated the first half, the Wolverines asserted themselves in the final two quarters. On the opening drive of the second half, Ellwood City marched 70 yards against Montour’s second-string defense. The drive culminated in Joe Galmarini’s 19-yard TD pass to a diving Gino Ceriani.
The Wolverines capped the scoring late in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Tyler Lucarelli hit Aaron Graebing for a nice 31-yard TD strike as time expired.
“There were some positives in the second half. Our kids played a little more determined and we put the ball in the end zone even though I know Montour was subbing in their younger kids,” Phillips said. “But, it doesn’t matter. We need to get some positives.”
MONTOUR ELLWOOD CITY
15 First downs 11
276 Yards Rushing 150
1 Yards Lost 8
275 Net Rushing 142
15 Passes Attempted 14
5 Passes Completed 5
0 Passes Intercepted 0
32 Yards Passing 71
307 Total Yards 213
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 6-2
2-35 Punts-Average 6-26
8-85 Penalties-Yards 5-45
MONTOUR 14 21 0 0 — 35
ELLWOOD CITY 0 0 7 6 — 13
Scoring plays
MONTOUR — Josh Bryan, 8-yard run (kick failed).
MONTOUR — Milton Banks, 60-yard punt return (E.J. Banks run).
MONTOUR — Milton Banks, 5-yard pass from E.J. Banks (Andrew Krall kick).
MONTOUR — Cary Dieter, 44-yard run (Krall kick).
MONTOUR — E.J. Banks, 34-yard run (Lucas Tourney kick).
ELLWOOD — Gino Ceriani, 19-yard pass from Joe Galmarini (John Rufer kick).
ELLWOOD — Aaron Graebing, 31-yard pass from Tyler Lucarelli (no conversion, time had expired).
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