Wolverines Defeated By South Park In WPIAL Semifinals

The unbeaten Wolverines season came to an end Friday night as Ellwood City was defeated by South Park 28-7 in the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals at North Allegheny High School.

After gaining and early advantage the Wolverines were torched by chunk plays by the #2 seeded Eagles rushing attack who posted a resounding 376 yards rushing in its victory.

Ellwood City recovered the opening kickoff on the South Park 21 yard line after the Eagles mishandled the ball and just two plays later took a 7-0 lead when Chris Smiley connected with Dailonn Currie for an 18-yard touchdown.

The Wolverines forced a quick three-and-out by South Park and took its next possession down the field with a chance to take a two score advantage. However, South Park defensive back Nathan Walz intercepted Smiley in the end zone to stop the scoring threat.

After the interception in the end zone, South Park ramped up the rushing attack and scored on its next two possessions to take a 14-7 halftime lead.

Colsen Heynes exploded for a 37-yard touchdown run and fellow back Eric Doerue dashed in from 48-yards for the Eagles.

Heynes finished with a game-high 151 yards on four carries and scored twice. Doerue ran for 138 yards on 26 carries and scored twice.

For Ellwood City, its ground attack featuring Elijah Palmer-McCane was bottled up with Palmer-McCane finishing with 67 yards on 14 carries. Smiley went to the air 31 times in defeat, finishing with 15 completions to four reception but was under constant pressure from the Eagle defensive front.

Eagles defender Troy Cunningham finished with a game-high 11 tackles and five sacks to disrupt the Ellwood City offense that finished with just 198 yards of net offense.

South Park (11-1), who just this year dropped from 3A classification to 2A, advances to a championship game for the first time since 2005 and will take on #1 seed Seton LaSalle on November 23rd at Acrisure Stadium.

Ellwood City (10-1) wraps up its historic season of firsts – first undefeated season since 1944, first conference title since 1997, and first WPIAL semifinals appearance since 1987.

Wolverine seniors Palmer-McCane and Smiley each finished the 2024 season with over 1,500 yards in their respective rushing and passing categories. Dom Hogue led the receiving corp with 463 yards and 32 catches. Currie finished with a team high seven receiving touchdowns.