ALLIANCE: The first trip to the playoffs for the East High School football program was certainly a memorable one.
East ventured to Marlington on Saturday and used a powerful rushing attack to earn a 50-37 victory over the previously undefeated Dukes in a Division III, Region 9 quarterfinal.
The Dragons, a program that had 27 players just five years ago and now has over 60 players, advanced to play New Philadelphia, a 17-14 winner over Buckeye, at 7 p.m. next Saturday at a site to be determined.
“This is a fantastic time to be over at East High School,” coach Marques Hayes said
Senior Jemarulin Suggs and junior Devanier Floyd were the standouts for East (8-3) on Saturday. Suggs rushed for 263 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries, and Floyd rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries.
“This was a wonderful night,” Floyd said. “Once you see a crease, you have to hit it.”
East’s offensive line of juniors Tanner Kelly, Ramon Fields, Kendrick Buckley and Armani Farrey were solid along with sophomores DeeArius Reese and Derell Glover.
“We had a good ground game,” said Suggs, a University of Akron recruit. “We made a couple of mistakes, but our ground game certainly helped us. ... We also had a crowd tonight, so that pushed us even more.”
Hayes praised his players for studying film and “building their football IQ up.”
East sophomore Ryan Collins completed 3-of-4 passes for 71 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown to junior Daishawn Brimage in the second quarter.
“Our run was good tonight and our line was blocking well,” Brimage said. “We sucked them in and got the pass off. Ryan threw a nice ball in the air and I had to make a play.”
East led 16-15 after one quarter and 24-15 at halftime. The Dragons held a 36-22 lead through three, and finished with seven touchdowns and four two-point conversions.
Senior Chris Pennell completed 15-of-31 passes for 257 yards and five touchdowns for the Dukes (10-1). Senior Sean Cooley had eight receptions for 93 yards and two touchdowns, and made 3-of-3 extra-point kicks for coach Beau Balderson.
Seniors Brady Andrew, Jaquiez Sampson and Brock Himmelheber each caught one of Pennell’s touchdown passes. Sampson rushed for 133 yards on 17 carries, had six returns for 105 yards and caught three passes for 81 yards.
East seniors De’Andre Brimage, Jaleel Ervin and Kerriyon Sommerville, junior Jayshawn Robinson and sophomore Kyre Williams were disruptive defensively.
“We had so many guys come out to play tonight,” said De’Andre Brimage, a UA recruit who had three sacks. “We all stepped up.”
Dragons senior Marquess Callaway snagged one interception.
“This is exciting,” said Callaway, another University of Akron recruit. “We are happy to be out here and play. We have been practicing hard all season and we have kept the tempo up.”
Senior Justin Allen led Marlington’s defense with eight tackles.
“I liked how we persevered tonight,” Ervin said. “We made a lot of mistakes on defense, but we kept battling back and kept our heads up.”
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the #ABJVarsity high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.