photo by: Joe Lovell

SHADYSIDE – Starting the season with a sophomore quarterback replacing an All-Ohio signalcaller from a season ago, East Palestine head coach Michael Demster wasn’t sure what to expect in Thursday night’s season-opener at Shadyside.

It didn’t take long for Demster to figure out everything may just be alright.

Clark Rutledge threw for 196 yards and four touchdowns, junior RJ May had a trio of scores and the Bulldogs’ defense was stellar in an unexpected 40-7 victory over the Tigers at Fleming Field.

“We lost five offensive lineman and an all-state quarterback from last year, so with a different team we honestly didn’t know what to expect,” Demster commented. “But we got to town early, we got loose and everything else took care of itself.”

Things didn’t start out great for the ‘Dogs, however, the hosts missed a golden opportunity early, recoving a fumble at the 26 on the opening kickoff. But the Tigers had a five-yard first down penalty and proceeded to gain only seven yards on four plays.

East Palenstine drove all the way to Shadyside’s 27 before turning the ball over on downs, before the Bulldogs’ offense caught fire. The visitor used a seven-play, 81-yard drive to put the first touchdown of the season on the board.

Capping the play was a 53-yard pass down the sidelines to junior receiver RJ May. Nate Mead’s PAT made it 7-0. After another three-and-out for the Tigers May once again was a problem with a 31-yard punt return to the enemy 30.

Sophomore quarterback Clark Rutledge wasted little time, finding May for his second score of the night to make it 13-0. Rutledge’s third touchdown pass of the second quarter, this one from 25 yards to freshman Kade Morrow, made it 20-0 at the break.

Overall, the Bulldogs held a 245-54 margin in first half yardage.

May started the second half with a one-yard scoring burst before senior Zach Schnelle trotted in from 31 yards out a little late for a 33-0 count. Braden Plum’s 25-yard catch closed East Palestine’s scoring.

Shadyside added its only score late in the contest when junior Ace Nelson went in from 13 yards away for the final score.

Schnelle finished with 91 yards rushing while May caught three passes for 83 yards. He also two touchdowns through the air and one on the ground. Nelson finished with 77 yards on the ground for Shadyside.

“You never want to start the game with a fumbled kickoff, but we didn’t flinch on defense and got the ball right back,” Demster added. “We knew Rutledge was going to be a good quarterback, but that was a great game for a sophomore.”

The final yardage margin was 352-164.

“Give them a million percent of the credit, they were ready to play physically and they clicked on all three phases of the game,” Mike Kernik said. “We could just not move the football and we gave up quick scores on defense, even though we played well at times on that side of the ball.

“This is bad for the kids, they worked hard the entire offseason and we expected so much more. But when all is said and done, I have to look at myself to do things differently.”

East Palestine 40 , Shadyside 7

East Palestine 0 20 13 7

Shadyside 0 0 0 7

EP–May 53 pass from Rutledge (Mead kick)

EP–May 30 pass from Rutledge (kick failed)

EP–Morrow 25 pass from Rutledge (Mead kick)

EP–May 1 run (kick failed)

EP–Schnelle 31 run (Mead kick)

EP–Plum 25 pass from Rutledge (Mead kick)

S–Nelson 13 run (Ramsey kick)

RUSHING: East Palestine (33-156-2): Schnelle 12-91-1: C.Rutledge 12-44: May 7-15-1; P.Rutledge 2-6). Shadyside (22-62-1): Nelson 12-77-1; Johnson 9-(-16); Wallace 1-1).

PASSING: East Palestine (8-13-196-4) – (all by Rutledge). Shadyside (819-102): (all by Johnson).

RECEIVING: East Palestine (8-196-4): May 3-83-2; Simon 2-39; Plum 2-49-1; Morrow 1-25-1). Shadyside (7-102): Wallace 1-23; Sloan 4-58; Hendershot 1-(8); Cook 1-29; Nelson 1-8).

FIRST DOWNS: East Palestine 16, Shadyside 7.

FUMBLES: East Palestine 3-1, Shadyside 0.

PENALTIES: East Palestine 5-40, Shadyside 6-33.