Elizabeth Forward beats South Park, moves to head of the class in Interstate Conference

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, October 2, 2020 | 11:17 PM

Previous Next

Elizabeth Forward coach Mike Collodi called Friday’s Class 3A Interstate Conference matchup with South Park “the best game his team’s played” in his tenure leading the Warriors.

The Eagles have no argument with that.

Elizabeth Forward, behind a fast and physical style, ran over South Park straight to the top of the conference standings with a 35-0 win at Eagle Stadium.

“I’m kind of disappointed we couldn’t have a lot of fans here because this place would have been packed,” Collodi said. “I think a lot wanted to see a battle between the two unbeatens.”

What the EF faithful missed most was a show by Evan Lewis.

The senior quarterback accounted for all of his team’s touchdowns, with three coming on the ground and throwing for two more.

“Evan had a really great game,” Collodi said. “He made all the right reads tonight, and we threw in a couple wrinkles that we didn’t show on film and they worked out great for us.”

Lewis finished with 175 rushing yards on only 10 carries. He opened with a 63-yard touchdown run on the Warriors’ first possession.

“Anytime you run for that many yards, that means those big guys up front are doing a great job,” Collodi said. “He had some big runs, and they were opening some huge holes for him to run through.”

DaVontay Brownfield and Nico Mrvos each ran for 54 yards as the Warriors (3-0, 2-0) outgained the Eagles, 281-110, on the ground.

“Our defensive line was awesome today. Their quarterback (Harper Conroy) is a great athlete. He has a great arm, and he can run it. So those guys had to work on getting pressure and keeping contain on him,” Collodi said. “Our defensive ends and our outside linebackers did a fantastic job.”

The Warriors held a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter after Lewis connected with Zach Boyd on a 21-yard touchdown pass on a fourth down.

“Even with Evan doing so much, we have a ton of athletes that made contributions tonight,” Collodi said. “Zach made a great play on that ball for the touchdown.

“I think it shows that if you try to take out one of our best players, we have plenty more that can make things happen. This is, by far, the deepest team I’ve ever had here.”

After forcing a turnover on downs at their own 14-yard line, the Warriors took over again and Lewis ran twice for 39 yards to get the ball back into South Park territory. After two Brownfield runs, Lewis ran right through the heart of the Eagles defense for a 39-yard touchdown with three minutes left in the first half to make it 21-0.

Needing a score on the opening possession of the second half, the Eagles couldn’t muster anything and were forced to kick the ball back to EF. Eight plays later, it was Lewis again using his legs for a 13-yard score. Andrew Smith’s PAT made it 28-0.

“We preach fast and physical, and that’s the way we played tonight,” Collodi, a South Park teacher, said. “It’s a great feeling to beat these guys. I coached here for almost a decade, and this is the first time we’ve beaten them since I’ve been here. I have some of those guys in my class, and I told them I root for them every week except one. I wished them good luck, and I’ll be rooting for them next week. They’re a good football team.”

The Warriors invoked the running clock with 1:11 left in the third quarter when Lewis ran a nice play fake and threw to a wide-open Chase Whatton for a 17-yard touchdown for the game’s final score.

“I thought we held our own on the lines,” South Park coach Marty Rieck said. “I did think we’d be a little better defending the run on the perimeter. That’s something we didn’t do. We have a lot of guys in new spots, some due to injuries, but I’m not down on those guys. Mike has a great football team and we have a lot of respect for those guys.”

EF outgained South Park (3-1, 3-1) by a margin of 340-175.

Lewis finished 3 of 5 passing for 59 yards and the two scores.

“I think we made a statement tonight, not just to the conference, but to the WPIAL,” Collodi said. “We’re EF. We’re not going to be satisfied just making it to the playoffs. We’re looking to get in and win a few games when we get there. We’re more than capable of doing it.”

Listen to an archived broadcast of this game on Trib HSSN.

Tags: Elizabeth Forward, South Park