Despite losing leading rusher Wyatt Sparbanie early due to injury, Western Beaver High School football remained composed to defeat Ellwood City.
ELLWOOD CITY — When Western Beaver junior running back Wyatt Sparbanie went down with an injury late in the first quarter, there was a hush over the visitors’ sideline following the loss of its star running back for the game.
But instead of wallowing over the injury and letting Ellwood City (3-4, 2-2 MAC) take advantage of the crucial loss, Western Beaver remained composed to win its seventh consecutive game 27-12.
“Whenever Wyatt went down earlier in the game, our spirits were low,” Western Beaver senior offensive lineman Blaine Crislip said. “But in the back of our minds, we knew that we could win this game with him or not. Wyatt is a heck of a player, but we are a heck of a team. No matter who goes down or what happens in the game, our coaches teach us enough that we can still compete in games and push through.”
And push through they did, as despite the injury to Sparbanie, who is one of the Beaver Valley’s top running backs, rushing for over 800 yards and 19 touchdowns, the team got key contributions from freshman quarterback Amari Marshall and Sparbanie’s replacement, Braeden Mayo.
The tandem of Mayo and Marshall accounted for the team’s offensive production, with both rushing for a pair of scores.
Mayo had both of his scores coming in short-yardage situations during the second half, rushing in from six yards out early in the third quarter and a seven-yard rush to ice the game.
While Marshall didn’t have the greatest of starts, throwing a tipped interception to Ellwood City defensive back Dailonn Currie, which led to a score and a fumble, the freshman bounced back in a big way, finishing with 190 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
“My dad always tells me to let all the mistakes go by and that’s what I did,” Marshall said. “You still have to come out, play the game and work hard. Mistakes happen, that’s just life.”
Along with the offense stepping up, Western Beaver (7-0, 4-0) played lockdown defense, forcing three-straight three-and-outs to begin the second half, along with a pair of fourth-down stands in the final frame.
The Golden Beavers’ defense pressured senior quarterback Tyler Smiley and got to Ellwood City’s run game for most of the night, holding the Wolverines to 200 yards of total offense and two rushing touchdowns from Richie Cureton and Guilian Frisk.
“Sometimes, we just have to focus as a unit,” Western Beaver defensive coordinator Ryan Nohe said. “When we don’t align right, we give up some plays, but other than the one drive in the first half, I thought we played well. We made a couple of tweaks at halftime and the kids competed. Some younger guys stepped up and made an impact.”
Western Beaver will stay on the road in Week 7, traveling to Bessemer to take on Mohawk.
As for Ellwood City, it will host Riverside in the Riv-Ell Cup. Both games are slated for 7 p.m. kickoffs.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Western Beaver football defeats Ellwood City for seventh straight win
Category: General Sports
