Local Sports

Quakers survive OT to stay perfect

CALCUTTA -- The year was 1962. John F. Kennedy was in the White House -- and it was the last time Salem and Beaver Local's football teams both started their seasons with 4-0 records. That was prior to Friday night.

With perfect records on the line, fans packed Beaver Local's Pastore Field for a Columbiana County showdown between the Beavers and Quakers, and they were treated to a gem. The Quakers rallied from a 27-24 deficit to send the game into overtime with a clutch field goal and won it 33-27 on Brandon Kana's 3-yard run in the extra session.

"It (the winning score) felt great, it was all clogged up and I just had to find a hole," smiled Kana, who finished with 112 yards rushing and the winning touchdown. "It was all or nothing right there. We just kept going, we just kept pushing each other."

"This was a championship game tonight, we treated this as a Columbiana County championship, we beat East Liverpool and we beat Beaver Local and we want to get used to playing for championships," said Salem head coach Ron Johnson.

At 5-0, Salem is off to its best start since the 2019 season when it also won its first five contests under Johnson.

"Obviously Salem's a very good team and they're very well coached," said Beaver Local head coach Mike McKenzie. "I thought we were very physical, we were wrapping and tackling. Turnovers hurt us and honestly most of those turnovers were the result of me and my fault, so I've got to do a better job."

The loss was a tough one for Beaver Local which made some costly mistakes in the contest.

"No. 1, I did a terrible job as a head coach tonight," said McKenzie. "That loss is on me, I made some calls that were bad that I shouldn't have done. The kids played their hearts out, I'm so proud of them. They put it on the line play after play tonight."

Salem got on the board first. The Quakers pounced on a fumbled Beaver Local shotgun snap at the Beavers' 32. The Quakers converted with a 41-yard field goal off the toe of Ronin Sutter to take a 3-0 at the 7:17 mark of the first quarter.

But Beaver Local answered the score by marching 82 yards, mostly through the air, to find the end zone on a four-yard scoring bolt by running back Peyton Cowdery to take a 7-3 lead with 1:51 left in the first quarter. JT Milhoan added the PAT kick.

Salem's defense stopped a Beaver Local march when Quaker defensive back Liam Pierson intercepted a Beaver Local pass in the Salem end zone. Salem capitalized minutes later when senior quarterback Adrian Gelonese fired a 65-yard scoring aerial to talented Bairon Exline who raced into the end zone. Sutter added the PAT and the Quakers went up 10-7 at the 9:14 mark of the second quarter.

But Beaver Local answered with another sustained drive, marching 65 yards and regaining the lead at 14-10 on a nine-yard scoring pass from quarterback Reid Schwerha to Peyton Martin. Milhoan added the PAT.

But in the closing seconds of the second quarter, the Quakers' recovered another Beaver Local fumble at the Beavers' 23 and capitalized with just 18.1 seconds showing before halftime on a three-yard quarterback keeper around right end by Exline. The PAT boot was blocked and the Quakers took a 16-14 lead into the halftime locker room.

"I don't mind saying it because I shoot these guys totally straight, 100 percent honest with them," said Johnson. "I couldn't be more disappointed in our focus and our attention to detail tonight. The number of mistakes we made was inexcusable, so any time you can have these kind of lessons and overcome them and win is a great, great situation for your football team. To play that poorly and find a way to win, I couldn't be more proud of them for that."

Beaver Local led in total offense, 204-160 at half, as the Beavers' Schwerha passed for 172 yards and a touchdown in the first half to lead the hosts, while Salem running back Brandon Kana led the Salem offense in the first half 65 yards rushing and Gelonese passed for 85 yards and a six-pointer before the break.

After a scoreless third quarter, Beaver Local used a special teams gem to set up a touchdown. Jaylen Smith returned a Salem punt 40 yards to the Quakers' 37 and the Beavers scored moments later when Peyton Cowdery rushed six yards up the middle. Milhoan added the PAT and the Beavers took a 21-16 lead at the 11:55 mark of the fourth.

But Salem impressively answered when Zavier Kinsey converted a fourth and goal situation with a five-yard scoring run. The Quakers Kana added a two-point conversion run and Salem led 24-21 with 4:45 left.

But Beaver Local marched 74 yards to find the end zone when AJ Bowser scooted 15 yards up the middle to give the Beavers a 27-24 lead with 2:18 left. The PAT was blocked.

But Salem tied it at 27-27 with a clutch 23-yard field goal by Sutter with just 6.7 seconds left in regulation.

Beaver Local got the ball first in overtime but Salem's senior linebacker Hunter Markham picked off a Beaver Local pass to thwart the hosts lone possession of overtime.

"Here's the difference in the game, I think we took it off them five times and we took care of the football, we didn't turn it over and that's a major, major thing we hang out hat on," said Johnson.

Salem then won it when Kana raced three yards around left end.

"We had to stay undefeated," said Kana.

"He came alive in the second half," praised Johnson of Kana's hard-earned yards.

Salem leads the all-time series with Beaver Local, 9-5.

Beaver Local returns to action next Friday when the Beavers host the Brooke Bruins in Buckeye 8 action.

Salem has an Eastern Buckeye Conference road game next Friday night at Minerva (2-3).

SCORING

SA: 3-13-0-11-6--33

BL: 7- 7-0-13-0--27

SCORING

S – Ronin Sutter 41 field goal

BL -- Peyton Cowdery 4 run (JT Milhoan kick)

S -- Bairon Exline 65 pass from Adrian Gelonese (Ronin Sutter kick)

BL -- Peyton Martin 9 pass from Reid Schwerha (JT Milhoan kick)

S -- Bairon Exline 3 run, 18.1 (kick blocked)

BL -- Peyton Cowdery 6 run (JT Milhoan kick)

S -- Zavier Kinsey 5 run (Brandon Kana run)

BL -- AJ Bowser 15 run (kick blocked)

S -- Ronin Sutter 23 field goal

S -- Brandon Kana 3 run

TEAM STATS

Salem

First downs: 20; Total yards: 376; Rushes-yards: 00-176; Passing: 200; Comp-Att-Int. 12-22-0; Punts 4-33; Fumbles-Lost 0-0; Penalties-Yards 7-60.

Beaver Local

First downs: 19, Total yards 349, Rushes-yards 28-147, Passing 209 Comp-Att-Int. 15-22-2, Punts 3-35, Fumbles-Lost 2-2, Penalties-Yards 9-52.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING -- Salem, Brandon Kana, 25-112, Bairon Exline, 11-53, Zavier Kinsey, 4-11; Beaver Local, Owen Moore, 2-3, Peyton Cowdery, 14-83, AJ Bowser, 7-42, Ryder Culp, 1-7, Jaylen Smith, 1-6, Peyton Martin, 1-6.

PASSING -- Salem, Adrian Gelonese, 12-22-200-1-0; Beaver Local, Reid Schwerha, 15-23-209-1-1.

RECEIVING -- Salem, Bairon Exline, 3-91, Owen Davidson 4-32, Smith, 1-12, Brandon Kana, 2-45, Ellis, 1-15; Beaver Local, Jack Nocella, 3-59, Peyton Cowdery, 1-19, Peyton Martin, 3-35, Dillon McKenzie, 3-54, Zaiven Riley, 1-8.