Lake County Sentinel
Blue Devils blank The Phoenix 48-0 to open the season
BY TIM SHIRER
SPORTS EDITOR
(OBERLIN, OH) - Last season the Wickliffe Blue Devils season ended on the banks of the Ohio River with a heart-breaking close playoff loss to the Toronto Red Knights 33-31. Friday night they began anew and traveled to Oberlin College to take on the Oberlin “The Phoenix” at Bailey Field at the Knowlton Athletics Complex.
Wickliffe entered the game with the largest active roster they have had in years with 44 players. Another thing the Blue Devils have that they did not have in recent years was a lot of depth at skill positions, they have this season, and it showed in the opener as they sent The Phoenix back to the ashes 48-0.
The route started early as the Blue Devils received the opening kickoff using six plays driving 50 yards and scoring on a seven-yard touchdown run by sophomore Jayden Johnson giving Wickliffe a 7-0 with 9:00 remaining in the opening quarter after senior Drew Rossman converted the extra point.
Meanwhile The Phoenix, with a roster of 20 and some good athletes, were simply overmatched by the Wickliffe numbers.
As the first quarter ended Wickliffe had a 14-0 lead after Porcello scored on a one-yard run with 6:00 left that was set up when the sophomore hit junior Nick Oboczky with a 46-yard pass to the one-yard line on the previous play.
The Blue Devils added three more TDs in the second quarter to take a 35-0 lead into the locker room. Aside from the two scores from Johnson and Porcello, seniors Ralph Jackson and Markeese Roberts hit paydirt as well as freshman Elijah Fitch who scored from eight yards out.
The second half was a running clock and Wickliffe’s defense continued to stifle anything The Phoenix attempted to do offensively. The Blue Devils forced two turnovers in the game. The first turnover came just before halftime when Roberts intercepted a pass from Oberlin’s Drew Walters and took it 44 yards to the Oberlin five-yard line as time ran out in the first half. The other turnover took place in the second half on a fumble by The Phoenix and Blue Devils senior Jimmie Feaster fell on the ball on the first play from scrimmage of the third quarter.
The Blue Devils final TD of the game came when freshman QB Jagz Zivnoska took the ball into the end zone on a keeper from 14 yards out with 4:55 left on the fourth quarter clock.
The Wickliffe offense racked up 384 yards while their defense held The Phoenix to minus 10 yards in the contest.
Porcello was 3 for 3 through the air for 103 yards and a TD. While the running game for Wickliffe took care of the rest carrying the ball 36 times for 261 yards and four touchdowns. The Blue Devils ground game was led by Fitch who carried the ball seven times for 56 yards. Zivnoska carried the ball six times for 54 yards and senior QB/WR/RB Frankie Bucar also carried the ball six times and racked up 45 yards. The Blue Devils had 10 different ball carriers in the game.
Wickliffe coach Marce Porcello commented after the game, “This was one of the most prepared teams we’ve had in a while here going into week one.” He went on to say, “I thought we were very physical, especially on the defensive side of the ball.” And also said, “Offensively got the ball in a lot of different guys hands is what we’re trying to do this year. We have a lot of weapons, I thought we ran the ball well, I thought we threw the ball well when we needed to.”
The Blue Devils will try to improve to 2-0 next Friday when they travel to Shaw to play the Cardinals at 5 pm..
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com follow Tim on Twitter @TBBucsTim or follow us on Twitter @LCSentinelcom
POSTED 08/23/2025 01:01
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Wickliffe sophomore quarterback Dom Porcello completes a 20 yard pass to sophomore Cole Vanatta. Photo by Tim Shirer