CARTER CARVES OUT RECORD; TIGERS ROLL

WELLSVILLE, OH- After close losses in the opening round of the playoffs for both Valley Christian and Wellsville, the Tigers had no trouble taking down the Eagles in Week 8 to even up their record at 4-4. In doing so, senior quarterback Troy Carter became Wellsville’s all-time passing leader.

The Eagles got on the board first at the 7:30 mark of the first quarter after Jon’Tae Pabellon ran in a touchdown on a short field provided by the Eagles special teams unit. The Tigers responded with their own touchdown with just eight seconds remaining in the first quarter when Carter found his favorite big-play target, Jr. Valen Krzyston, for a 31-yard touchdown pass. Kicker Casey Lemasters added the extra point to tie things up. From there, it was all Tigers.

Wellsville added another Carter to Krzyston touchdown pass, but this time it was Garrett Krzyston for an eight-yard score. After a bad snap on the extra point attempt, Carter took things into his own hands by finding his way into the end-zone for a 15-7 lead. Lemasters added in a 29-yard field goal on the last play of the first half, while sophomore fullback Gavin Koontz took a three-yard plunge into the end zone in the third quarter to round out the scoring for both teams.

Carter threw for 152 yards on the night, giving him 1,386 total yards for the season, and 3,863 yards for his career. That number breaks his uncle – and Wellsville Offensive Coordinator – Shawn Carter’s 25-year-old record of 3,765 yards. Carter has 14 touchdown passes, 3 total two-point conversions, and three touchdown runs on the season.

Next week, Wellsville is at Edison and will finish up 2020 with a home game versus rival Toronto in two weeks.

The Wellsville defense was a different team this week. After allowing 396 yards to Buckeye Central, the Tigers held Valley Christian to 139 total yards and holding the Eagles to just 2/10 on third & 4th down conversions.
Because of injuries and an ejection, Valley Christian was down to its third-string quarterback for the second half.
Two Valley Christian players were ejected.
The Tigers were flagged five times for 55 yards, while the Eagles were flagged 10 times for 110 yards.
The Tigers held the ball for almost 30 minutes on offense and held a 20-8 first down edge.
Lemaster is on a tear the last three games, going 11/11 on extra points and field goal attempts combined.

*Story Contributed by YSN’s Gary Althiser