Lake County Sentinel
Blue Devils of Wickliffe smack Independence 41-2
BY TIM SHIRER
SPORTS EDITOR
In 2020 nothing has been a sure thing except for chaos on a lot of different fronts and high school sports has been no exception. One thing that was thought to be a given was that if high school football were played the Wickliffe Blue Devils would be a powerful force in Division VI in Ohio. At this point the Blue Devils have disappointed only their opponents and Friday night was no different as they blew out the Independence Blue Devils 41-2 in route to a 5-0 start to the season.
The route started early, with just 2:05 into the game when Wickliffe Senior Chase Fortkamp took the ball Senior Isaiah Bolon nailed the extra point.
Just :56 later with 8:59 left in the first quarter after Independence fumbled and Fortkamp recovered and extended the lead to 14-0 when Senior Quarterback Mason Bala kept the ball and ran it in from 13 yards out for the touchdown.
After Independence once again turned the ball over when Bolon intercepted a pass giving Wickliffe the ball at their own 32. With 3:02 left on the clock in the first quarter Wickliffe increased their lead to 20-0 on a three-yard TD run by Bala. The Blue Devils tried a 2-point conversion after the TD, and it failed.
The second quarter things just got worse for Independence. Thirty-six seconds into the second quarter the Blue Devils of Wickliffe once again pounded the ball into the endzone when Fortkamp took it in from one yard out and Wickliffe was in complete control at 27-0 with 11:24 remaining in the quarter.
Once again the stifling Wickliffe defense lead by Seniors Jack Bunn, Mikey Moon, Tyler Fisher, Zac Esteves, Duke Stanczak and Junior Thomas Wenz stopped Independence as they turned it over on downs and the Blue Devils took over at the Independence 41 with 9:51 left on the second quarter clock. The Blue Devils finished off the drive on a six-yard touchdown pass from Bala to Senior Daniel Byrne giving Wickliffe the 34-0 advantage.
After Wickliffe Senior Donnell Jackson forced another turnover when he intercepted another Independence pass and gave Wickliffe possession at the Indy 30-yard line. The drive ended when Wickliffe Senior Jacob Lewis ran the ball in for a touchdown from three yards out with 5:14 left in the first half giving Wickliffe a 41-0 lead.
The only blemish on the night for Wickliffe was when on an attempted punt the ball was snapped out of the endzone and Independence was credited with a 2-point safety.
The defense for Wickliffe that has been a force all season with their speed and ability to finish plays behind the line of scrimmage forced four turnovers in the game and limited Indy to only seven first down and a total of 166 yards total offense.
The Wickliffe offense did a little more passing then normal as Bala attempted five passes completing all five for a total of 49 yards and a touchdown. The running game was once again nearly unstoppable as Wickliffe pounded the ball on the ground 40 times for 376 yards and five more rushing TD’s.
Next up for Wickliffe is Lutheran East next Friday at Wickliffe Memorial Stadium at 7:00 p.m.
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com follow Tim on Twitter @TBBucsTim or follow us on Twitter @LCSentinelcom
POSTED 09/25/2020 11:59
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