CALCUTTA — Beaver Local, which was 12th in this week’s Division IV Region 15 computer ratings, picked up an important win in terms of its long-range playoff hopes as the Beavers posted a thrilling 28-20 comeback victory over 4-2 Youngstown East team at Pastore Field Friday night.

“We got them pumped up (at halftime) and the kids just kept believing,” said Beaver Local coach Mike McKenzie, whose team trailed 20-7 at halftime but refused to lose.

“Hats off to them, they kept fighting and our guys fought as well,” said Youngstown East football coach Mark Greene.

With two of its three remaining regular-season games against winless Cambridge and a toss-up contest against Lakeview, Friday’s game was important for much-needed computer points for the Beavers to stay in the top 12.

And did they deliver.

Trailing 20-14 with just under eight minutes left, Beaver local senior defensive back Luke Rettos made the play of the night as he scooped up a Youngstown East fumbled shotgun snap and raced 30 yards to the end zone. With kicker Brayden Hall’s PAT kick, Beaver Local took its first lead at 21-20 with 7:21 left.

“We were sitting in coverage and I was playing a little off and I credit my teammates Richie Wyse because he made a great play on the quarterback whenever he saw that he fumbled the snap and I was just (there) at the right time,” said Rettos. “That (win) was great, especially homecoming week.”

Minutes later, the Beavers’ defense sealed the victory when junior defensive back Richie Wyse picked off an East pass and set sail for a pick six that covered 23 yards. Hall added the final point with his PAT boot with 2:00 left and the Beavers went on to preserve the comeback triumph.

“We went into that locker room at halftime and didn’t even feel like we were losing,” said Wyse. “We all stuck together this week and that’s what a team has to do. God just blessed us tonight. We all wanted it and that’s what we got. I saw it (the interception on the pass) out of the corner of my eye and I just saw green grass.”

“To be honest with you I couldn’t even tell you where we were at (in the computer) but that (getting some big computer points) is good,” said McKenzie.

The Beavers also got a three-yard third-quarter touchdown run by quarterback Wade Foster, who finished with 100 yards rushing to lead the winners on the ground. That score made it 20-14 and set up the defensive fireworks which were to come.

“We didn’t make the plays that we needed and when you don’t that this is the outcome,” said Greene.

Beaver Local improved to 4-3, while East is now 4-3 as well.

McKenzie said a Beaver Local team meeting last week helped his squad on Friday night.

“We had a four-week stretch where we didn’t feel like we were us, so on Saturday morning last week we had a big team meeting,” noted the Beavers’ head coach. “The kids had a team meeting and we talked about what we had to do. We said we’re going to get back to where we were. Credit to them, they said we’re going to take ownership of these last four games and whatever happens these last four weeks, we’re going to do it right.”

Beaver Local was victimized by two lost fumbles and two interceptions in the first half, including two which were converted into Golden Bear touchdowns.

Beaver Local threw the first of its two first-half interceptions on its opening series when Golden Bear Tyris Davis picked off a pass at the Beavers’ 45. One play later, the Golden Bears capitalized when running back Tristan Pollard, who led all rushers with 168 yards on 12 carries, raced 55 yards up the middle to score. Quarterback Jaden Irving added the two-point conversion run out of the swinging gate formation and East took a 7-0 lead at the 2:55 mark of the first quarter.

But Beaver Local answered on its third offensive series when the Beavers marched 53 yards to score on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Foster. Hall added the PAT boot and the Beavers trimmed the deficit to one-point at 8-7 with 23.6 seconds left in the first quarter.

East put up two six-pointers in the second quarter, driving 52 yards to find the end zone on a 27-yard quarterback scramble down the left side by Irving. The PAT pass failed, as East went up 14-7.

But a mistake cost the Beavers minutes later when they coughed the football up and East defensive end Zywaun Perkins scooped up the loose football and raced 43 yards to the end zone. The PAT pass failed but the Golden Bears took a 20-7 advantage with 3:12 left before halftime.

Beaver Local had an impressive drive to the Bears’ eight-yard line in the closing minutes of the first half but a second Beaver Local interception was picked off in the East end zone, thwarting the drive and preserving East’s 20-7 lead at the break.

But the momentum slowly shifted to Beaver Local after Foster’s third-quarter score and the Beavers’ defense did the rest to secure the win in the final quarter.

“Even if we had lost tonight, I would still be super proud of them because they kept fighting and never turned on each other,” said McKenzie. “That team has some unbelievable athletes and our kids could have crawled in a shell but we didn’t.”

Beaver Local hits the road to Wintersville next Friday night for a Buckeye 8 game against unbeaten Indian Creek.

YE: 8-12-0-0–20

BL: 7-0-7-14–28

SCORING

YE–Tristan Pollard, 55 run, 2:55 1st (Jaden Erving run)

BL–Wade Foster, 1 run, 23.6 1st (Brayden Hall kick)

YE–Jaden Erving, 27 run, 7:12 2nd (Pass failed)

YE–Zywaun Perkins, 43 fumble recovery, 3:12 2nd (Pass failed)

BL–Wade Foster, 3 run, 4:21 3rd (Brayden Hall kick)

BL–Luke Rettos, 30 fumble recovery, 7:21 4th (Brayden Hall kick)

BL–ichie Wyse, 23 interception return, 2:00 4th (Brayden Hall kick)

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YE BL

First downs 16 18

Total Yards 354 272

Rushes-yards 29-229 38-164

Passing 125 88

Comp-Att-Int 7-22-1 7-15-2

Penalties-Yards 9-85 7-74

Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-2

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INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING–Youngstown East, Jadon Ervin 14-64, Tristan Pollard, 12-168; Beaver Local, Lane Jones, 16-52, Wade Foster, 17-100, Peyton Cowdery, 3-14.

PASSING–Youngstown East, Jadon Ervin, 7-22-125-0-1; Beaver Local, Wade Foster, 8-15-88-0-1.

RECEIVING–Youngstown East, Micah West, 5-54, Tyris Davis, 1-41; Beaver Local, Nicolas McKenzie, 2-23 Luke Rettos, 2-29, Peyton Cowdery, 2-18, Richie Wyse, 1-7.