Lake County Sentinel
Blue Devils suffer first defeat 41-34
. BY TIM SHIRER
SPORTS EDITOR
It was a battle of two undefeated Chagrin Valley Conference teams on Friday Night when the Cuyahoga Heights Redskins visited the Wickliffe
been Blue Devils at Wickliffe Memorial Stadium. The two teams entered the game unblemished at 6-0. When all was said and done the Redskins prevailed in a shootout 41-34.
The first sixteen minutes of the game were a defensive battle as both teams were held scoreless. The Redskins got on the board first on a four-yard touchdown pass from Junior Sam Shafer to Junior Kyle Polack to give Cuyahoga Hts a 7-0 lead with 7:40 left in the second quarter.
The Blue Devils countered a little over three minutes later when Senior Isaac Pettway scored on a run from one yard out tying the game 7-7 with 3:12 left in the second quarter.
The Redskins came right back with just :02 left on the clock in the 1st quarter when Shafer hit Polack with a one-yard pass for a touchdown, giving Cuyahoga Hts. the 14-7 lead.
The seven-point lead for the Redskins was the score when the first half ended 14-7.
The second half was anything but the defensive battle that the first half was, as Cuyahoga Hts. scored just 1:01 into the half with 10:59 left on the third quarter clock giving the Redskins a 20-7 lead after Cuyahoga Hts Junior kicker Ryan Rose missed the extra point conversion.
The Blue Devils struck back with 7:31 left on the 3rd quarter clock when Pettway crossed the goal line from 13 yards. The TD closed the gap to six points at 20-14.
The Redskins went back up by thirteen points just 2:35 later when Senior Brayden DiSanza scored on a four-yard TD run. After the extra point conversion Cuyahoga Hts. led 27-14 with 4:56 left in the 3rd quarter.
Cuyahoga Hts. did not hold the thirteen-point edge for long as on the kick off Senior Jaylen Bowers returned the kickoff 70 yards to the Cuyahoga Hts. three-yard line. One play later Pettway ran the ball into the end zone, pulling the Blue Devils to within seven at 27-20 after Dieterich failed to convert the extra point with 4:35 left in the 3rd quarter.
Then the Wickliffe came all the way back to tie the game at 27-27 when Dieterich galloped 61 yards for a touchdown with just 1:06 left on the 3rd quarter clock.
The Redskins then struck back in what had turned into a battle of offenses when Shafer hit Bartosik on a 28-yard TD pass to put Cuyahoga Hts. back on top by seven at 34-27 with 10:17 left in the game.
The Blue Devils would not go away as Dieterich struck again on a five-yard TD run, to once again tie the game, this time 34-34 with 5:55 left on the clock.
The big blow of the game came just :49 later when Shafer hit Polack with a fifty-yard pass for a touchdown to give the Redskins a 41-34 lead with 5:06 left on the 4th quarter clock.
Wickliffe who looked like they were going to mount one more scoring drive. But had no more magic left when Dieterich threw an interception to Bartosik with 1:42 left on the game clock, ending the drive and Wickliffe’s chances of moving to 7-0.
Both offenses combined for 755 yards, 430 through the air 318 of those yards belonged to Cuyahoga Hts. Bartosik caught ten passes for 212 yards leading all receivers. Pettway led all rushers with 33 rushes for 178 yards.
The 7-0 Redskins will be at home next week against Cardinal to play the Huskies at 7:00 p.m. at Ralph P. Adams Stadium. The 6-1 Blue Devils will look to get back on track against the Fairport Harding Skippers when it will be homecoming at Wickliffe Memorial Stadium at 7:00 p.m..
@SportsSentinel POSTED 10/05/2018 23:35
