MCDONALD: McDonald Blue Devils defeat Lowellville Rockets 43-6

By Ryan Jones

The Blue Devils thumped Lowellville, 43-6, to complete a 10-0 regular season.

McDONALD — Amid a freezing downpour McDonald coach Dan Williams barely felt the Gatorade bath that came his way as the waning moments stood between the Blue Devils and a 10-0 season expired.

The celebration was about the only imperfection for Dan Williams and McDonald on what became a historic night.

The Blue Devils 43-6 triumph over Lowellville gave McDonald its first undefeated regular season since 1994.

Williams, whose team had already clinched the ITCL Tier Two title and a home playoff game, said the victory spoke volumes about the players.

“We knew coming in that we were in the playoffs and had the league title locked up,” he said. “We preached to the kids this week ‘Don’t let anyone spoil our perfect season.’ This was about finishing what this senior class started. I know we’ve lost our last three game 10s to close out the season, maybe the last four. We wanted to break that trend.”

Williams said his senior class is responsible for recapturing McDonald’s football tradition.

“There was a lull in the middle of my tenure here where we weren’t too good,” Williams said. “This senior class has elevated the entire program and I’m real proud of them. They’ve gone 7-3, 8-2 and now 10-0.”

Seniors Alex Sampson, Mikey Thomas and Devon Colburn led a rushing attack that piled up 262 yards without second leading rusher, junior Nick Cupan, who was held out with an injured knee.

Thomas paced the Blue Devils with 113 yards and two scores.

His 27-yard touchdown jaunt midway through the second quarter put the Blue Devils up 15-0, and his 3-yard score in the third came on the heels of the Rockets’ only touchdown.

McDonald took a 29-0 halftime lead on the strength of its defense that held the Rockets to minus-1 total yard in the first half.

Lowellville’s offense found some life in the second half and finished with 134 total yards.

Coach Mike Palumbo said his team lost only two second halves all season.

“First halves have been a problem for us all season,” he said. “We always seem to come out sluggish. It’s a shame that our seniors had to end their career with a game like this, but give McDonald credit, they’re a good team. We’re a pretty young team. We started one freshmen and two sophomore on our offensive line this season. We’re getting to where we want to be, even though our record doesn’t show it.”

Sampson totaled 63 yards and a touchdown on the ground and caught two passes for 22 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Nick Accordino went 6-of-10 for 64 yards and two touchdowns.

John Vasilchek led the Rockets with 64 yards rushing and scored on a 10-yard run.