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Westlake, Ohio – The Westlake Demons improved to 2-0 tonight, with a convincing 45-18 win over Rhodes at home. A commanding defense combined with a quick strike offense, put the Demons ahead 28 early into the first, and the Rams had to play catch up the rest of the game.
The Demons began their opening drive from their own 46-yard line after forcing a Rhodes 3 and out. A few passes to Cooper Rummel picked up two quick first downs. From there, the Demons faced a third and short in which Porcelli stormed ahead for the first down. The Demons finished off the drive with a 14-yard touchdown toss from Brucchieri to Chase Kelly.
Rummel picked off a long Figueroa pass attempt on the first play of the next possession in which he took back to the Rams 17-yard line. The Demons only needed one play to strike with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Brucchieri to Chris Campbell.
Things went from bad to worse for Rhodes as Cooper Rummel picked up his second interception of the first quarter and decided to take this one all the way back to paydirt, to increase the lead to 21-0 with 5:35 still to play in the opening quarter. The Demons tacked on one more touchdown before the quarter was over as Sam Brucchieri took it in from five yards out as the line opened up a massive hole. The quarter ended with the Demons up 28-0.
Early into the second, a 47-yard bomb from Brucchieri to Caden Cole set up the Demons at the Rhodes 3-yard line. One play later it was Porcelli scoring from 3 yards out to make it 35-0 with 8:14 left to play in the first half.
The Rams finally got it cooking late in the first half as a 22-yard fourth down conversion pass from Figueroa to Yadiel Carreras put them deep in Westlake territory at the 21-yard line. They cashed it in on the very play with a Dineo Higden 21-yard touchdown scamper past Demon defenders. This cut into the Demon lead at 35- 6 with 5:29 to play in the first half.
It didn’t take the Demons long to get the points back however, as a failed onside kick by the Rams, gave them excellent field position at midfield. A couple of nice swing passes to Cooper Rummell, would eventually set up a Porcelli touchdown run from 13 yards to extend the lead to 42-6 with a little over 3 minutes to play in the first half.
The Demons went on to cruise to a 45-18 victory from there.
The stars of the game for Westlake were quarterback Sam Brucchieri who went 12 of 17 for 176 yards with 2 touchdown tosses. He also had a rushing touchdown of 5 yards. Starting tailback Matthew Porcelli had 9 carries totaling 61 yards with two touchdowns.
Cooper Rummell did a little bit of everything for the Demons tonight, as he finished with 6 catches for 65 yards, along with two interceptions on defense, including a pick six. Chace Kelly snagged 4 catches for 48 yards including a touchdown. Also scoring a touchdown was Chris Campbell with a 17-yard scoring catch. Jake Ostrowski saw some valuable touches as well, as he compiled 39 yards on 5 carries for the Demons.
The Demons will look to improve to 3-0 as they travel to Warrensville Heights next week.
Players of the game
Westlake QB Sam Brucchieri with 176 yards and 2 touchdowns passing with one rushing.
Westlake RB Matthew Porcelli with 2 rushing touchdowns and 61 yards
Westlake WR/DB Cooper Rummell with 65 yards on 6 catches, two INT’s and a pick six.
Rhodes Rams RB Dinero Higden with over 150 yards rushing, and three rushing touchdowns as well.
