Firestone Falcons fly over the East Dragons 13-12

 


Saturday afternoon would see me in Akron at Ellet High School to watch Akron Firestone facing League foe Akron East. East entered the game at 4-3 while the Falcons came in 2-5.

The Falcons defense would get a nice play from Mario Jones II as he got to Donte Swain Jr. for a loss of four with 1:51 left in a scoreless opening quarter. The first period would fly by as the defenses both were winning their battle with the offense, but with 0:30 left in the quarter, Marlin Engram hit Darshaun Sales for a gain of twenty-five.

The Dragons drive continued in the second quarter, with Engram finding Braylon Bush for 32 yards. Bush is 6-3, 175 pounds, and he, IMO, could have had well over 100 yards and a few scores had he had his number called more often. He was a nightmare for the Falcons defense. The drive that looked so promising ended when Falcons Jaylen Croff stopped Zairie Stevens on a fourth-and-two call.

East would be back on the field after its defense easily stopped the Falcons offense, and with 6:00, Engram hooked up with Sales for 29 yards. Later on the drive, Engram used his quick feet to gain 19 yards. The first score of the game came on as Engram to Bush's 18-yard pass, making this a 6-0 game with 2:39 left in the half.

The Dragons defense, who held the Facons to 48 yards in the half, was fast to get its offense back on the field, and with 0:34 left, Engram found Terrell Wharton Jr. for a 32-yard touchdown to make this a 12-0 game.

Aramani Holloway would get to Daylym Taylor for a loss of 16 yards as the Dragons defense continued to have an answer for anything thrown their way. Later in the quarter, the Dragons offense would pick up 26 yards on a nice run from Stevens. The drive ended when Evan Riley got to Engram for a 5-yard loss, bringing up a fourth and twenty-nine for the Dragons.

With 3:09 left in the quarter, Dionte Younger Jr. picked up 14 yards to give the Dragons a much-needed first down. With just 0:12 left in the quarter, Taylor found Daniel Peterson for the 9-yard score. Rachelle Athey nailed the PAT, making this a 12-7 game.

With 7:36 left in the highly contested game, the Dragons elected to go for it on fourth and fourth, but the Falcons defense was more than ready as the easily stuffed Stevens holding him short of the line needed to move the chains. Auldyn Lovelace was the first Falcon to hit him.

The Falcons had a fourth and five with 5:33 left. Taylor used every inch of his 5-10 frame to stretch it far enough for the ball to cross the line needed to move the chains. Taylor would find Gucciano Gucci for 8 yards to move the chains, giving the Falcons a first down at the Dragons 41-yard line. with 3:23 left. Taylor would scramble for a gain of 14 yards, taking the ball down to the Dragons five. The Dragons defense would allow just one yard on the next two plays, leaving the Falcons four yards to get on the final play of the game. With no timeouts left, the Falcons rushed to the line of scrimmage with five seconds left and miraculously got the snap-off. From there, Taylor scrambled around, verily kept on his feet, and at the last second he looked to his left and found a wide-opening Taron Bowden for the game winner, making the final score 13-12.

My stats

East

39 plays

286 yards

Passing, 11-14 2 TD's

Firestone

44 plays

165 yards

Passing 5-10 2 TDs

 

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