Lake County Sentinel
Blue Devils led by Logan "Mr Everything" Ruscin cruise past rival Independence 33-14
BY TIM SHIRER
SPORTS EDITOR
(INDEPEDENCE, OH) - Coming into Friday’s night game the Wickliffe Blue Devils were 4-3 and were coming off a big win a week earlier when they beat Cuyahoga Hts. 37-18. The Independence Blue Devils entered the game 3-4 hoping to reach the .500 mark. On Friday night the Blue Devils from Wickliffe dominated the game on both sides of the ball as they went on to cruise to victory over Independence 33-14.
Wickliffe got on the board early with 7:57 left in the first quarter when senior Mr. Everything Logan Ruscin took the ball 82 yards to the endzone to give Wickliffe a 6-0 lead after the Blue Devils extra point attempt was blocked.
There was not much action on the scoreboard for the next 15 plus minutes until who else? Ruscin took the ball in from seven yards out to give Wickliffe a 13-0 lead after junior Drew Rossman converted the extra point.
The Blue Devils took the 13-0 lead into halftime but did not wait long in the second half to extend their lead. After Independence fumbled the second half kickoff and Wickliffe got possession at the Independence 48. Just over four minutes later with 7:41 remaining on the clock in the third quarter Ruscin struck again, this time carrying the ball in from one yard out. The two-point conversion failed, and the Blue Devils led 19-0.
The big blow came next. After Independence failed to score and Wickliffe took over on downs the Blue couldn’t get a drive going and Ruscin who is also the Wickliffe punter dropped back to punt from the Wickliffe 42. The snap was bad, and Ruscin had to chase it back to the Wickliffe 20-yard line. He picked the ball up and saw an opening, taking the bad snap back for what is recorded as a 58-yard touchdown (80 from where he picked the ball up) giving the Blue Devils an insurmountable 26-0 lead after the Rossman extra point.
Independence was not going away. With 2:59 left on the third quarter clock quarterback Dominic Narduzzi hit Rocco Ressler with a 27 yard strike in the endzone to cut the Blue Devils lead to 26-6 after Independence could not convert the extra point.
With 11:27 left in the fourth quarter Independence cut the Blue Devils lead to 12 at 26-14 when Narduzzi hit Lucas Mlynarczyk with a 14-yard pass in the endzone and converted the two-point conversion.
After trading the ball Independence was driving. They had a 27-yard touchdown pass called back on an offensive pass interference which was pretty obvious when the receiver pushed off on the defender to create space. The penalty sent Independence back to the Wickliffe 42. The Blue Devils then forced another loss. On the next play Narduzzi dropped back to pass and was pressured by the Wickliffe defense. Wickliffe senior nose guard Andrew Darch stayed home and saw the play developing. Narduzzi released the ball and threw it right into Drach’s arms and he rumbled 50 yards to the endzone sealing the Blue Devils 33-14 win over rival Independence. The Darch pick six was the third of three interceptions by the Blue Devils defense. Seniors Jimmy Wheeler and Nunzio Zivnoska also had interceptions in the win.
The Blue Devils totaled 367 yards, all on the ground on 40 carries. Meanwhile the Independence offense managed only 267 total yards, 173 through the air and 96 on the ground. Ruscin led everyone on the field as he rushed for 211 yards on eight carries and also had one kickoff return for 25 yards for a total of 236 yards in the game. Oh, let’s not forget his three punts for an average of 34 yards. Ruscin is as of now in the running for both offensive and special teams Sentinel player of the year.
Wickliffe will finish the season with two straight home games starting with a matchup with the Brooklyn Hurricanes (2-6, 1-2) next Friday at Wickliffe Memorial Stadium at 7 pm..
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com follow Tim on Twitter @TBBucsTim or follow us on Twitter @LCSentinelcom
POSTED 10/12/2024 00:25
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Photo by Tim Shirer
