Photo

Youngstown East defender #80 (name not on roster) goes for the sack of Struthers quarterback #6 Tommy Kimbrough.

Team

Youngstown East

Record	Div.	Conf.
1/9	Div. II	All-American Conference Red Tier

Team

Struthers

Record	Div.	Conf.
7/4	Div. IV	All-American Conference White Tier

By Matthew Peaslee

mpeaslee@vindy.com

Struthers

For three straight weeks, this season, Rayfield Bell wasn’t too happy. His East High football team dropped three games in a row and the mood was somber. Add in a nail-biting two point loss to Canfield, last week, and the feeling stung Bell even more.

The defensive back wasn’t about to make it happen again.

Friday night, East jumped out to a 20-0 lead over Struthers at Laddie J. Fedor Field and hung on for a 34-12 win.

“We had some fun out there today,” Bell said. “We’re going to have some fun celebrating in the locker room and we’re going to go into school Monday with a big smile on our faces. It’s a much better feeling than losing.”

Bell and the East defense held the Wildcats to 119 rushing yards. And, when they were forced to throw, his unit was on its toes and nabbed a pair of interceptions. Bell’s fourth-quarter pick killed a Struthers drive, and momentum, as a 42-yard kick return from Ja’Quante Wilburn gave the Wildcats prime field position.

“I like to work for interceptions,” the junior said. “That will probably be one of the easiest I will ever grab, it just fell into my hands. It was still a great feeling.”

Rhodell Franklin also had an interception, his came midway through the second quarter and set up a Panther scoring drive in the red zone.

“I’m in love with my defense,” said East coach Brian Shaner. “They’re all over the place. They’re fast, they’re aggressive and they get the job done. They stopped a good Struthers team and put us in a position to win.”

If Shaner is “in love” with his defense, he’s having an affair with his offense.

On 36 rushing attempts, East ran for 278 yards. Running backs DD Fleetion and George Leflore totaled 103 and 104 yards, respectively. The seniors also had two touchdowns each.

“They’re very unselfish players,” Shaner said. “They’re a great one-two punch in the backfield.”

Leflore rattled off a 71 yard TD run to get East on the board first. Fleetion completed an eight-play, 85-yard drive, with a 3-yard punch in to get the Panthers up by two touchdowns after Rayshawn Johnson found Valentino Sewell in the back corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion.

Stephen Shackelford got in the fun, too.

“It was a great night all around,” Shackelford said after running for 75 yards. “Coach Shaner really opened up the playbook and we dominated.”

Shackelford also got a touchdown for the first Panther score of the second half.

“We have guys that we can sub in and have all the confidence in the world in them,” Shaner said. “No matter who is touching the ball — they can get the job done.”

Struthers’ Gary Muntean replaced Tommy Kimbrough late in the fourth quarter and completed 3-of-5 passes for 41 yards. David Stewart led the Wildcats with 40 rushing yards.