TRI-COUNTY LEAGUE United brings an end to E. Palestine streak

The Eagles had their first shutout of the season, beating the Bulldogs, 45-0.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
EAST PALESTINE -- Nearly two years to the day of the East Palestine High football team's last Tri-County League loss, the Bulldogs' league winning streak is over.
United scored on all four of its first-half possessions to jump out to a 29-0 halftime lead and coasted to a 45-0 victory over the defending TCL champions Friday at Reid Stadium.
The loss snaps the Bulldogs' streak of 13 straight league wins, dating to Sept. 21, 2001 when they lost a 28-24 decision to Crestview.
"We have goals every week, and stopping that streak was one of our goals for this week," said United coach D.J. Ogilvie, whose team improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the TCL. "We wanted to be able to say we ended the streak and it makes for a nice feather in our cap."
All-state receiver Corey Manfull continued his assault on opposing defenses, scoring four touchdowns and rushing for 89 yards on 11 carries. He added six catches for 93 yards.
On defense, he contributed an interception.
Balanced offense
The United offense employed a balanced attack against the young East Palestine defense.
The running of Manfull and the accurate passing of quarterback Mitch Phillis enabled the Golden Eagles to do whatever they wanted when they had the ball.
Field position played a key role on the Golden Eagles' first three possessions as United started at its 49-, 48- and 41-yard line, respectively.
They took advantage, scoring each time.
After a pair of Manfull touchdown runs gave United a 14-0 lead after one quarter, the Eagles added 15 second-quarter points.
Joe Briceland found the end zone on a seven-yard TD run with 8:22 left in the second quarter. Phillis found Manfull for the two-point conversion to pad the lead to 22-0. Manfull added his third TD.
Ogilvie credited Phillis for the success of the United offense.
"Everything in our offense runs through Mitch first," Olgivie said. "He takes a lot of pride in his accuracy throwing the ball. If he doesn't do such a good job for us, then guys like Manfull and Briceland don't get the ball."
Phillis threw for at least 100 yards for the fifth time this season, finishing with 163 on 14-of-22 passing to surpass 1,000 yards.
Bulldog drive
East Palestine's best drive of the game came late in the first half. The Bulldogs drove inside the United 30-yard line, thanks to a 44-yard run by Brett Young and several successful screen passes by sophomore quarterback Zac Dunn.
But the United defense stiffened and Manfull's interception stopped the drive.
The Golden Eagle defense played much better football, posting its first shutout of the season. After giving up an average of 32 points per game the past two weeks, the unit dominated the line of scrimmage and controlled the East Palestine offense. United recovered one fumble and grabbed two interceptions.
For East Palestine, injuries continued to mount as senior lineman Jason Faust left the game with a knee injury.