PHOTOS: Ellwood City Outlasts Riverside 13-9

Ellwood City survived an upset bid from cross creek rival Riverside Friday night in the annual installment of the RivEll Cup.

The Wolverines picked up a hard fought 13-9 victory on the road, improving to 7-0 for the first time in 80 years.

The game feature some quick scoring action early, but grinded out as both teams fought hard for offensive yards as the teams combined for only 382 yard of total offense. Neither team collected 100 yards passing.

Ellwood City struck first with a touchdown after the first of three Panthers turnovers set the Wolverines up with a short field early in the first quarter. Just four minutes into the contest the Wolverines capitalized as Chris Smiley found Dailonn Currie for a 5-yard touchdown strike.

Just minutes later Zachary Hare took the ensuing kickoff and raced down the sideline for a 86-yard kickoff return to respond. The extra point was block and Ellwood City clung to a 7-6 advantage.

A scoreless second quarter sent both teams to halftime in the one point game.

The host Panthers chewed up game time for much of the third quarter leading to a 27-yard field goal by Miguel Keefer midway through the quarter to give the host Panthers their first lead of the game at 9-7.

Riverside finished with a 28:39 to 19:21 advantage in possession time with running back Robbie Janis playing a lead role in the upset bid. Janis rushed 27 times for 128 yards in the contest.

However, untimely turnovers cost the Panthers as a third and final turnover in the fourth quarter again gave Ellwood City another short field to work with.

Elijah Palmer-McCane churned out his longest run of the evening to help move the Wolverines down the field and Smiley capped off the scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge to give Ellwood City a 13-9 lead midway through the final quarter.

Palmer-McCane finished with 150 yards rushing on 26 carries and eclipsed the 1,000 yard rushing mark for a third consecutive season.

The Wolverines defense held the Panthers late drives and Ellwood City was able walk out of Riverside Memorial Stadium victorious.

Smiley found four receives in the contest, finishing 8-20 passing for 94 yards. Dom Hogue and Currie each collected three passes. Smiley added 23 yards rushing.

Defensively, Deklen O’Brien finished with a game-high 10 tackles and added a sack. O’Brien and P.J. Dubois each posted two tackles for loss. Kaden Docchio picked up seven tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. Currie and Luciano Gagric each collected interceptions for the Wolverines.

For Riverside, Janis, Hare, Ayden Garcia, and Ryan Dugas each posted six tackles in defeat. Garcia collected the lone two completions from quarterback Aiden Gaydosz on the offensive side of the ball.

With dates ahead versus section Union and cellar-dwelling Beaver Falls, the playoff-bound Wolverines (7-0 Overall, 5-0 Section 2A-2) can look to next clinch a section crown with a victory at Union on Friday and then look to complete its unbeaten regular season with a final regular season victory at home against Beaver Falls on October 25th.

Riverside (4-4 Overall, 3-2 Section 2A-2) will take to the road for its final two regular season games with a potential playoff berth on the line. The Panthers play Beaver Falls on Friday and later travel to Mohawk to wrap up its regular season on October 25th.