Local Sports

East Liverpool off to a great start

WINTERSVILLE – The East Liverpool football team jumped on Indian Creek early, regained the momentum at halftime and pulled away in the second half as the Potters defeated the Redskins, 48-14, on Friday night at Kettlewell Stadium.

“They jumped on us early,” Indian Creek (1-1) head coach Andrew Connor said. “We did not get off to a good start and that falls entirely on me. I have to do a better job of coaching. I did not have our kids ready to play, and that totally falls on me.”

The Potters built a 20-point advantage less than 10 minutes into the first quarter.

“It was exciting,” East Liverpool (2-0) head coach Paul Cusick said. “We got off to a good start. I am very happy with how our guys responded. Our guys showed a lot of fight. They scratched and clawed their way tonight.

“We still have a lot of things to clean up. The personal fouls were not good. We still have stuff we have to clean up. I liked our physicality.”

The Potters led 20-0 at the end of the first, and extended their advantage to 28-7 in the second. The Red-and-Gold rallied and closed to within 14 points, and the hosts had a golden opportunity to draw even closer late in the first half, however, East Liverpool came up with a big sack in the red zone on the final play of the first half enabling them to take a 28-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.

“That was huge,” Cusick said. “We were able to get that big stop. They had the momentum. They were just lining up and being physical. Indian Creek responded. They were able to find their way back into the game, but then we got that big stop. They got physical. It was disappointing on our part, but give credit to them.”

The Potters took control in the third.

East Liverpool received the kickoff to start the quarter, and it drove 65 yards for a touchdown taking more than six minutes off the clock while increasing its advantage out to 35-14.

“That was key,” Cusick said. “We got that score to open the third. That was really important. We ran a lot of time off the clock. We got physical. That was important.”

The Potters tacked on another score in the third to go up 42-14 before tacking on one final score with 56.6 seconds left in the fourth to bring the running clock into play.

East Liverpool quarterback Ben Myers ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, and the senior threw for 107 yards and two more touchdowns.

Also on the ground for the Potters, Xavier Lara ran for 66 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, while back up quarterback Hayden Curran recorded 15 yards and a touchdowns on two carries.

Dre’Kein Abercrombie collected three receptions for 28 yards and a touchdown, Meshach Harris hauled in a 71-yard touchdown pass and Tyler Kirby tallied one catch for 29 yards.

Kirby also score a touchdown on an 18-yard interception return in the first quarter, while Mark Douglas also delivered an interception in the first.

Myers opened the scoring with a 1-yard run, and Camden Wright kicked the extra point to give East Liverpool a 7-0 lead with 7:28 left to play in the first. After Douglas recorded his interception, the Potters drive 23 yards for their second touchdown as Abercrombie scored on a 4-yard slant from Myers, and wright booted the PAT to make it, 14-0, with 4:01 remaining to be played in the quarter. Then, Kirby returned an interception 18 yards for another score. This time, the extra point was no good, keeping the score at 20-0 with 2:50 still to play in the quarter.

Indian Creek got on the scoreboard in the second quarter when Mazar scored on an 8-yard run. Franco Barcalow nailed the extra point to cut the home team’s deficit down to 20-7 with 10:35 left in the quarter.

East Liverpool answered right back as Harris scored on a 71-yard pass from Myers, and this time, Wright’s extra point was true to increase East Liverpool’s lead to 28-7 with 9:17 left to play in the first half.

Then, Mazar ripped off a 50-yard scoring run, and Barcalow split the uprights with his extra point to pull the Redskins to within 28-14 with 8:27 remaining in the quarter.

Following East Liverpool’s lone punt of the night, Indian Creek drove down the field in an attempt to pull even closer. The Redskins marched down to the 5, but back-to-back plays were stuffed by the Potters defense with the second one resulting in a sack on the last play of the half.

The victors drove down the field for a touchdown to open the third. This time, Lara scored from 13 yards out, and Wright’s extra point made the score, 35-14, with 5:33 remaining in the quarter.

