The West used a big second quarter and two touchdowns from Weddington's Will Shipley to defeat the East 35-14 in the Elite Middle School All-Stars 6th-grade game at Rocky River High School.
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The game was tied 7-7 with 1:30 left in the first half when the West forced a fumble by East quarterback Zaire Kenney. Evan Schwartz recovered and the West set up shop at the East ten-yard-line. Two plays later, quarterback Jake Helfrich hit Calik Thomas out of Albemarle for an 11-yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead with 34 seconds left until halftime.
After a 41-yard kickoff return by C.C. Griffin's DeAndre Boykin, the East had a first down at the West 36. However, on the next play Shipley stepped in front of Sully McDermont's pass at the 41 and took it 59 yards for a touchdown with 4.5 seconds left and the West would lead 21-7 at the half.
On the West's second possession of the third quarter, which began at the East 15-yard-line after a short punt from the seven, quarterback Xavion Brower found Shipley on third down for a 15-yard touchdown pass. Shipley had four carries for 37 yards and the touchdown reception. The West lead was now 28-7 with 5:13 remaining in the quarter.
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The East squad would respond with a 15-play, 64-yard drive that took 6:40. The drive would be punctuated when Boykin jumped over a defender in the right corner of the end zone on fourth-and-three from the seven and snatched the ball for a touchdown pass from McDermont. That made the score 28-14 with 8:33 to go. Boykin also had 12 carries for 44 yards.
The East would then attempt an onside kick and it worked perfectly. Jordan Black recovered at the West 34. They were unable to move the ball and turned it over on downs four plays later after three straight incomplete passes. On the next play, Eli Funderburke would take the handoff and sprint 68 yards for the dagger touchdown with 6:42 left. Christian Herrera's extra point, his fifth of the game, provided the final score at 35-14.
Donovan McClendon would get an interception to end the final East threat on the next possession. The West defense forced four turnovers on the day. Brandon Johnson, from Newton-Conover, also picked one off on the first East drive of the game. Johnson also had seven carries for 75 yards, including a 50-yard first quarter jaunt with 1:02 left in the quarter for the first West score. That came just 44 seconds after the East opened the scoring with a Boykin two-yard run. Boykin set up that score himself with an interception and 24-yard run-back to the West 13 on the first West drive. Duce Wilson also had a fumble recovery for the East on the first play of the second half.
Marvin Ridge's Ian Hutter had four receptions for 20 yards for the East.
Written by Youth1 Contributor Steven Bowers
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Alan Popadines @Youth1Football 7 years ago