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wpial football

February 21, 2026

Ellwood City Names Sean McConahy As Next Football Head Coach

The Wolverines have their new head coach for its football program. Ellwood City hired Sean McConahy as its next head high school football coach during a special board meeting on Friday, February 20th. McConahy, a current science teacher at LHS, brings experience in the district, passion for football and conditioning, and coaching experience at one of more recent success stories in District 10 (Wilmington coaching staff). After claiming a District 10 Class 2A Championship in 2024, Wilmington fell to Greenville in the District 10 1A Championship game in November in a bid to repeat. The Greyhounds also won a Class…

October 27, 2025

Tickets On Sale For Ellwood City Home Playoff Game Friday

Tickets are now available and on sale for Friday’s home playoff game. Ellwood City hosts Keystone Oaks at 7:00 p.m. All tickets must be a WPIAL ticket which may be purchased online at GOFAN.com. There will be limited tickets available at the gate. Super Fan, Season ticket, and Senior citizen passes will NOT be honored. Price of tickets are $7.00 for everyone. NO student tickets will be made available. Visiting Keystone Oaks (4-6 Overall, 4-2 Class 2A Century) is led by senior quarterback Owen Gearhart and 6-foot-6 wide receiver/linebacker Carmen Pellarin. Gearhart scampered for 200 yards and two touchdowns to…

October 22, 2025

Playoff Implications For Ellwood City, Riverside Football Teams

Madness may ensue on Friday with several area football teams vying for playoff berths and seeding in WPIAL Class 2A. According to Lawrence County SportsNet, below are all 16 playoff scenarios in the WPIAL Class 2A Midwestern Athletic Conference (MAC). In summary: – No matter what, Western Beaver is the top team in the MAC. They could be co-champs with Ellwood City or Beaver Falls, or Tri-Champs with Riverside and either Beaver Falls or Ellwood City, but WB would have the head-to-head advantage over all of them. – Riverside, it’s simple. Win and the Panthers are in the top three…

October 11, 2025

PHOTOS: High Five! Smiley, Wolverines Defeat Rival Riverside On Senior Night

Talk about a high five! Senior Tyler Smiley went to the air and tossed five touchdown passes Friday Night as Ellwood City routed Riverside 48-14 on Senior Night. The quarterback connected with four different receivers on touchdown strikes with wideout DaiLonn Currie being the recipient of two. Ellwood City marched out early and collected four first half touchdowns to post a 26-0 halftime advantage. A 6-yard touchdown from Smiley to Colton Gullo opened up the scoring in the first quarter before Currie hauled in his first touchdown reception (24-yard) and Kam Hockenberry caught a 19-yard touchdown from Smiley late in…

October 4, 2025

PHOTOS: Ellwood City Falls To Western Beaver On Homecoming

Unbeaten Western Beaver (7-0, 4-0 Section 2A-2) knocked off host Ellwood City 29-12 Friday night at Helling Stadium. Sydney Woodhead was crowned homecoming queen at halftime. Jackson Kerr was crowned Homecoming King at a pep rally on Thursday. Standout junior running back Wyatt Sparbanie went down with an injury in the first quarter but the visiting Golden Beavers leaned on two additional supplies of offensive in the conference victory. Running back Braden Mayo rushed for two second half touchdowns and quarterback Amari Marshall finished with 198 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Sparbanie, who is one of the WPIAL’s…

October 4, 2025

PHOTOS: Riverside Beats Freedom 37-7 On Homecoming

Mason Holler rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns Friday night as Riverside beat Freedom 37-7 on homecoming. Isabella Hall was named Riverside Homecoming Queen at halftime. Wideout Hunter Garcia hauled in five receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown to spark the Panthers offense. Garcia opened up the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run as part of his two-touchdown evening. After the visiting Bulldogs knotted the score at seven in the second quarter, Panther quarterback Aiden Gaydosz connected with Garcia on a 44-yard scoring strike with less than a minute in the half to push Riverside ahead 14-7 at…

September 20, 2025

Hogue Hauls In Two, Wolverines Defeat Freedom 28-14

Dom Hogue hauled in two lengthy touchdown passes as part of an 8-catch, 169-yard receiving performance to help lead Ellwood City to a 28-14 victory over Freedom Friday night. The Wolverines racked up 433 yards and 22 first downs offensively and did not have to punt in the section win. Tyler Smiley finished 11-18 passing for 203 yards and 3 touchdowns in the air attack. Smiley connected with Hogue on a 53-yard scoring strike midway through the first quarter to open up the scoring. Smiley also found DaiLonn Currie on a 19-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter to…

September 20, 2025

Holler Scores 4 Touchdowns, Panthers Rout Lions 40-6

Holler if you hear me. Mason Holler scored four rushing touchdowns Friday night as Riverside ran its way to a 40-6 turnover riddled blowout over New Brighton The Panthers piled up 366 yards of total offense and Holler accounted for 110 yards in the rushing attack. Holler opened up the scoring with a 30-yard touchdown run and added a his second touchdown just 60 seconds later after a Lions turnover and Riverside raced out to an early 14-0 advantage. Aiden Gaydosz found Hunter Garcia on a 6-yard touchdown strike in the second quarter and Holler scored from 3-yards out to…

August 31, 2025

Riverside Defeats Northgate 36-30

Mason Holler rushed for two third quarter touchdowns as Riverside rallied and held off Northgate 36-30 Friday night. Trailing 12-10 at halftime, the visiting Panthers used a 5-yard and 10-yard touchdown run by Holler to ease ahead 22-18 entering the final frame. Less than a minute into the 4th quarter, quarterback Aidan Gaydosz found Hunter Garcia on a 92-yard scoring play to stretch the Panther advantage to a 10-point advantage that proved to be insurmountable for the host Flames. Gaydosz added a second touchdown toss later in the quarter, finding Joey Anderson on a 24-yard strike for Riverside to put…

August 30, 2025

Wolverines Defense Stymies Shenango, EC Defeats Wildcats 21-0

The Ellwood City defense put up a resounding effort Friday night on the road Friday night, shutting out the Shenango Wildcats 21-0. The Wolverines defense held the Wildcats to 47 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers in the victory. Offensively, Tyler Smiley tossed two first half touchdowns, first a 2-yard toss to Anthony Barberio in the first quarter and then finding DaiLonn Currie on a 8-yard scoring strike in the second quarter. Ellwood City led 14-0 at halftime. Richard Cureton rounded out the scoring for the Wolverines as he punched in a 1-yard touchdown plunge early in the…