Lake County Sentinel
Blue Devils suffer first loss 31-14
BY TIM SHIRER
SPORTS EDITOR
(WICKLIFFE, OH) - Friday night at Wickliffe Memorial Stadium it was homecoming for the undefeated (6-0) Wickliffe Blue Devils as they welcomed in their toughest opponent yet the Cuyahoga Hts. Red Wolves (5-1).
By the end of the night the Red Wolves spoiled the Blue Devils HOCO as they out physicaled Wickliffe enroute to a 31-14 win that was not as close as the score indicated for most of the game.
Things did not get off to a good start for Wickliffe as they committed a 15-yard face mask penalty on the opening kickoff to give Cuyahoga Hts. great field position at their own 48 on their first possession. They took advantage and eight plays, and 52 yards later senior Zac Shafer hit junior Nathan Tommer in the endzone from 10 yards out to give the Red Wolves a 6-0 lead (XP failed) with 7:59 left on the first quarter clock.
Things only got worse on the Blue Devils first possession which resulted in a three and out they elected to punt and it was blocked. The Red Wolves recovered on the Blue Devils 24 yard line. Just six plays later Shafer hit senior Kurtis Von Divner in the end zone from seven yards out to give the Red Wolves a 13-0 lead with 2:57 left in the opening quarter. Cuyahoga Hts. never trailed.
As Wickliffe’s offense struggled to get anything going the opening quarter with 7:50 left on the clock in the second quarter Cuyahoga Hts. added to their leading with a 35-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Baryn Rusch giving the Red Devils a 16-0 lead.
The Blue Devils finally got on the board with 2:43 left in the half when senior Nick Oboczky scored on the ground from seven yards. Sophomore kicker Braylen Torrence converted the extra point and pulled the Blue Devils to within nine points.
Wickliffe got right back in the game just 2:23 into the third quarter when Oboczky scored on the ground again, this time from eight yards and after John converted the XP the Blue Devils trailed 16-14 and the hopes of remaining undefeated were still alive.
Their hopes were quickly dashed as Cuyahoga Hts. controlled the rest of the game, scoring with 5:09 left in the third quarter and then with 11:53 left in the fourth on two runs by Shafer giving the Red Wolves a 31-14. The Red Wolves, who were big upfront handled on both sides of the ball handled the Blue Devils easily with Wickliffe never getting anything going in the second half after the opening drive.
Wickliffe committed five penalties for 76 yards, which were a huge factor in the loss.
The Blue Devils run game that normally rushes for 250+ yards was limited to 142 yards on 32 carries.
Meanwhile the Cuyahoga Hts. offense had their way with the Blue Devils defense passing for 147 yards and two touchdowns and ran the ball 33 times for 133 yards and 2 TD’s.
The Blue Devils (6-1) will travel to Perry next week to take on the Fairport Harbor Skippers (1-5), game time is 7 pm on Saturday (October 10).
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com follow Tim on Twitter @TBBucsTim or follow us on Twitter @LCSentinelcom
POSTED 10/02/2026 23:42
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The Wickliffe Blue Devils Swing Band performs at the team's homecoming game on Friday night at Wickliffe Memorial Stadium. Photo by Tim Shirer
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