Ellwood City earned an automatic playoff bid with a thrilling 25-24 comeback victory over Beaver Falls on Friday.
The Wolverines trailed by multiple scores at halftime and late in the third quarter before it swung momentum and overcame the deficit.
After spotting the host Tigers two touchdowns by Kenny Jewell in the first quarter, Ellwood City was behind on the scoreboard early but responded with a Kam Hockenberry 27-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter to cut the deficit in half at 12-6.
Christian Dawkins found the endzone three minutes later for Beaver Falls to stretch its lead out again to two touchdowns at 18-6 as the section tilt drew to halftime.
Ellwood City used a surprise tactic to try to mount some momentum entering the second half and was successful in recovering a surprise onside kick to begin the second half.
Beaver Falls (4-6 Overall, 4-3 Section 2A-A) had limited the Wolverines rush attack to a staggering -17 yards in the first half, but on its first offense play in the second half, Richard Cureton scampered in on a 39-yard touchdown run for the Wolverines who capitalized on the special teams gamble and tightened the score at 18-13 after a successful PAT.
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Beaver Falls responded midway through the 3rd quarter with a touchdown pass from Keyshawn Jamison to Kenny Jewell that stretched the Tigers lead back to two scores at 24-13.
With its automatic playoff berth on the line, Ellwood City responded again with Tyler Smiley finding Colton Gullo on an 8-yard touchdown strike with under a minute remaining in the third quarter.
Cureton found the endzone on a 3-yard run minutes into the fourth quarter to put the Wolverines ahead for the first time in the contest and the Ellwood City defense tighted up and held Beaver Falls scoreless in the final frame to secure the victory.
Cureton finished with 74 yards rushing and two touchdowns to highlight the Ellwood City offense while quarterback Tyler Smiley finished 18-28 passing for 202 yards and two touchdowns. Dom Hogue led the receiving corps with six catches for 93 yards including a 41-yard reception. DaiLonn Currie hauled in five catches and was among six receivers with a reception.
Defensively, the Wolverines limited the Tigers to only 205 yards of total offense and three Wolverines had ten or more tackles. Cameron Mills collected a game-high 13 tackles while Deklan O’Brien posted 12 tackles and Gullo finished with 10 tackles. Each of the three had two tackles for loss. Dom Dinucci collected an interception while Nick Condell posted the lone sack for the Wolverines.
The victory wraps up the regular season for Ellwood City who finished 6-4 Overall and 5-2 in Section 2A-2. According to ECWolverines.com, this is only the second time in school history that the Wolverines football team has made playoffs in back-to-back-to-back years! (1985-1987). The 2nd place finished secures an automatic bid in the Class 2A WPIAL Playoffs that will begin next Friday, October 31st. Ellwood City earns at #6 seed and will host Keystone Oaks (4-6 Overall, 4-2) from the Class 2A Century Conference. [VIEW FULL BRACKET]
A thrilling 4th quarter comeback by Ellwood City tonight in Beaver Falls, 25-24 pic.twitter.com/URR6xlEB4y
— The W.P.I.A.L. Edition (@TheWPIALEdition) October 25, 2025
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