Cold temperatures and a strong running game by their opponent was all it took to ice the Ellwood Eagles’ hopes for a run into-and-through the upcoming playoffs.

The Akron Rams charged into Memorial Stadium Friday and bested the Eagles 30-14 to spoil Ellwood’s homecoming festivities, capitalizing on their own strengths and highlighting the weaknesses of a young Ellwood squad.

Eagles head coach Mike Stokes said the loss — and the reality that their possible playoff run has been put to rest — would be tough to swallow, but he said he was still proud of his players.

“Our youngness showed, and our inexperience showed; but we played a pretty decent football game,” Stokes said.

“They didn’t quit. That’s a pretty good, experienced football team on the other sideline, and these kids didn’t quit.”

Akron got the scoring started with a 21-yard touchdown reception by Johnny Tubbs, and added a two-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead to cap off a 5:31 drive that started the game.

Ellwood narrowed the lead to two points after a touchdown run by Jalen Furlow. An unsuccessful two-point attempt by the Eagles kept the score at 8-6.

The Rams scored an touchdown on their next drive, adding a second two-point conversion and their lead would remain 16-6 into the second half.

Each team would collected another 8 points in the third quarter — Ellwood scoring their’s on a 20-yard touchdown run by Jalen Furlow — and the Eagles had the ball with only minutes left in the game, trailing 24-14.

But, their hopes for a late comeback would be dashed as a fumble by Furlow game the Rams the ball at the Ellwood 22-yard line.

Akron would score on the next play, giving the game it’s final score of 30-14.

Akron head coach Richard Bevill said the running game was important for the Rams’ overall success, but he attributed the running success to the strong play of the teams’ offensive line.

“If you control the line of scrimmage, you control the game and you give yourself a chance to win. Our running game tonight opened up our passing game,” Bevill said.

“That’s always the big goal for us.”

Stokes said that his team would get back on the practice field and be ready for next Friday’s game against cross-town rival Selma High School.

“We’ll just go and get ready for Selma High next week. That’s always special,” Stokes said.

“After Selma, we’ll take two weeks off then get right back to the weight room. We’ll be all right, you know. We are young, but we’re coming.”