Ellet opened City Series play in about as dominating a fashion as possible Thursday night, beating East High in every facet in a 52-0 win at the University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium.
The final score could have been much worse.
The Orangemen, winners of three in a row after dropping their first two games, outgained East 430 yards to 85 and forced five turnovers.
“We had an idea that things would go our way and our goal was to execute and not get sloppy,” Ellet coach Joe Yost said. “[East] has some tough linemen who can hit ya, and we needed to keep our composure and not make mistakes. We had some good drives early and earned those points.”
Yost says his team hasn’t changed much of anything during this season but is eager to test itself against the likes of Buchtel, Firestone, Kenmore and Garfield. And to Yost, Ellet’s record doesn’t reflect the talent on the roster following its forfeiture to Springfield for using an ineligible player in the season opener and then a loss to Tallmadge the next week.
“The Ellet football players are 4-1; their stupid head coach is 3-2,” Yost said. “We came out playing football right away but Tallmadge is a great opponent. We’ve been playing solid football for five weeks. Now we’ll get into the heart of the City. We’re anxious to see if we can compete with the top teams in the City.”
The Orangemen quickly pulled ahead and put this game out reach midway through the second quarter. In the first half, Ellet outgained the Dragons (0-5, 0-2) 310 yards to 28 and forced four turnovers. Ellet led 39-0 at the half.
Sophomore running back Jacob Ivory ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries and junior Matt Geer ran for 100 yards and three touchdowns.
“They’re both good running backs who have worked very hard,” Yost said. “Our offensive line did us a nice job of giving them different places to go. We did throw the ball a bit and are trying to be as balanced as possible. We have to be more balanced heading forward.”
Ellet (3-2, 1-0) junior quarterback Jake Fisher threw for 113 yards and a touchdown on 4-of-6 passing before being taken out early in the third quarter for junior Jake Williams, who later scored on a keeper from the 1-yard line.
Ivory began the night’s scoring on Ellet’s first drive. He carried the ball six times for 34 yards and eventually scored on a 6-yard run on a toss to the strong side. Sophomore Jaevante Ray intercepted a pass to give the ball right back to Ellet.
Fisher hit junior receiver David Smethers for a 50-yard play. Smethers would have scored had he not stumbled making sure he had two hands on the ball. Fisher later hit Geer, who was left uncovered, for an 11-yard touchdown pass.
Geer then intercepted a pass on East’s first play from scrimmage and ran for a 5-yard touchdown up the middle a few plays later to give Ellet a 19-0 lead in the first quarter.
Geer wasn’t done. On Ellet’s next drive, he ran up the middle for 11 yards out and scored his second TD. He finished the half with a 43-yard run, making two Dragons miss badly, for his third touchdown to go along with a sack and an interception on defense.
Sandwiched between Geer’s touchdowns was the longest of the Orangemen’s touchdowns, Ivory’s 76-yard sprint with just under five minutes left in the second quarter. Ivory took a pitch and rounded the corner, going all the way untouched.
The Orangemen’s final points came when sophomore Semir Ramic fell on a loose ball in the end zone late in the fourth quarter.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the high school blog at http://www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
