The match up between Ell-Saline and Plainville had early playoff implications. Both teams are in district 6.
Plainville got things going on the ground early. Harrison Gilliland cut through Ell-Saline defenders for a 20-yard run.
However, Plainville couldn't transfer their ground success into points and as the first quarter ticked on the Ell-Saline defense woke up. Plainville quarterback Hadley Gillum dropped back and passed into the open hands of Ell-Saline defender Luke Base, who stayed on his feet until Gillum himself tackled him and stripped the ball to save the possession for Plainville.
In the second quarter the Ell-Saline offense started rolling. Quarterback Garret Walker dropped back and found Kaleb Whitehair for a 35-yard completion into the red zone.
Penalties pushed Ell-Saline back, but Walker kept his cool and threw a quick pass to Keegan Hays for the touchdown. The missed 2-point conversion maked the half-time score 6-0 Ell-Saline.
Coming out of the locker room Ell-Saline scored again to make it 14-0. Then it was Ell-Saline's special team players that made the big play when Plainville's Conner Collins fumbled the ball and Ell-Saline came up with it.
In the ensuing drive, Ell-Saline scored one final time to make the final score 22-0.
Ell-Saline now sits at 4-1, with a trip to Smith Center while drops to 2-3, and will hit the road to Bennington next Friday.
