EAST PALESTINE – The East Palestine Bulldogs are on a mission this season as they try to capture their first Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference title since 2017. On Friday night, they took one step closer to that goal with a dominating 40-6 victory over the Wellsville Tigers.

The victory keeps the Bulldogs undefeated on the season with a perfect 6-0 overall mark and a 3-0 league record. More importantly, the win sets up a first-place battle in the league next week when the Bulldogs face the United Eagles.

“We’re 6-0 for the first time since 1982, but we cannot possibly be satisfied with the lack of discipline that we displayed tonight,” Bulldogs head coach Michael Demster remarked following their 13 penalties in the game. “It wasn’t just in the number of penalties, but also in our execution. I don’t know if we are looking ahead or if we thought we were going to walk in here and just roll over them.”

“It has been a very special year,” Bulldogs senior offensive and defensive lineman Ayvre Klingensmith said. “It has been a long time since East Palestine has been 6-0. We are working harder and harder. We want to go 10-0, and we feel that we can.”

The Tigers, on the other hand, remain winless on the season as they drop to 0-6 and 0-3 in the league. The Tigers have lost three consecutive games against the Bulldogs, including an exciting 28-27 loss last year.

“We fought to the end, the kids gave us effort,” stated Tigers head coach Jim Tsilimos. “They came and played, and I’m proud of them. They gave us a good effort for all four quarters.”

The Bulldogs left little doubt about the eventual outcome of the contest, scoring on four of their first five offensive possessions to build a commanding 26-6 halftime advantage. They would tack on two touchdowns in the second half to score their 40 points on the night.

“We have come a lot farther than I had anticipated this year,” Demster said. “We have grown up very fast, and we are executing at a high level when we want to. But we can’t look past any opponents. We have to come in next week ultra-focused on the task at hand.”

To go along with the lopsided score, the Bulldogs dominated the yardage in the game as they rushed for 225 yards and passed for another 142 yards. Defensively, they also controlled the contest by holding the Tigers to 52 total yards in the game, including just 14 rushing yards.

“Defense wins games,” Klingensmith said. “Our offense will most likely score at some point. And our defense keeps improving, and as long as it improves, our whole team improves.”

Running back Zach Schnelle would lead the Bulldogs with 166 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns, while quarterback Clark Rutledge would throw for 142 yards on 10 of 16 attempts and 1 touchdown. Braydon Plum hauled in four of those completions for 97 yards and a touchdown.

The Bulldogs’ offensive explosion began with Schnelle scoring his first touchdown on a 2-yard run at the 7:56 mark of the first quarter on the Dogs’ opening possession. Following an exchange of fumbles, the Bulldogs quickly struck again, this time, Rutledge connected with Plum on a 50-yard pass to push the Bulldogs out to a 14-0 advantage with 3:43 left in the first quarter.

“It’s amazing, because when they are breaking away, we are either going to get in trouble for not blocking correctly, and they are making great plays, or our blocking is amazing, and we give them a nice hole where they just take off,” Klingensmith said about the Bulldogs’ skill players’ big-play scoring.

The Bulldogs added a 2-yard run just over a minute into the second quarter, followed by a 1-yard scamper by Rutledge to push their lead out to 26-0. Rutledge’s score came with 4:19 remaining in the half.

The Tigers showed a lot of pride as their defensive back Ethan Morris picked off a Rutledge pass at the Bulldogs’ 27 with just 14 seconds remaining in the first half. The Tigers capitalized on the miscue as quarterback Jeron Jackson blasted into the endzone from 1-yard out as the first half clock expired. That provided the Bulldogs with a 26-6 lead at the intermission.

“We are getting in and out of the huddle, not making those kinds of mistakes. We are learning, and I love them for that,” Tsilimos said about his young squad.

The Bulldogs scored on their first two possessions of the second half, utilizing just three offensive plays. Schelle scored both times, the first on a 9-yard run with 9:16 left in the stanza, and then again on a long 65-yard run with 7:53 remaining in the third frame.

The Tigers closed the contest, driving into Bulldog territory twice, once to the Bulldogs’ 38 before turning the ball over on downs, and again at the close of the game when they reached the Bulldogs’ 36.

“There are positives, yeah. We just can’t make mistakes at crucial moments, and we have made some. So that hurts,” Tsilimos said on the Tigers’ need to improve.

The Tigers will look for that elusive first victory next Friday night when they travel to Lisbon. It will mark the first time that Tsilimos has faced the Blue Devils as an opposing coach. The Bulldogs will play at United next Friday in what could determine the EOAC title.

WE: 0-6-0-0–6

EP: 14-12-14-0–40

SCORING

EP – Zach Schnelle 3 run (Brad Bartels kick)

EP – Braydon Plum 50 pass from Clark Rutledge (Bartels kick)

EP – Schnelle 2 run (kick blocked)

EP – Rutledge 1 run (kick blocked)

W – Jeron Jackson 1 run (kick blocked)

EP- Schnelle 9 run (kick failed)

EP – Schnelle 65 run (Rutledge pass to Peyton Rutledge)

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W E

First downs 4 15

Total Yards 52 367

Rushes-yards 28-14 26-225

Passing 38 142

Comp-Att-Int 3-6-0 10-16-1

Punts 6-26.83 1-32

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-Yards 10-82 13-140

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INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING–WELLSVILLE, Leland Monte 9-8, Ryder Culp 11-3, Jeron Jackson 8-3; EAST PALESTINE, Zach Schnelle 17-166, Clark Rutledge 5-52

PASSING–WELLSVILLE, Jeron Jackson 3-6-38-0-0; EAST PALESTINE, Clark Rutledge 10-16-142-1-0

RECEIVING–WELLSVILLE, Ryder Culp 2-19, Ethan Morris 1-19; EAST PALESTINE, Braydon Plum 4-97, Tanner Morrow 4-31

INTERCEPTIONS – WELLSVILLE, Ethan Morris

FUMBLES – WELLSVILLE, Culp; EAST PALESTINE, Colton Early