Team

Lowellville

Record	Div.	Conf.
4/6	Div. VII	Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference

Team

Sebring

Record	Div.	Conf.
0/10	Div. VII	Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference

By Greg Gulas

sports@vindy.com

Lowellville

Evan Filip rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns, his last score coming from 1 yard with just four seconds remaining, to help the Lowellville Rockets over the Sebring Trojans, 12-6, on Friday in an Inter Tri-County Tier Two game.

With both teams struggling to mount any type of offense in the first half (Lowellville had 74 total yards on 22 plays and Sebring just 60 yards, also on 22 total plays), Rockets coach Mike Palumbo called the adjustments that his staff made at halftime the turning point in the game.

“This was a big win for us but by no means was it pretty. We were very sloppy in the first half but credit our staff with making the necessary adjustments at the intermission.

“That is what got us pointed in the right direction the remainder of the way,” Palumbo said.

Filip, who led all carriers in the game and Geno Tkach, who rushed for 103 on 19 carries, were the keys for the Rockets on the game’s final drive.

“On the last drive of the game, all I kept saying to myself was just run hard and make sure that you get the ball into the end zone,” said Filip..

“It was an ugly first half for both teams so something just had to break for either team in the second half,” he added.

“I was so nervous when Coach Palumbo called my number, I just followed my blocking and was able to cash in.”

The game’s first real scoring threat came on the third drive of the second half when Sebring’s Dakota Wagner missed a 25-yard field goal attempt, allowing the Rockets to take over on downs.

Lowellville capitalized on the opportunity as Filip directed a 10-play, 80-yard drive in a little less than five minutes, culminating with his first score of the game from 5 yards out for a 6-0 Rockets advantage.

Sebring’s Aaron Oblisk then ran the ensuing kickoff back 82 yards to the Lowellville 2-yard line, setting up Wagner’s 1-yard dash to the end zone two plays later to knot the score at 6-all heading to the final quarter of play.

Tkach, who gained 85 of his 103 yards in the second half, praised Filip for his leadership on the game’s final drive.

“Coach [Palumbo] trusts us so I just follow Evan’s lead. Every thing that I do is based on his reads and because of those reads it all came together on the final drive of the game for us.

“This was a really big win for us. We don’t get cocky when we win nor do we get down on ourselves when we lose,” said Tkach.

“Our goal is the playoffs but we’ll follow our staff’s directive and just take it one game at a time and let the chips fall where they may,” Tkach said.

Trojans coach Jay Brophy was pleased with his team’s overall effort, but acknowledged that his team still has a way to go if they expect to compete for a league title.

“We can’t make excuses and we will get better and compete with the best in the league,” he said.

“The bottom line is that we have to score when we have the opportunity. We have to learn to punch it in when that opportunity is presented to us.

“Lowellville played hard and deserved to win tonight. Give them credit. They are a tough group of players,” Brophy said.

The Rockets held a 14-4 first-down advantage and didn’t allow the Trojans a first down in the game’s final 25:42 of play.

Lowellville held a 291-66 edge in total offense.