Ellwood City Falls to Union Area 34-21

Ellwood City saw two, early 14-point advantages disappear on Friday as the Wolverines fell to Union Area 34-21 at Helling Stadium.

The Wolverines collected the first two scores of the contest and a momentum-swinging 90-yard fumble return by Deklan O’Brien put Ellwood City ahead 21-7 midway through the second quarter.

However, the Wolverine offense stalled in the second half and the visiting Scotties roared back with 27 unanswered points to earn the victory.

Chris Smiley accounted for the first two touchdowns of the contest, first with a 2-yard run and four minutes later finding Michael Walters on a 24-yard touchdown strike on a 4th-and-7 play to boost the Wolverines to its early 14-0 advantage.

Union responded with a 70-yard touchdown run by Braylon Thomas, his first of two lengthy touchdown runs in the contest, to cut its deficit in half.

With Union threatening on the Wolverine 5-yard line in the second quarter, a fumble on the play was scooped up by O’Brien who scampered 90-yards to again stretch Ellwood City’s advantage to 14 points.

A 14-point swing for @EC_Wolverines as Deklan O’Brien) gets an 85-yard scoop-n-score. Ellwood City making the big plays early, O’Brien getting the Mahle Chiropractic Play of the Game. pic.twitter.com/ER338QSAHb

— Lawrence County SportsNet (@LCSportsNet) September 2, 2023

Union responded however, with two touchdowns in the quarter to knot the game at halftime.

Grayson Blakley collected a 12-yard touchdown pass from Thomas in the third quarter to put Union ahead 28-21.

Early in the fourth quarter, Thomas found pay dirt again, this time with a 63-yard touchdown run to put Union ahead 34-21.

Braylon Thomas finished the game with 179 yards rushing (19 carries) and two touchdowns. He also tossed two touchdown passes, finishing with 56 yards passing.

source: www.ecwolverines.com

For Ellwood City, Walters led the receiving corp with 50 yards receiving and a touchdown on three catches. Chris Smiley finished 9-15 passing for 92 yards and a touchdown strike. Elijah Palmer led the rushing attack with 91 yards on 24 carries.

In a tale of two halves, the Wolverines – who finished with 183 yards of offense – were held to just 52 yards in the second half.

Ellwood City, in the midst of seven consecutive home games, will next host Carlynton on Friday, September 8th at 7:00 p.m. at Helling Stadium.

The game pits the teams against each other for only the second time in their history. Last year, the Wolverines victory over Carlynton may have been one of their biggest highlights of the year, as the Ellwood City not only won 46-6 in a mercy-rule game, but the victory also ended their long losing streak.

VIEW MORE: Weekly Sports Round-Up, Ellwood City Sports