PHOTOS: Wolverines Run Past Panthers, Clinch First Playoff Berth Since 2011

Ellwood City used a strong running game powered by Elijah Palmer-McCane to rout Riverside 41-0 Friday Night at Riverside Memorial Stadium.

The ‘RivEll Cup’ victory also clinched the Wolverines first playoff berth since 2011.

Palmer-McCane scored four first half rushing touchdowns as the visiting Wolverines jumped out to a 35-0 halftime advantage.

In the first quarter, Palmer-McCane scored from 1-yard out and later in the quarter from 41-yards out. The touchdowns bookended a 47-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Chris Smiley (9-14 passing, 170 yards, 1 TD) to Declan Grey.

Ellwood City led 21-0 after the 1st quarter.

Palmer-McCane found the endzone two more times in the 2nd quarter, first on a 39-yard run and late in the 2nd quarter from 2-yards.

The junior finished with 154 yards rushing on only 15 carries in the contest.  For the regular season, Palmer-McCane finished with 1,413 yards rushing (1,500+ yards of total offense including 146 yards receiving) that ranks top five in all of the WPIAL and 16 rushing touchdowns (18 total, including 2 receiving).

Tyler Smiley scored on a an 8-yard run with under one minute left in regulation to round out the scoring.

For Riverside (1-8 Overall, 1-6 Section 2A-2), quarterback Ayden Garcia finished with 84 yards passing and Robert Janis earned 41 yards rushing. Zack Hare hauled in a game high eight catches for 74 yards.

Ellwood City held a sizeable time of possession advantage (35:10 to 12:50) and did not punt in the victory.

Defensively, Deklen O’Brien collected a game-high nine tackles for the Wolverines. Perry DuBois collected two tackles for loss and Kaden Docchio (seven tackles) and Ethan Patterson (three tackles) split a sack for Ellwood City. Joe Chill and Tyler Richards each collected six tackles to pace the Panthers defense.

Ellwood City (5-5 Overall, 3-4 Section 2A-2) next will await is playoff pairing with opening round action set for Friday, November 3rd with an opponent and at a site TBD. Two writes from Trib-Live HSSN Network each predict the Wolverines as a 13-seed in the Class-2A bracket.  Ellwood City is one of five teams from the MAC Conference to earn a playoff appearance.