BULLDOGS BATTLE TO A WIN IN OVERTIME
By Joe Eusebio
COLUMBIANA OH- It was a beautiful night for football at Fisher Stadium in Columbiana Friday night when East Palestine and Columbiana renewed their rivalry for the 100th time. The teams put on a show for a packed house with the lead changing hands five times before Owen Jurgavcic and the Bulldogs beat Spencer Pruitt and the Clippers 34-28 in overtime.
The Clippers jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a 21-yard run by quarterback Liam Surgenavic at 4:21 of the first quarter and a 70-yard run by Spencer Pruitt early in the second quarter. Aidan Radcliff added the point after following both scores.
East Palestine got on the board on a 6-yard run from Owen Jurjavicic with 5:29 left in the first half. Brad Bartels added the PAT to halve the deficit to 14-7, which was the score that the teams took into the locker room at halftime.
It didn’t take long for East Palestine to tie the score, as Zach Schnelle scored on a 29 yard run at the 6:33 mark of the third quarter. Bartels added the extra point and it was 14-14. There would be two more touchdowns in the third quarter as the Bulldogs went ahead for the first time at the 4:14 mark of the third when Jurjavicic scored on a three-yard run. The point after was missed and the score was 20-14.
The Clippers regained the lead at 21-20 at :50 on a 20 yard touchdown run from Spencer Pruitt, but the Bulldogs retook the lead with 7:23 left in the game when Jurjavcic scored on a 1-yard run. Jurjavcic then ran in the two-point conversion to make it 28-21 in favor of the Bulldogs.
The Clippers tied the game at 28-28 with 4:47 left on a 17-yard run by Pruitt and a Radcliff PAT.
After a couple of drives ended in turnovers the teams were tied at 28 and as the clock ran out and the the teams prepared for overtime. The Clippers had the ball first and actually scored before a penalty put them back to the 25-yard line. From there the Clips luck ran out when Peyton Rutledge picked off a Liam Surenavic pass. The Bulldogs Jurjavcic took over from there, running for 19 yards, then the final one-yard run that gave East Palestine the Traveling Trophy for the first time in seven years, winning the hard-fought contest, 34-28.
Jurjavcic became the single-season rushing record holder for the Bulldogs, going over 1600 yards for the year with two games to go.
East Palestine, now 5-3 on the year and 3-2 in the EOAC will host Leetonia in Week 9. Columbiana now 2-6 overall and 2-3 in the conference will travel to Wellsville.
Game Photos Can Be Found And Bought HERE: https://ysn.smugmug.com/10-11-FB-east-palestine-colunbiana/10-11-FB-columbiana-east-palestine/DCIM/104EOS1D