“There were some moments at the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter where if we had done one or two things differently, the game could have changed,” Connor said. “It could have been different we did a couple different things.

“There have been times in the past couple of years where we have dug ourselves into some holes, and we weren’t able to dig ourselves out of them. Tonight was no different. We are going to have to have a good week of practice this week.”

The Potters tacked on another touchdown on the ensuing drive as Myers broke free for a 66-yard scoring scamper, and Wright’s fourth extra point of the night extend their advantage out to 42-14 with 55.5 seconds left in the quarter.

Curran capped the scoring with a 14-yard run, and the visitors took a knee on the extra point with 56.6 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock.

Senior standout Bruce Mazar led the way offensively for Indian Creek. Mazar ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, while also catching one pass for 31 yards.

“Our kids played hard,” Connor said. “They tried their best. There were things that happened in the game where we needed one big momentum to turn things around, but we were not able to get that lift. We just needed a play or two to get back into the game, but we were unable to get them.

“We have a lot of things to fix. When you get beat like that, everything starts with me. I’m the first guy to admit that I need to do a better job. We have to have a better week of practice. We have to work on the little things. We did not do a good job with the little things tonight.”

Indian Creek is scheduled to play Buckeye 8 rival Union Local at 7 p.m. Friday night on the road. The game will be the first road game of the season for the Redskins. The Redskins defeated the Jets, 23-15, last season at home.

“This is what high school football is about,” Connor said. “No one is going to feel sorry for you. Your next opponent is not going to care about what happened the week before. We are going to have to have a really-good week of practice. Union Local is a really-good football.”

East Liverpool will play at Columbiana County rival Salem at 7 p.m. Friday night. The Quakers defeated the Potters, 56-20, last season on the road inside Patterson Field.

“It is a big game,” Cusick said. “They are a really-good team. They have had our number. It is a rivalry. We are going to need to have a good week of practice. Getting this win here is big for us. It’s a rivalry game.”

EL: 20-8 -14-6--48

IC: 0-14- 0-0--14

SCORING

First Quarter

EL--Myers 1 run (Wright kick), 7:28

EL--D. Abercrombie 4 yard pass from Myers (Wright kick), 4:01

EL--Kirby 18 interception return (kick fail), 2:50

Second Quarter

IC--Mazar 8 run (Barcalow kick), 10:35

EL--Harris 71 pass from Myers (Myers run), 9:17

IC--Mazar 50 run (Barcalow kick), 8:27

Third Quarter

EL--Lara 13 run (Wright kick), 5:33

EL--Myers 66 run (Wright kick), :55.5

Fourth Quarter

EL--Curran 14 run (kneel down), :56.6

TEAM STATISTICS

RUSHING: East Liverpool 37-257 4TDs; Indian Creek 34-147 2TDs.

PASSING: East Liverpool 6-10-136-2-0; Indian Creek 3-1.0-27-0-2

FIRST DOWNS: East Liverpool 15; Indian Creek 8

FUMBLES/LOST: East Liverpool 0-0; Indian Creek 1-0.

PUNTS/AVERAGE: East Liverpool 1-33; Indian Creek 4-30.5.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: East Liverpool (Myers 13-143 2TDs, Lara 13-66 TD, Reuter 5-29, Harris 2-7, Curran 2-15 TD, Ludwig 1-(-6), M. Abercrombie 1-3); Indian Creek (Starr 11-9, Mazar 19-143 2TDs, Romanyak 3-5, McGee 1-(-10).

PASSING: East Liverpool (Myers 5-7-107-2-0, Curran 1-2-29-0-0); Indian Creek (Starr 3-9-27-0-2, Haines 0-1-0-0-0).

RECEIVING: East Liverpool (Price 1-8, D. Abercrombie 3-28 TD, Harris 1-71 TD, Kirby 1-29); Indian Creek (Pietro 1-(-2), Paulman 1-(-2), Mazar 1-31).