East football players celebrated their second win in a row at the University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium by dousing coach Marques Hayes with a bucket of Gatorade.
Hayes and his assistants were fired up after watching their Dragons score 24 unanswered points in the fourth quarter on Friday en route to a 38-31 win over Ellet.
“We just had faith in our team and we didn’t care that we had to play on both sides of the ball,” East senior Jemarulin Suggs said. “We cared about pushing our team forward.”
Suggs rushed for 206 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. Ellet senior Marquise Bridges gained 216 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. Suggs, Bridges and East seniors Deandre Brimage and Marquess Callaway are all UA recruits.
“We had a good day of practice on Thursday,” East senior linebacker Jaleel Ervin said. “Coach Hayes and the staff prepared us for this game and we just worked hard.”
Ellet (6-1, 2-1) led 31-14 through three quarters.
Suggs rushed for a 3-yard touchdown at 10:59, junior Jayshawn Robinson returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown at 6:39 and junior Devanier Floyd rushed for a 2-yard touchdown at 2:25. The Dragons (4-3, 3-0) also made three 2-point conversions with Robinson completing a pass to junior Tanner Kelly and Floyd and Suggs crossing the goal line on rushing plays. Floyd finished with 100 yards on 12 carries.
“One of my coaches said, ‘Coach, we are built for this grind-it-out type of game,’ ” said Hayes, who received the Gatorade shower after last week’s win over Firestone at UA.
“We don’t throw the ball a lot. It’s no secret what we want to do coming into a game, and Ellet is a running team too. The caliber of players we have up front and the way they have jelled has been phenomenal over the past few weeks. Ellet has a heck of a team. They were not 6-0 for no reason. ... I complimented coach Joe Yost before the game. I told him ‘I am always in awe of what you are able to do over there.’ ”
Junior Daishawn Brimage clinched East’s win with an interception with 49 seconds left.
“I am happy for my brother,” Deandre Brimage said. “I like how he stepped up today, and when we went down I am happy that our heads didn’t go down. We kept our heads up and kept fighting.”
The final two minutes and 45 seconds of the first half featured 16 points. Senior Jaret Jones kicked a 28-yard field goal to give Ellet a 3-0 lead with 2:45 left in the second quarter, and then each team scored on special teams. Daishawn Brimage returned a kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown at 2:32 and Bridges returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown at 2:20. Jones’ extra point gave Ellet a 10-6 lead at halftime.
Ellet scored on its first three possessions in the third quarter to lead 31-14. Senior Garrett Haverstick tossed a 55-yard touchdown pass to senior Jackson Pemberton at 9:42 and Bridges scored two touchdowns on a 32-yard run at 5:30 and a 59-yard run at 2:20. Suggs rushed for a 4-yard touchdown and a 2-point conversion with 8:36 left in the third.
Hayes was pleased with his offensive linemen — Kelly, juniors Ramon Fields, Kendrick Buckley and Armani Farrey and sophomores DeeArius Reese and Derell Glover, and the efforts of the Brimage brothers and senior Kerriyon Somerville on defense.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.
