Going into halftime, East Webster football coach Ron Price couldn’t have been more pleased with his team.
But unfortunately for the Wolverines, they had to play two halves against Philadelphia.
The Tornadoes broke open a 14-12 game and pulled away late to take a 39-19 win over the Wolverines in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs.
East Webster finishes the season with a 6-7 record. Despite the losing mark, Price was proud of what his team accomplished this season.
“I was extremely proud of how our team played,” Price said. “I told them at halftime that I felt like they could win the game and they knew they could win. I told them that the team that didn’t turn the ball over would win. And we came out and threw an interception on the second play of the second half. And it sort of went downhill from there. At this stage, the team that takes care of the ball will advance and we didn’t do that in the second half.”
The Tornadoes got on the board first as speedster Lideatrick Griffin, who recently committed to Mississippi State, raced 80 yards for a touchdown with 8:05 left in the first quarter for an early 7-0 lead.
The Wolverines responded with a nine-play drive but ended up turning the ball over on downs at the Philly 30.
The Tornadoes then went 70 yards in 11 plays, scoring on an 8-yard touchdown pass with 10:23 left in the second quarter to take a 14-0 lead.
The Wolverines then responded with a five-play drive, covering 69 yards. The big plays on the drive was a 59-yard pass from Steven Betts to Sloan Hillhouse. Hillhouse finished off the drive with a 3-yard run for the score. The PAT was blocked and Philly led 14-6.
After forcing the Philadelphia offense to punt on its next possession, East Webster again hit a big pass play as Betts hit Keevon Patterson on a 60-yard touchdown pass. The try for two failed and Philadelphia held a 14-12 lead at the half.
“I really couldn’t have asked for more in the first half from our team,” Price said. “We got down but answered with two big touchdowns. It’s 14-12 at the half and we felt like we had all of the momentum going into the second half.”
But that’s where things went south for the Wolverines as Betts threw an interception to give the Tornadoes the ball.
The Tornadoes then answered with back-to-back touchdowns as they scored on a 35-yard touchdown pass and a 6-yard touchdown pass to go up 26-12.
East Webster didn’t quit though as Hillhouse scored on a 3-yard run with 2:06 left in the third to cut the score to 26-19.
The Tornadoes added two more scores in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
“It was a great season, to start the way we started and be able to win a playoffs game,” Price said. “I was really proud of the way our kids competed and got better every game. The games we lost were against teams that had a lot of speed. And Philly had speed at every spot on the field.”
Betts finished the night 5-of-11 passing for 180 yards with one TD and two interceptions. Conner Shurden had three catches for 61 yards while Patterson had one catch for 60 yards and Hillhouse had one grab for 59 yards. Hillhouse led the rushing attack with 58 yards on 14 carries and two TDs while Betts had 23 yards rushing on nine carries.
On defense, Noah Hatcher had six tackles and a sack while Shurden also had six tackles. Gilbreath and Hillhouse each had five tackles apiece while Patterson, Cason Pate, Cameron Jennings, Hunter Dendy, Sedrick Taylor and Daniel Rogers each had four tackles apiece. Ethan Roberts and Betts each had two tackles apiece.
