East Webster’s Steven Betts put on his best Tim Tebow impression on Friday night against East Union.
The junior quarterback had 339 yards of total offense as he rushed for 279 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Wolverines beat East Union 62-38 to stay unbeaten on the year.
East Webster improved to 5-0 on the season and will host unbeaten Union on Friday night in a battle of Class 2A powers.
The game was a back-and-forth contest and it wasn’t until late in the fourth that the Wolverines put away the pesky Urchins.
“It makes it fun when you can put points on the board,” East Webster coach Ron Price said. “Every time we felt like we were pulling away, they would make a play and close the gap. With their offense being as dangerous as it was, I never felt good about it until late in the fourth. They are a good football team and will probably win their district. Their quarterback will give people problems.”
The defense got the party started for East Webster when Luke McKee intercepted an East Union pass. Two plays later, Tyrik Pittman rushed 23 yards for a touchdown. Parker Burleson’s PAT was good and East Webster led 7-0.
East Union answered with a 40-yard touchdown pass with 8:30 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7.
East Webster’s next score was set up by a Pittman 43-yard punt return. Three plays later, Betts scored on an 18-yard run with 11:54 left in the half. Burleson’s PAT made the score 14-7.
After East Union answered with a 41-yard touchdown pass, East Webster went o the air as Betts hit Jon Cunningham on a 33-yard touchdown pass with 6:56 left in the half. Burleson’s PAT gave the Wolverines a 21-14 lead.
After an East Union punt, the Wolverines went 33 yards in four plays as Betts scored o a 27-yard run with 3:41 left in the half. Burleson’s PAT gave East Webster a 28-14 lead.
After another quick East Union punt, Betts took the Wolverines 71 yards as he scored on a 36-yard run with 1:50 left in the half. Burleson’s PAT gave East Webster a 35-14 lead at the half.
East Union got a quick score to start the second half as they blocked a Burleson punt and scored on a 1-yard run. The PAT failed and East Webster led 35-20.
The Wolverines responded with a nine-play, 66-yard drive as Pittman scored on a 5-yard run with 5:17 left in the third for a 42-20 lead.
After a 40-yard run cut the lead to 42-26, East Webster went 70 yards in six plays. After a 40-yard run by Pittman, Betts shot putted a pass to Conner Shurden for a 5-yard score to give East Webster a 49-26 lead.
After a 35-yard pass cut the lead to 49-32 with 9:53 left in the game, Betts score on a 53-yard run to make it 56-32.
Debo Patterson scored East Webster’s last touchdown on a 7-yard run to finish out the scoring for the Wolverines.
The Wolverines had 485 yards of total offense as Betts had a career game. Betts was 5-of-9 passing for 60 yards while rushing for 279 yards on 21 carries and four touchdowns. Pittman rushed for 110 yards on 15 carries.
“That’s probably the best game that Steven has played,” Price said. “he ran the ball extremely hard. He had the right reads for the most part and did a good job of reading. I was proud of our offensive line (Cohen Clark, Hastings Gibson, Preston Hill, Caleb Massey, Connor Chrismond and Kaleb Parrish). I wanted our team to be physical and I felt like that’s the best game they have played. We had pancake blocks all night. I am proud of how far they have come. Steven is going to get a lot of attention for the stats he put up but the line deserves a lot of credit this week.”
Luke McKee led the defense with seven tackles and an interception. Kobe Sith had five tackles while Jon Cunningham, Ethan Roberts and Daniel Rogers each had four tackles apiece.
