DUKE CENTER — Seth Drummond became Otto-Eldred’s all-time career rushing leader and the Terrors clinched the North Division berth in the Allegheny Mountain League championship game with a 39-0 victory over Smethport on Friday.
“With all the injuries we had last year, we felt there was some unfinished business to take care of,” said Nick LaBella, Otto-Eldred coach. “We felt if we played well we could win the North [this season]. It feels good to win our first division title in a long time.”
“Our community has been energized and the kids are feeding off it. We’ve always had great fan support and the co-op with Oswayo Valley has brought in some good players and given us a chance to play a JV schedule which has helped,” he added.
Drummond, a senior running back, was the workhorse for the Terrors against the Hubbers. He carried the ball 22 times for 118 yards and scored two touchdowns, one on a run and the other on a pass reception.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Terrors erupted for 24 points in the second period.
Drummond put the first points of the night on the board on a six-yard run and he added the PAT to make it 8-0.
The Terrors went up 16-0 on a Grant West touchdown pass to Garret Babcock that covered 81 yards. Seth Drummond added the two-point PAT.
Quarterback Sawyer Drummond finished off the scoring blitz with a 19-yard strike to Seth Drummond, who also ran for the PAT and a 24-0 Terrors’ lead at halftime.
Sawyer Drummond threw his second touchdown pass of the night as play got under way in the third quarter. He found Dylan Close open for a 12-yard strike and West ran for the PAT to make it 32-0.
Jordan Sherwood put the final six-pointer on the board when he picked off a Smethport pass and returned it 60 yards for the touchdown. Juan Bosco Ramiro Alonso applied the finishing touches, splitting the uprights with his PAT kick for the final 39-0 margin.
“We’ve play great team defense over last few weeks,” LaBella pointed out. “That was the key to giving us field position for some short scoring drives.
“Tonight our defensive ends, Nate Shroyer and Chris Connelly, played well and Grant West played very well at linebacker. We also got interceptions from Chase Sebastian and Dylan Close along with Sherwood’s, which he returned for the score.
“Our offensive line was really grinding up front. It was a tough, wet night but they were able to open up some holes and get down field to make blocks in space,” he added.
O-E (5-4) will host Kane (9-0) in the AML title game on Oct. 28. The Wolves claimed the South Division berth with a 14-3 win over Brockway on Friday.
BY QUARTERS
Smethport0 0 0 0 — 0
Otto-Eldred0 24 15 0 — 39
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: Smeth 5, O-E 10; Rushing Plays: Smeth 30, O-E 38; Rushing Yards: Smeth 76, O-E 174; Passing (com/att): Smeth 1-9, O-E 3-4; Passing Yards: Smeth 10, O-E 112; Offensive Plays: Smeth 39, O-E 42; Total Offense: Smeth 86, O-E 286; Interceptions by: Smeth 0, O-E 3; Fumbles-Lost; Smeth 3-1, O-E 2-1; Penalties-Yards: Smeth 6-35, O-E 11-105; Punting-Avg: Smeth 4-31.2, O-E 2-37.5
