Bears coach Matt Altomare got his first win in the annual Spaghetti Bowl.

By ERIC HAMILTON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

LISBON — Jamie Milsom is a fullback trapped in a tailback’s body.

At 5-7 and 175 pounds, the senior is far from fitting into the mold of past Leetonia fullbacks.

But at least for one game, size didn’t matter.

After waiting on the sideline for three seasons behind the likes of Aaron Merrill (240 pounds) and Jon Williams (220 pounds), Milsom made the most of his first career start Thursday night against rival Lisbon. Utilizing his speed and a strong performance from the Bears’ offensive line, Milsom piled up 108 yards and scored twice.

Quarterback Josh Selway added 79 yards and two TDs and Jake Kruegel provided 71 yards and a TD catch, as Leetonia gave rookie head coach Matt Altomare his first victory in the form of a 33-7 win in the annual Spaghetti Bowl.

“It feels amazing,” said Milsom, referring to his performance. “But personal accomplishments are nothing, it’s the win that really counts. It helps to have the best offensive line in the county. I didn’t get hit in the backfield all night. Selway had some nice fakes and they were just biting on him.

“Coach Matt really worked us hard in conditioning this summer, so this heat doesn’t feel that bad. Two-a-days were real hot, so we really got used to this kind of weather. Our conditioning is really strong.”

On a hot and humid night, Leetonia had everything clicking on offense. Selway was 3-for-3 passing and the Bears rushed for 258 yards. Selway accounted for three touchdowns: scoring twice on the ground and throwing a TD pass to Kruegel.

First win

Altomare, who defers to Jim Green and his dad, Artie, to call the plays was relieved to get his first career victory as a head coach out of the way on the first try.

“It was a very emotional experience,” said Altomare, who now stands 150 wins shy of his dad’s career mark. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time and it feels good to get that first one out of the way. I still have a long way to catch my dad, though.

“You can’t ask for a better start than a nice eight-play scoring drive to start the game. We had great execution tonight and it makes it easy on a head coach when you don’t have to punt all night. We had three backs run well and the passing game worked, too.”

The Bears scored on their first three offensive possessions in the first half to build a quick 20-0 advantage early in the second quarter. The third touchdown came via a 5-yard run by Selway, after he blocked a Lisbon punt.

Lisbon got within 20-7 just before halftime as Arlan Bailey tossed a 15-yard scoring toss to Glenn McMillian.

After a scoreless third quarter, Leetonia tacked on two fourth-quarter scores to put the game out of reach.

Lisbon, which lost running back Dana Rose in the third quarter with muscle cramps, struggled offensively and was held to just 95 yards rushing by the Bears’ defense.

“That [losing Rose] hurt us in the second half,” said Lisbon coach Jim Tsilimos. “But that’s how football goes sometimes. We had some penalties early that cost us, but we went to the stack I and it worked a little bit for us.

“We got within two scores and got the ball first in the third quarter, but we just couldn’t get close to them. We had a lot of young kids in there, so we just need to get better as a team each week.”