JIMMY JOE SAVAGE IS SEARCHING ROOM — Oak Glen running back Greg Sauers lets go of Sam Wright’s hand as he runs up the field and tries to block East Liverpool’s DeSean Kirby. Let go.
EAST LIVERPOOL — The East Liverpool soccer team found themselves in a bad place to start the season, dropping four of their first five games.
However, the Potters found a way to turn things around.
The Potters put on a dominant performance against lowly Oak Glen on Friday, going on a 52-0 run to win their fifth straight game and earn a spot in the playoffs.
“We just needed to play together,” East Liverpool senior wide receiver Blake Adkins said of the turnaround. “We didn’t have chemistry yet. We had chemistry last year. We felt like we could do as well as we did last year, but we just had to work for it. We found our own brilliance and set out.”
Adkins did his part against Oak Glen with five catches for 140 yards, including touchdown receptions of 25, 16 and 87 yards. His second catch of the game, a 25-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Wright, set the school’s season catch record. The previous record was 44, set by Timmy Neal in 2019 and Tony Metch in 2006. Adkins has 48 catches for 873 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns this season.
“It’s amazing,” Adkins said. “I couldn’t have done this without my coaches and all my teammates. It’s great to be in this atmosphere with the guys around me. It just helped me break through.”
Potter coach Paul Cusick was pleased to see the record set on Senior Night.
“He’s a ball player and just goes out there and makes plays,” Cusick said. “We’ve got to get the ball to him in space. I think Gavin does a good job of distributing the ball to all of our playmakers, even though we have a lot of players who can do that tonight. Blake just so happens to be that player. I’m happy for him.”
Oak Glen could do nothing against the 6-4 Potters, trailing 46-0 at the half. East Liverpool outscored Oak Glen 352-27 in the first half. All of Potter’s starters were ejected at the half, setting up a nine-minute quarter time.
Potter senior DeSean Kirby made good use of the undersized Oak Glen batting lineup, rushing into the backfield on many plays that caused a lot of confusion.
“Coach wanted me to come in with a nose guard and be a lot heavier,” Kirby said. “He didn’t want me to let up the pressure, so we did.”
One of the upsets ended in a touchdown on Michael Harty’s 25-yard fumble recovery.
Kirby also caught two passes for 72 yards, including a 56-yard pass play.
“It’s one of our games,” Kirby said. “He caught me right in the middle, so I got on it and took off.”
Wright was nearly perfect under center for the Potters. He completed 10 of 11 passes for 282 yards and five touchdowns. Quintin Conrad caught two balls for 52 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown. Owen Fredlitz also had a 6-yard touchdown reception. On the ground, Xavier Lara gained 36 yards on five carries, including an 18-yard touchdown run.
Meshach Harris scored on a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, capping Potter’s scoring.
It looked like it would be a tough battle for Oak Glen (0-8) from the start, as many players on the team were out with injuries.
“I knew it was going to be a difficult job,” Taylor said. “We lost four starting pitchers and played three freshmen. They brought all their pressure inside, and we have a 158-pound center who can’t handle that rush inside. We couldn’t. It really hurt us. They had a good game plan, but hopefully next week we can turn this situation around. We have two more games to find out.”
It wasn’t all roses for the Potter family. The team had 10 penalties for 90 yards in the first half. There were also mistakes on special teams. Cusick, a longtime Crestview playoff contributor, knows these mistakes can’t be made if the Potters want to advance.
“I thought we were sloppy with some penalties and motion and special teams giving us extra points and things like that,” Cusick said. “When we get to Week 11, we have to put that stuff away.”
The Potters were ranked 10th in the division. IV, Region 15 starts this week. With Oak Glen going 0-8, the Potters were unlikely to earn enough computer points to advance to the top eight and host the nation.
Oak Glen will be at Weirton Madonna next Friday. The Golden Bears conclude the regular season on Nov. 8 at Tigers Valley. The game was added late to the schedule after Trinity Christian sat out last week’s game against the Bears.
East Liverpool 52, Oak Glen 0
OG: 0-0-0-0 — 0
EL: 19-27-0-6 — 52
scoring
E — Blake Adkins, 25 passes from Gavin Wright (kick blocked)
E-Quintin Conrad 45 passes from Wright (missed kick)
E – Michael Harty 25 Fumble Return (Camdyn Mirror Kick)
E-Adkins, 16 passes from right field (mirror kick)
E-Adkins 87 Pass from right field (mirror kick)
E – Xavier Lara 18 runs (mirror kick)
E-Owen Fredritz 6 passes from right field (missed run)
E-Meshach Harris 5 runs (kick block)
individual leader
Rush — Oak Glenn, Evan Clouston 5-43, Josh Maher 7-27. East Liverpool, Gavin Wright 4-44, Xavier Lara 5-36, Tamar Tisdale 3-41.
Passing — Oak Glenn, Greg Sauers 0-2-0-0; East Liverpool, Gavin Wright 10-11-282-0.
Receiving — East Liverpool, Blake Adkins 5-140, DeSean Kirby 2-72, Quintin Conrad 2-52, Owen Fredritz 1-6.
Fumble Recovery — Michael Harty, East Liverpool.
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