The Blue Devils had all 279 of its yards on the ground in the 17-13 win.

By STEVE RUMAN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

McDONALD — Though McDonald possesses one of the strongest passing games in the area, Friday the Blue Devils proved they don’t need to take to the air in order to succeed.

Playing without senior quarterback Matt Krumpak, McDonald compiled 279 yards of offense — all on the ground — en route to a 17-13 home win over Western Reserve.

McDonald grabbed a quick 10-0 lead, then held off a second-half Western Reserve rally to lift its record to 5-1, including a 3-0 mark in the Tier Two of the Inter-Tri County League. Western Reserve fell to 3-3, 2-1.

With Krumpak sidelined due to what his coach described as “a disciplinary measure after violating team rules,” the McDonald ground game responded. Alex Sampson (20 carried, 123 yards) and Joe Witkoski (11 carries, 117 yards) each scored a rushing touchdown, while sophomore quarterback Nick Accordino attempted just one pass on the night.

McDonald also attempted a fullback pass which fell incomplete.

First time for coach

“In all my years of coaching, I’m pretty sure I can say that’s the first time our team didn’t gain any passing yards,” said McDonald coach Dan Williams. “We told our kids going in that we expected big things from our backs, our offensive line and our defense. We got what we asked for.”

Early on, it appeared as though McDonald would have its way throughout the night. It took the opening kickoff and marched 57 yards on 11 plays to take a 7-0 lead midway through the first period.

Sampson, Witkoski and Ben Davis accounted for all of the yards on the drive, which ended when Sampson scampered across the end zone on a two-yard run.

McDonald extended its lead to 10-0 at the 11:05 mark of the second quarter when a Jack Breedle 35-yard field goal capped the home team’s second drive of the night.

“Jumping out to a quick lead was extremely important,” Williams said. “Western Reserve is a very good football team, and with their weapons, we didn’t want to get into a shootout with them. Our defense did an outstanding job of shutting them down in the first half. That was a huge key.”

Defense did job

In fact, Western Reserve was held to just 33 first-half yards on 17 plays.

However, a pair of big plays by senior Matt Kalbfell put Western Reserve back in the game. With 2:23 remaining in the third quarter, Kalbfell recovered a fumble at the McDonald 28 yard line. One minute later, Kalbfell pulled in a 20-yard Shane Ewing touchdown pass on a fourth-and-two play to cut the Western Reserve deficit to 10-7.

“We played a very good team, we were down early, and we refused to quit,” said Western Reserve coach Mike Kopachy. “We’re disappointed with the outcome, but pleased with the effort.”

Western Reserve’s momentum was short-lived. On McDonald’s first play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive, Witkoski broke several tackles and raced 60 yards to give his team a 17-7 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

“Joe suffered through some bumps and bruises earlier this season, and now he’s finally healthy,” Williams said. “Tonight we saw what he can do when he’s one-hundred percent. He had some clutch runs.”

A Jason Lude two-yard run cut McDonald’s lead to 17-13 at the 9:44 mark of the fourth quarter, but from that point on, its defense stiffened to halt a pair of Western Reserve possessions.

“We made it closer than we had hoped it would be, but that’s a credit to Western Reserve. Over all, I’m extremely pleased with the effort,” Williams said.

McDonald has won 19 consecutive games against Western Reserve dating to 1989.