Lake County Sentinel
Blue Devils hold off Orange for homecoming win 34-27
BY TIM SHIRER
SPORTS EDITOR
On Friday Night at Wickliffe Memorial Stadium it was homecoming as the Wickliffe Blue Devils welcomed the visiting Orange Lions. The Lions entered the game with a 2-3 record, The Blue Devils sported a 4-1 record and were hoping to rebound from being throttled last week by rival Perry. Things could not ended better as they Blue Devils held off the Lions 34-27 to improve to 5-1 and 2-1 in the CVC.
The first quarter was pretty quiet as the first points were put on the board with 2:17 left when sophomore sensation Isaac Pettway scampered 63 for his first TD of the game. Senior Jared Tennant added the extra point to give Wickliffe the 7-0 lead.
On their next possession the Lions struck back to pull within one point at 7-6 when Jake Sonkin ran for a one yard TD.
Wickliffe extended their lead to 13-6 with 4:45 left in the first half when senior QB Lucas Thomeier kept the ball and ran for a five yard touchdown, the extra point attempt failed. The Blue Devils pulled farther ahead after an Orange turnover when Pettway ran for his second TD of the half. This time he ran 59 yards giving Wickliffe a 20-6 advantage after Tennant converted the extra point.
Orange pulled to within 11 with :36 left in the first half when Drew Cerney kicked a 30 yard field goal to put the score at 20-9 at half time.
The Blue Devils scored quickly to start the second half when Thomeier hit fellow senior Justin Fortkamp with a 26 yard TD pass. The TD pass was Thomeier’s fifth of the season, giving Wickliffe an 18 point lead at 27-9 with 10:50 left in the third quarter.
The Orange Lions were not going away scoring the next two touchdowns and converting a two point conversion to pull to with three points at 27-24 with 6:43 left in the contest.
The Blue Devils sealed the victory with 4:57 remaining when junior Nick Fenton darted 67 yards for a TD extending the lead to 34-24 after the extra point conversion.
The Lions managed one more field goal to pull to within seven points when Cerney converted from 28 yards out with 2:04 left in the contest.
Wickliffe once again ran the ball like a machine in the game as they racked up 403 yards on the ground on 50 attempts. Orange ran the ball 39 times for 198 yards.
Pettway now has 941 yards for the season on 88 carries. Pettway also has 14 TD’s leading the Blue Devils in all three categories.
Next up for Wickliffe will be Friday at Jack Britt Stadium in Painesville against the Harvey Red Raiders. Orange will be at home against West Geauga.
@IndiansTim POSTED 09/30/2016 23:52
