Blue Devils End Regular Season As Region Runners-Up
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Following Thursday night’s victory, Coach Clint Faust reminded players that although some may have written this team off, they prevailed to earn the Runner-Up stop in District 2-2A. The Blue Devils notched four wins during the regular season with an unusually tough schedule.
BRUCE – The Blue Devils made a Thursday night trip to longtime rival Bruce High School to take on the Trojans in the final game of the regular season play on Oct. 26. The Blue Devils started fast and went on to roll to a 55-29 Region 2-2A victory. The win was the fourth of the season, securing the Region 2-2A Runner-Up designation and clinching a home playoff berth in the upcoming MHSAA Class 2A State Playoffs.
The Trojans won the coin toss and deferred their option to the second half. The Blue Devils wasted little time as they put together a five-play, 68-yard drive capped off with a senior running back Jaden Morgan five-yard touchdown rush. Sophomore placekicker Gabe Butler added the point-after out of the hold of Tyler Richardson and the Snap of Reid Burress. The Blue Devils were poised to get off the field when they held Bruce to a fourth and long situation, but the Bruce quarterback shifted around his left guard for a first down to keep their drive alive. The Blue Devils again thought they were off the field when they stripped the Trojan quarterback, but the officials ruled he had broken the plane to tie the ballgame at seven.
Following Thursday night’s victory, Coach Clint Faust reminded players that although some may have written this team off, they prevailed to earn the Runner-Up stop in District 2-2A. The Blue Devils notched four wins during the regular season with an unusually tough schedule.
The second quarter would be all Blue Devils. Senior linebacker Will Embry sacked the Trojan quarterback and recovered a fumble on back-to-back plays to set up the Blue Devils’ second score. Richardson hit junior quarterback Dylan Moore for a 26-yard passing strike. The PAT attempt would be no good to leave the score at 13 to seven. The Blue Devils would add another second quarter score on a nine-yard passing strike from Richardson to senior wideout Taylen Johnson and the two-point conversion attempt was no good.
Bruce would drive down inside of the Blue Devil 10-yard line, but a blocked field goal by junior defensive lineman Donalvin Wilson ended the scoring threat. The Blue Devils were running the two-minute drill well as the seconds clicked down on the first half until a Trojan interception stopped the drive. The game was Blue Devils 19 and Trojans seven at the half.
The third frame was more of the same as the second quarter as it was dominated by the Blue Devils. A rushing explosion led by the Offensive Line of Jack Woodard, Wilson, Hayden Schurr, Ezaryon Riley, and Jake Griffin opened up holes for Morgan and Zae Bradford propelling the Blue Devils to over 400 yards rushing on the night. Morgan finished the evening with 248 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Junior quarterback Richardson had his best Blue Devil outing to date as he went nine of 11 passing for 84 yards and two passing touchdowns.
The Blue Devil self-proclaimed “Wrecking Crew” starting defense held the Trojans to 13 points and under 200 total yards. The unit was led by Embry, Burress, and defensive back Jy Williams, who all recorded over 11 tackles. Also, senior defensive back Ty Pritchard added both an interception returned for a 45 yard touchdown and a 16 yard offensive receiving touchdown in the third quarter. The game was 40 to 13 at the end of the third quarter.
Donalvin Wilson brings down a Trojan player.
The Blue Devils got to empty the bench in the final frame as the Trojans put 16 points on the younger Blue Devils. However, not to be outmatched, Bradford added two fourth quarter rushing touchdowns of his own and Richardson added a two-point conversion rush out of the “Swinging Gate” formation for a final tally of 55 to 29. Miles Bufford and Tre’ Adams led the younger Blue Devils, both having over five tackles down the stretch.
With the win, the Blue Devils earned the right to play at home in the first round of the playoffs against the Philadelphia Tornadoes, the Number Three Seed out of Region 3-2A. Kickoff is Friday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at Bobby Clark Field.
