A special win for Beaver Local
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EAST LIVERPOOL -- The 48th all-time meeting between arch-rivals Beaver Local and East Liverpool was expected to be a high-scoring shootout, but it was the Beavers' defense and special teams which came up big in a 28-7 win over the Potters Friday night at a packed Patterson Field.
"I'm just so proud of how unselfish they are," said Beaver Local head coach Mike McKenzie of his team. "We play so many kids and no one is pouting about touches but this group just celebrates each other and just wants to win."
Beaver Local forced four turnovers out of the Potters and also blocked a punt which led to another Beavers' touchdown.
"That's basically five turnovers and you can't do that in a rivalry game," said East Liverpool head coach Paul Cusick. "You can't do that in any game, but especially in a rivalry game."
With the victory, Beaver Local upped its perfect overall record to 4-0 and its Buckeye 8 ledger to 2-0. The Beavers also increased their lead in the series to 25-23. Prior to Friday night, the two teams had split their past 10 meetings.
At 4-0, the Beavers are also off to their best start in 22 years. They began the 2004 season at 4-0 and finished 10-1 that season. They are also off to their best start in McKenzie's tenure.
"We want to win every game but (I like) the way that we've progressed," said McKenzie. "We're just young and inexperienced but we knew that we're very, very talented. We didn't know how we'd respond. So we're kind of putting ourselves through the fire and we're growing and getting better."
The Beavers were led by sophomore quarterback Reid Schwerha who completed 10 of 15 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
With the setback, East Liverpool is now 2-2 overall and 1-1 in Buckeye 8 North action.
East Liverpool out-gained the Beavers 197-109 and had 10 first downs to the Beavers' four in the first half. However, the Potters had drives stopped at the Beavers' 40, 21 and 23-yard lines. That included two drives halted by turnovers. East Liverpool coughed up three fumbles in the opening 24 minutes, with the Beavers' Peyton Cowdery and Zaiven Riley pouncing on two of them.
"It's unfortunate that we played that sloppy," said Cusick. "Hats off to them (the Beavers), they played a solid game and we didn't. We were sloppy and turned the ball over. Our run game really responded (in the first half), but unfortunately we just turned the ball over."
Beaver Local capitalized on one of the Potters' miscues in the second quarter as the Beavers marched 68 yards to tally the only score of the first half on a 30-yard scoring pass from Schwerha to a wide-open running back Peyton Cowdery, who had worked his way past past the Potters' secondary. With JT Milhoun's successful PAT boot, the score gave the visitors a 7-0 lead with 5:00 left in the half and it remained that way at halftime.
"It (the win) feels really good, especially for our seniors last game against them," said Cowdery, a junior. "It's a big win for them, making them all happy and to see the big smiles on their faces as soon as the game clock hit zero."
But on the second half kickoff the Beavers gave themselves some breathing room when sophomore speedster Peyton Martin cradled in the boot, cut left and outraced the Potters 90 yards to the end zone. Milhoun added the PAT boot and the Beavers took at 14-0 advantage with just 15 seconds elapsed in the second half.
"I'm proud of our guys and proud of the community," said McKenzie. "We're so blessed with how much they support us and I'm blessed with my coaching staff. I have a phenomenal coaching staff."
East Liverpool cut into the Beavers' lead late in the third quarter when the Potters marched 44 yards and scored when Meshach Harris raced 10 yards up the middle. Kicker Camden Wright added one PAT to make int 14-7 with 3:20 showing in the third quarter.
But Beaver Local answered the score when Cowdery capped a long drive with a one-yard scoring bolt over left tackle to give the visitors a 21-7 lead with Milhoun's PAT boot with
1:28 left in the third quarter.
"I did my job and everyone did their job," said Cowdery. "We had a really great game and I'm really proud of this team and the coaching and everything we have here."
Special teams again came up big for the Beavers when Ashton Little blocked an East Liverpool punt and the Beavers capitalized minutes later when Schwerha hit Jack Nocella with a 16-yard scoring aerial in the right corner of the end zone. Milhoun added the PAT kick and the Beavers led 28-7 with 8:17 left in the game.
"You look at all that stuff (turnovers and penalties) because it's difficult to keep yourself behind the sticks when you get a play and you get a hold or something else," said Cusick. "That makes it difficult, so we've got to continue to work hard. We stressed sportsmanship this week and I thought our guys responded with that, but we were still getting penalties on big plays which makes it an uphill battle."
"First of all special teams (were good) in every phase," said the Beaver Local head coach. "I thought our kickoff team did a great job of covering and obviously the punt block was huge and our punt team executed very, very well."
GAME NOTES
• A memorial remembrance was held before the game for all of the victims of 9-11 on the 25th anniversary of that tragic event.
• One of the largest crowds in many years turned out at Patterson Field for the game. Fans began pouring into the parking lot one hour and 45 minutes before the contest even started.
• Beaver Local won last year's meeting with the Potters by a 21-12 final.
• East Liverpool has another Buckeye 8 game slated next Friday night when the St. Clairsville Red Devils visit Patterson Field.
• Beaver Local has an independent game next Friday night as Pastore Field when unbeaten Columbiana County rival Salem visits.
"I know they (the Quakers) are really good," said McKenzie. "They beat Poland and they beat Canfield and they're an excellent team and coach Johnson has them prepared so I know it's going to be a battle. We'll celebrate tonight and get to work tomorrow on the Quakers."
SCORING
BL: 0-7-17-7--28
EL: 0-0- 7-0-- 7
SCORING
BL--Peyton Cowdery, 30 pass from Reid Schwerha (JT Milhoun kick)
BL--Peyton Martin, 90 kickoff return (JT Milhoun kick)
EL--Meshach Harris, 10 run (Camden Wright kick)
BL--Peyton Cowdery, 1 run (JT Milhoun kick)
BL--Jack Nocella, 16 pass from Reid Schwerha (JT Milhoun kick)
TEAM STATS
East Liverpool
First downs: 18; Total yards: 341; Rushes-yards: 32-114; Passing: 227; Comp-Att-Int. 15-27-227-0-1; Punts 2-38; Fumbles-Lost 3-3; Penalties-Yards 8-55
Beaver Local
First downs: 16, Total yards 291, Rushes-yards 00-151, Passing 141 Comp-Att-Int. 10-15-141-2-1, Punts 3-34, Fumbles-Lost 1-1, Penalties-Yards 6-50
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING -- East Liverpool, Ben Myers, 10-2, Xavier Lara 20-98, Meshach Harris 2-16; Beaver Local, Owen Moore, 3-27, Reid Schwerha, 0-00, Peyton Cowdery, 9-28, AJ Bowser, 9-32, Ryder Culp, 3-19, Jaylen Smith, 2-58
PASSING -- East Liverpool, Ben Myers, 15-27-227-0-1; Beaver Local, Reid Schwerha, 10-15-151-2-1.
RECEIVING -- East Liverpool, Dre'Keim Abercrombie 5-108, Tyler Kirby, 5-75, Leeland Price, 1-5, Braylon Beagle, 3-31; Beaver Local, Jack Nocella, 2-40, Peyton Cowdery, 2-57, Nolan Irving, 2-4, Landon Redmond, 0-00, Peyton Martin, 1-24, Dillon McKenzie, 1-2, Zaiven Riley, 1-7