Ron Price has been coaching football for well over two decades and last Friday night was a first for him. The game of football can bring a lot of twists and turns and sometimes it comes quickly. East Webster saw a large lead evaporate in an instant and send the team to the brink of defeat. In the final seconds, an onside kick from Mooreville was scooped up and returned all the way to the end zone by Ethan Hillhouse to walk off the game, 34-28. ìAs coaches, we tell our kids daily that itís a 48-minute battle. When youíre prepping throughout the week you try to emphasize to your kids the important of the little things and Friday night, we got to experience all of that in one game,î Price said. ìWe proved Friday night that itís not over until itís over. We dug ourselves a hole, but I was proud of how we came out.î The Wolverines trailed 7-0 early in the game after the Troopers had a chance to drive the field and score a touchdown on the opening drive. The Wolverines responded by scoring 27-straight points to build a 27-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter. A missed extra point on one of those touchdowns drives nearly proved costly as Mooreville stormed back into the game. Two onside kicks recovered in the fourth quarter got the Troopers all the way back in it and they would take the lead at 28-27 with just 7 seconds left. Thatís when Mooreville decided to try its luck at a third onside kick to put the nail in the coffin of the Wolverines. Instead, Hillhouse was shot out of a cannon on his recovery and raced 62 yards to the endzone to stun the Troopers. While the late kick return shouldnít have been necessary, Price is proud to have a chance to correct through a win. ìThe biggest thing is hopefully it gets our kidsí attention. We were up 27-7 to start the fourth quarter and you feel like youíve got the game under control,î Price said. ìJust want to refocus the kids to do the little things right. Weíve got to do things that weíve been coached to do because when we get away from it, thatís when bad things happen. Hopefully theyíll pay attention to details this week and moving forward.î The Wolverines finished the game with 360 yards of total offense with 170 of that coming on the ground. Dee Bingham again led the way with his 12 carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Cooper Stidham was 10-of-15 for 190 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Jeríkel Ivy had five catches for 78 yards. On top of Hillhouseís kick return, he also led the team with 12 tackles and had 2.0 TFL with a sack. Elijah OíBriant had 11 tackles, one interception, with 1.0 TFL and Dreke Coleman finished with a sack and seven total tackles. The win solidified the No. 2 seed in Class 3A, Region 4 for the Wolverines (8-1, 2-1 Region 4) as the team finished out the regular season on Thursday night. In a game that finished after press time, the Wolverines took on district foe Nettleton in Cumberland. ìWeíre going to get their best effort. They know that this is their last football game for the 2024 season so thereís nothing for them to hold back on,î Price said of the Tigers. ìTheyíve been in every formation known to man so theyíre going to give us a lot of different looks. Hopefully our kids will be keyed in this week and focused. One of our goals was to go undefeated at home and we have a chance to do that.î
