Lake County Sentinel
The Elijah show leads Blue Devils past Cuyahoga Hts., 21-7
BY TIM SHIRER
SPORTS EDITOR
(CUYAHOGA HTS, OH) - Friday night the undefeated Wickliffe Blue Devils traveled to Cuyahoga Hts. to take on the Red Wolves who were also undefeated at 2-0. The Blue Devils were attempting to start the season 4-0 for the first time since 2020. After a slow start down 7-0 at halftime the Blue Devils made adjustments at halftime and flipped the script outscoring the Red Wolves 21-0 in the second half securing the 21-7 victory and move to 4-0 this season.
After a scoreless first quarter neither team could get much going offensively. The Red Wolves offense started to get things together late in the first half and with 3:55 remaining in the second quarter Cuyahoga Hts. sophomore Zander Meriwether took the ball in from two yards out to give the Red Wolves a 7-0 lead after senior kicker Bryce Rousch nailed the extra point.
With the Blue Devils trailing 7-0 and having only 42 yards offense the Blue Devils made adjustments at halftime and the adjustments paid off.
With 3:27 left in the third quarter the Blue Devils completed a drive of 11 plays and 54 yards when sophomore Dom Porcello ran the ball into the endzone from two yards out tying the game 7-7 after senior Drew Rossman converted the extra points, his first of three on the night to tie the game 7-7.
After the Blue Devils stifling defense stopped the Red Wolves with a three and out forcing a punt Wickliffe marched 49 yards on five plays capped off by freshman Elijah Fitch’s three-yard touchdown run with 10:42 left in the fourth quarter, he wasn’t finished.
The Blue Devils then took control of the game on the next drive by the Red Wolves when senior Eijah John intercepted junior Zach Shafers pass in the endzone and took it all the way back for a touchdown. However, Wickliffe was called for a hold on their own eight-yard line and that’s where they took possession. Wickliffe then drove 92 yards on 10 plays before Fitch scored on a 10-yard run giving the Blue Devils a 21-7 lead with 2:30 left in the final quarter.
Fitch finished with 234 yards rushing on 29 carries. Fitch thanked his offensive line postgame for their blocking which allowed him to have the game he had.
Johns finished the night with two interceptions to lead the Blue Devils defensive attack. Senior Corbyn Haas recovered a fumble with 1:57 left on the clock. It was the second game in a row where Haas recovered a fumble at recovery a key point of the game. The fumbled sealed the Blue Devils win.
Wickliffe finished with 256 yards of offense, including 18 first downs, 13 of those came in the second half.
Wickliffe coach Marce Porecello talked about the diversity and leadership on the team, “We’ve been talking a lot about playing unselfish football and every night it might be a different guy because we do have a lot of weapons.” He went onto say, “We have great leaders, our captains are great leaders. “(senior) Frankie (Bucar) is an unselfish football player. He plays on our defense, plays quarterback when we ask him too. But he ran the football in the stack I tonight too. And he blocked really well for us too. Having that leadership is huge. At halftime something had to be done, and those guys stepped up and took control.”
The Blue Devils will look to remain undefeated next week when they host Independence at Wickliffe Memorial Stadium at 7 pm.
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com follow Tim on Twitter @TBBucsTim or follow us on Twitter @LCSentinelcom
POSTED 09/13/2025 0:48
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Photos by Tim Shirer
