Team

Youngstown East

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

Team

Niles

Record	Div.	Conf.
2/8	Div. III	All-American Conference Red Tier

By Steve ruman

sports@vindy.com

NILES

East coach P.J. Mays had a simple game plan entering Friday night’s All-American Conference (Red Tier) contest against Niles.

“I challenged my offensive staff to get the ball into the hands of Imoni Donadelle,” Mays said. “We wanted to get him involved early, because he can make things happen. We’ve done a horrible job of getting the ball to our great wide receivers in the past, but I wanted that to change tonight.”

Change, it did!

Actually, Donadelle touched the ball just four times, all in the first half. But it was four too many as far as the Red Dragons were concerned, as Donadelle’s heroics led to a 41-28 Panthers road win at Bo Rein Stadium.

The victory lifts East’s record to 2-2 (1-0), while Niles falls to 2-2 (0-2).

Donadelle pulled in three James Boatwright passes — completions of 41, 15 and 90 yards — that all went for first-half touchdowns. Donadelle’s fourth touch was a kickoff return that went for a 75-yard score.

“Never had a game like that — this was an amazing night,” Donadelle said. “The line blocked great, and my quarterback threw it right there and gave me a chance to go get it. This whole team played great tonight. We fought hard as a team and it paid off.”

In all, East amassed 475 yards of offense. Boatwright threw for 198 yards while Leon Bell (15 carries, 157 yards) and Mike Lawrence (11 carries, 141 yards) each eclipsed the 100-yard barrier.

Niles junior quarterback Tyler Srbinovich completed 8 of 14 passes for 103 yards before leaving late in the second quarter with an ankle injury. Jordan Soda relieved Srbinovich and completed 10 of 17 passes for 188 yards. Steven Mintz rushed for 129 yards on 19 carries for the Red Dragons, while Jasson Faison pulled in a game-high nine receptions for 175 yards.

East took a 28-14 lead into the locker room, however Niles scored a touchdown midway through the third period to cut the Panthers’ advantage to 28-21.

Niles was on the verge of scoring a potential game-tying touchdown when a fumble was recovered by East at the Panthers’ 1-yard line. That set up what Mays referred to as “a drive that can turn a season around.”

The Panthers ate 11:13 off the clock in putting together a 14-play, 99-yard drive that was capped with a Larry Reed 2-yard touchdown run.

Lawrence, who recovered the fumble that gave the Panthers possession, gained 80 yards on seven rushes during the drive.

“We showed tremendous heart, a tremendous desire to win on that drive,” Mays said. “We might look back and remember that drive at the end of the season.”

“These kids, they are starting to learn the game, they are starting to learn the program. We’ve had a lot of youth on this team who has taken some shots, but they are starting to get it. They are seeing that they are winners.”

East returns to action Friday at Austintown Fitch

Niles travels to Lakeview.