Lenox overpowers Wolverines, 50-32

MALVERN – East Mills hung tough with Lenox for most of the game Friday night, but the Tigers eventually used their size and strength to overpower the Wolverines, 50-32, in 8-player District 9 action.
Lenox improved to 2-0 on the season while the Wolverines fell to 1-1.

“It’s obvious they’re bigger than us and more physical but I thought we stood up to it for a half,” East Mills coach Kevin Schafer said. “But, that constant pounding wore us down and our lack of depth showed because we just didn’t have kids to rotate in.”

The Wolverines scored the first 10 points of the game, courtesy of Ryan Stortenbecker, who intercepted a Gabe Funk pass to set up his own 35-yard field goal. On the Wolverines next possession, Stortenbecker broke through the line of scrimmage and darted 58 yards for a touchdown. He also kicked the extra point to put East Mills up 10-0.

The Tigers relied on a bruising run game for most of the night but scored their first points of the night on a 62-yard TD pass from Funk to Isaac Grundman. East Mills answered with a 51-yard scoring toss from Zach Thornburg to Davis McGrew to go up 16-8.

The Wolverines maintained their eight-point lead until a controversial play at the end of the half. The Tigers had marched down the field but were penalized for movement on the line of scrimmage with 1 second left to play. After the penalty was marked off and the ball was placed, East Mills coaches assumed the clock would start immediately and Lenox wouldn’t have enough time to snap the ball and carry out one last play before halftime. However, the ball was snapped and Lenox scored on an 8-yard pass from

Funk to Caeden David. East Mills coaches questioned the validity of the play to officials who huddled briefly before allowing the touchdown to stand. Schafer conceded the play was a momentum-changer.

“We thought the ball should have been spotted, the clock started and the ball couldn’t be snapped probably in that second,” he said. “They counted it and I just said to our kids regardless of whether that was done right, we’ve still got to play defense. We still let them score. If we keep containment, then our corner doesn’t come up and they can’t throw the ball over the top.”

Lenox rtecorded the next three touchdowns on a pair of rushing scores from Keigan Kitzman and a 45-yard burst by Grundman.    

Down 38-16, the Wolverines refused to throw in the towel and scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. A 51-yard pass completion from Thornburg to Mason Crouse set up a 3-yard TD toss to Stortenbecker. Later in the quarter, the duo teamed up for a 6-yard scoring pass.  

Schafer said he was proud his team battled to the very end.

“I thought we gained some confidence in the fourth quarter and scored some touchdowns,” he said.

Statistically, Lenox outyarded East Mills, 404-256. Stortenbecker was the Wolverines’ leading rusher with 68 yards on six carries. Thornburg passed for 170 yards and three touchdowns, while Crouse was East Mills’ top receiver, hauling in three passes for 75 yards. Defensively, McGrew led the Wolverines with 11 tackles.

The Wolverines return to action Friday when they take on Griswold.

Scoring Summary
L      00    16    08    26  – 50
EM  10    06    00    16 –  32

Game Summary
EM – Ryan Stortenbecker, 35 field goal.
EM – Stortenbecker, 58 run (Stortenbecker kick).
LEN – Isaac Grundman, 62 pass from Gabe Funk (Keigan Kitzman run).
EM – Davis McGrew, 51 pass from Zach Thornburg (pass failed).
LEN – Caeden David, 8 pass from Funk (Samson Adams pass from Funk).
LEN – Kitzman, 7 run (Adams pass from Funk).
LEN – Grundman, 45 run (Adams pass from Funk).
LEN – Kitzman, 2 run (pass failed).
EM – Stortenbecker, 3 pass from Thornburg (Stortenbecker pass from Thornburg).
LEN – Kitzman, 1 run (fun failed).
EM – Stortenbecker, 6 pass from Thornburg (Jack Gordon, pass from Thornburg).
LEN – Grundman, 65 run (run failed).