St. Clairsville - October 27, 2017
On this Senior Night, the Potters gave it all they had to try to end their season with a victory when the St. Clairsville Red Devils invaded Patterson Field.
Already on the way to the playoffs, the visitors chewed up the turf in the first half, which ended with the score 35-0 Red Devils. Scoring on each of their first four possessions, Brady Kolb led the way crossing the final stripe on the initial 66-yard drive followed by two others with runs of five and two yards. He would end the night leading all rushers with 71 yards in 14 carries.
Red Devils’ quarterback Dustin Carothers completed 10 of 114 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns with receiver Craig Bober catching four passes for a total of 82 yards.
The never-say-die Potters came back in the second half when defensive lineman Ian Smith intercepted a pass from St. Clairsville’s backup quarterback, Brett Vike, running two yards into the end zone at 1:37 in the third quarter.
Junior Lane Kopras grabbed a deflected pass from EL backup quarterback Peyton Adkins and raced 30 yards for the second TD.
Michael Loy tallied the first touchdown of his varsity career on a 10-yard run, which completed the scoring for the Potters.
East Liverpool had eight first downs and 158 yards to St. Clairsville’s 15 first downs and 336 yards. Payton Reed completed 2 of 9 passes for 21 yards.
COACH’S CORNER:
“Our kids played hard,” Coach Josh Ludwig said. “They’re tough kids and they fight to the end. Never once this year did they give up and I’m proud of the effort they gave throughout the season.”
As for the Red Devils, “They just gashed us in the first half,” Ludwig said.“…they just came downhill right at us and we weren’t able to stop them. That’s probably the most talented team we’ve faced this year.”
DIGGER’S DUGOUT:
It was the final appearance at Patterson Field for seniors: Logan Torma, Peyton Adkins, Noah Hull, Michael Loy, Blayke McCloud, Jake Cornell, Ryan Fox, Ian Smith, Matthew Ketchum and Tyler Rawson.
Ralph Cox contributed to this article