East Liverpool Dre’keim Abercrombie heads to the end zone ahead of Edison’s Nolan Haught and Chase Freeman on Friday. (The Review/Jimmy Joe Savage)

EAST LIVERPOOL –East Liverpool and Edison arrived to Friday’s game at Patterson Field on a similar path.

Both teams were just fighting to get through the season in the midst of significant subtractions in the last few weeks.

The Wildcats used a strong running effort from Brett Hellyer who had 31 carries for 170 yards and three rushing touchdowns as well as capitalizing on four Potter turnovers in a 34-20 win.

Edison moved to 5-3, while the Potters fell to 2-6. The win was important for the Wildcats as the team has the 11th spot in Div. V, Region 17. The top 12 in each region qualify for the playoffs.

“We’ve been through a lot this year with our quarterback going down and injuries and I’m just glad the guys are sticking together and we’re finding ways to win,” first-year Edison coach Anthony Pierro said. “As long as we keep doing that we’ll have chances to win.”

Pierro said he recently had a couple kids quit and four or five guys hurt.

The Potters were missing seven or eight starters due to injuries coming into Friday.

“We’re just piecing things together,” East Liverpool coach Paul Cusick said. “We just have so many kids out that it’s tough to do things, but that’s no excuse. We have young guys stepping in trying to do the job and they just have to learn on the fly.”

The Wildcats got on the board first with a Nolan Haught to Connor Watson 15-yard pass with 6:50 left in the first quarter to lead 7-0, but East Liverpool responded a short time later as a short Ben Myers pass to Dre’Keim Abercrombie resulted in a 78-yard sprint into the end zone.

It was one of many plays the junior speedster made on both sides of the ball.

“I thought he played a good game and made some plays on defense that really sparked us,” Cusick said.

Pierro said the Wildcats definitely felt the presence of Abercrombie.

“He’s a beast,” Pierro said. “He’s a problem and I wish he was a senior instead of a junior. That kid is going to college and is going to play somewhere. He does things the right way. He’s an unbelievable player for sure.”

Hellyer’s first touchdown of the game with 1:10 left in the first half game came on a 9-yard run to make it 14-6 at the half.

In the third quarter, the Wildcats dominated possession thanks to three Potter turnovers in the frame. Hellyer scored touchdowns of 23 and 9 yards in the quarter and Haught added a 9-yard touchdown pass to Evan Kimmerle as the Wildcats led 34-6 after three.

“Our defense is playing great,” Pierro said. “Our coaches are getting those guys right. They’re playing better every game and our running back (Hellyer) is an unbelievable kid for weighing 150-pounds. He’s a hard-nosed kid who never complains. He don’t care who scores or who gets the ball.”

Matt Evans was one of the keys on defense for the Wildcats as he had an interception and fumble recovery.

“He’s an unsung hero,” Pierro said. “He’s one of our best players. He makes almost every tackle and blocks his butt off for (Hellyer). He’s a monster. Sometimes he doesn’t get the credit he deserves. I know what he means to our team. He’s one of our most important players and the kids know that too.”

East Liverpool saved the game from going into running clock territory with a Myers to Meshach Harris 40-yard touchdown pass and a Tamar Tisdale 34-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Harris also had a fourth quarter interception.

East Liverpool host Weir on Friday.

“We got to regroup,” Cusick said. “Hopefully tomorrow we get some good filmwork in and come back on Monday ready to work. We’ll see how many guys we’ve got, that’s what has been tough.”

Game notes

¯ After the opening kick-off the game was delayed 10 minutes because a trumpet player in the Potter band fainted on the sideline. She was too close to the playing field for the game to go on as she was being tended to by paramedics. The band member was all right but was kept out of the performances as a precaution.

¯ The East Liverpool marching band is celebrating its 100th season and had some band alumni lend a hand on Friday.

¯ The 50/50 was $314.

¯ Edison is at Harrison Central on Friday.

ED: 7-7-20-0–34

EL: 6-0-0-14–20

SCORING

ED–Connor Watson 15 pass from Nolan Haught (Andrew Kirkman kick)

EL–Dre’Keim Abercrombie 78 pass from Ben Myers (kick failed

ED–Brett Hellyer 9 run (Andrew Kirkman kick)

ED–Brett Hellyer 23 run (Andrew Kirkman kick)

ED–Evan Kimmerle 9 pass from Nolan Haught (kick failed)

ED–Brett Hellyer 9 run (Andrew Kirkman kick)

EL–Meshach Harris 40 pass from Ben Myers (run failed)

EL–Tamar Tsidale 34 run (Ben Myers to Meshach Harris)

——

ED EL

First downs 17 10

Total Yards 245 276

Rushes-yards 45-155 18-92

Passing 90 184

Comp-Att-Int 8-18-1 10-24-2

Punts 3-35 0-0

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-3

Penalties-Yards 8-60 10-100

——

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING–Edison, Brett Hellyer 31-170; East Liverpool, Tamar Tisdale 6-66, Ben Myers 6-12, Amir Baker 5-4, Tyler Kirby 1-10.

PASSING–Edison, Nolan Haught 8-18-90-1; East Liverpool, Ben Myers 10-24-184-2

RECEIVING–Edison, Evan Kimmerle 4-19, Connor Watson 1-15, Brett Hellyer 1-28, Chase Freeman 1-16, Matt Evans 2-10; East Liverpool, Dre’Keim Abercrombie 6-109, Meshach Harris 2-45, Tamar Tisdale 1-26.

INTERCEPTIONS–Edison, Matt Evans, Kenny Farnsworth; East Liverpool, Meshach Harris.