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Wickliffe, Ohio – Last season, the Blue Devils suffered a 43-6 defeat at the hands of the Cardinals to open the season. This time around it was a different story. The Blue Devils controlled the game, never trailing while forcing four turnovers along the way.
In the first quarter the Cardinals after a solid opening return from Ben Montgomery, quickly went 3 and out punting the ball to Wickliffe. This led to a 71-yard touchdown drive all on the ground led by Junior running back Bobby Plumb. From 9 yards out EJ Mester, the Blue Devils quarterback took it himself on a designed draw to cap off an excellent drive to start their season.
The extra point was blocked making the score 6-0 with 3:39 remaining in the first quarter. On the ensuing drive EJ Mester finished the quarter in style intercepting Nick Arra’s pass to go along with his touchdown.
Following the interception Wickliffe’s Logan Ruscin recovered a fumble on a muffed punt which set them up in great field position. But the Cardinals held their ground. On 4th and 5 Brookside’s Brennan Gainer stepped up and sacked Mester forcing a turnover on downs with 6:41 remaining in the half. This sack seemed to give the visiting Cardinals a jolt of momentum.
After putting together their best drive of the game to this point, the Cardinals were faced with a tough decision after coming up short on 3rd down. From Wickliffe’s 10-yard line, they decided to not take the points and go for it on 4th and 1. Wickliffe’s Ralph Jackson and Noah Dohm swarmed onto Montgomery forcing a turnover on downs at the 1:10 mark in the 2nd quarter.
The Blue Devils started with the 2nd half looking to find the same success they found on their opening offensive drive. Wickliffe failed to do so, punting back to Brookside. Throughout the quarter both teams struggled offensively. Multiple penalties by both teams put halts to any momentum on that side of the ball.
After only scoring 6 points combined between the two teams through 3 quarters, the scoring opened up with some big plays. Bobby Plumb of Wickliffe put together a quite impressive drive himself. Having a big gain of 29 yards on a handoff.
He later finished off the drive with a tackle breaking run of 26 yards to the end zone to give Wickliffe a 12-0 lead. Their two-point conversion failed which in turn gave the Cardinals some life. On the first play of the next drive, Brookside decided to use some trickery and it paid off. Running back Ben Montgomery took a toss and threw to a wide-open Anthony Robinson for a 60-yard touchdown and just like that Brookside was right back in it.
With the balance of the game shifting back and forth, who was going to take control? Wickliffe went back to Bobby Plumb. He added another chunk play with a run of 25 yards to get the Devils into scoring range. On 2nd and goal from the 5-yard line, Plumb punched in his second score of the game putting the home team back up by two scores. Another failed extra point gave Brookside some life with 6 minutes to go.
Wickliffe picked up another turnover on the following kickoff as Logan Ruscin recovered his 2nd special team’s turnover of the game. One final stand from Brookside on 4th and 5 gave the Cardinals one final try to put points on the board down two scores.
But that hope and comeback was short lived as on the first play Sophomore Nunzio Zivnoska blitzed off the edge and forced a fumble recovered by Junior Blake Primozic. Capping off a great defensive performance from Wickliffe to open the season. Next week, Wickliffe hosts the Akron North Vikings and Brookside will open their home season against the visiting Red Wolves of Cuyahoga Heights.
Players of the Game:
Wickliffe Running Back, Bobby Plumb
Two 4th quarter touchdowns including the game winner, the key difference maker in the Blue Devils victory.
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