Chieftains earn huge road win, get to 3-0

MILAN - They don't flinch. They don't get phased by anything.Hopewell-Loudon knew coming in that it was going to be a four-quarter battle.Hopewell-Loudon defeated Edison 22-14 at Freedom Field on Friday in non-conference play."I'm just so proud of our guys," Hopewell-Loudon coach Brian Colatruglio said. "Our guys are so physically and mentally tough. We don't get phased."Even when Edison (2-1) didn't come out to play very well in the first half but roared in the second half, it didn't bother the Chieftains (3-0) at all."I told them at the half. Edison doesn't lose. They don't lose that often and that they were going to come out and fight like crazy. I knew this was going to be a four quarter game," Colatruglio said.That it was."We lost the game up front at the line of scrimmage," Chargers coach Jim Hall said. "We couldn't do the things we like to do. Our first drive was great, and then we turned it over. Then they got it and then we got it and turned it over again. We gave up a ton of field position and they capitalized."The first half was not the shining moment for the Chargers. They received the ball first and after carrying it for a total of 47 yards on two carries was Bryson Wittmer. On a second and five on the 10 yard line, Edison fumbled it and Jaysin Cramer recovered it for H-L.The Chieftains had it for a total of four minutes before they were forced to punt on a fourth and seven. Edison did the same on their next possession. H-L ended the quarter with the ball on the 29 yard line of the Chargers on a first and ten."We made a couple of mistakes in the secondary," Hall said. "Just everything that could go wrong or get blown, did. Credit to Hopewell though, they are a well-coached team. Their guys up front were tough."From there, the second quarter started and after gaining a yard, Kellen Frankart passed it to Jack Colatruglio for 23 yards, which moved it to the five yard line. Frankart ran it for the touchdown but the attempted two point conversion was no good.Edison, a couple of plays later, converted a third and 13 into a first and 10 after a pass from Cole Leimeister to Andy Strecker was good for 14 yards from the 45 to the 41 yard line. But, three plays later, they turned it over to the Chieftains after failing to convert on a fourth down and five on the 37 yard line. H-L wasted no time moving the ball down the field. On a third and fifth at the 19 yard line, Ellis was sacked by Jacob Kul, which resulted in an eight yard loss. It wasn't looking good on a fourth and 13 situation, but Ellis threw it to Colatruglio for a 27-yard touchdown at the 25.8 second mark. Ellis passed to Brody Brickman for the two-point conversion.Halftime, the Chieftains were up 14-0 over the Chargers."They are not a team that wants to throw the ball," Colatruglio said. "Obviously when their work horse goes down, they had to figure something else out. We made just enough plays defensively in the second half to win."The first score that the Chargers made was at the 8:09 mark in the third quarter. After a punt from H-L, Edison started on their own 22-yard line. After a pass from Leimeister to Strecker was complete for 14 yards, the next two passes were incomplete. On a third and ten, Leimeister once again passed, this time to Kyle Robinson but a pass interference call on the Chieftains finally moved the ball for the Chargers 15 yards. Another 20 yard penalty was assessed against the Chieftains for a personal foul after Leimiester was shoved out of bounds. That took it down to the 29 yard line of the Chieftains, and after losing two yards on a carry, it moved to a second and 12. Leimiester threw it for 31 yards to Meagrow for the touchdown, and Davidson's point after attempt was good.Right after the return kick, Edison showed a play that was short of miracle, and got them their last score of the game. The Chargers jumped on the chance to recover the ball at the H-L 28 yard line. Leimiester converted a first and ten on the 28 into a touchdown by throwing it to Strecker into the right side of the end zone. Davison's second point after attempt of the night was good.It tied the game at 14.Edison tried to get another score when Ellis's pass to Colatruglio was intercepted by Leimeister. But at their own 10 yard line, and three downs later, the Chargers were forced to punt it away.With 3:06 remaining in the third, H-L started running the clock down and had possession of the ball all the way until the end of the quarter, and were stuck on a second down and three at three when time expired.Within five seconds of the fourth quarter start, Frankart ran the three yards for the final touchdown of the game, and the pass from Ellis to Colatruglio was good for the two point conversion. Tried as Edison might, the first time it had the ball in the fourth, it was intercepted in the end zone by Brickman, and after four minutes of possession time, they were forced to punt it away. Edison got it back, but they were only able to move it from their own 20 yard line down to the 49 yard line before Aiden Ewald sacked Leimeister on back-to-back, and forced the Chargers to turn the ball over to the Chieftains."We got a couple of sacks, and the pick and that just was big plays," Colatruglio said. "Those negative plays and turnovers in a game like this is the difference."