Friday, August 27, 2010
By TOM WILLIAMS
williams@vindy.com
LEETONIA
Despite falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, the Lisbon High football team had several opportunities to get back into Thursday’s game against their Spaghetti Bowl rival, Leetonia.
But penalties and a couple of big plays generated by the Bears on both sides of the ball foiled the Blue Devils’ hopes of stopping a 27-game losing streak.
Powered by senior fullback Devan Miller’s 156 yards rushing that included two long touchdown runs, Leetonia defeated Lisbon, 36-16, to retain possession of the trophy built around a spaghetti bowl.
“Lisbon played real hard and it was a sloppy game,” Leetonia coach Matt Altomare said. “It was definitely a sloppy game.
“We were hoping to not have too many penalties tonight and we kept that down, but turnovers and missed assignments ... Whew! It was a little bit sloppy on both ends,” Altomare said. “There are things we definitely need to work on [for] next Friday.”
Second-quarter mistakes especially cost the Blue Devils.
Lisbon running back Zac Barnes broke loose for a 31-yard gain to set up a first-and-goal from the Leetonia 9. On fourth down at the 1, Lisbon was whistled for delay of game and settled for Danny Reese’s 22-yard field goal that sliced Leetonia’s lead to 14-3.
Forcing a punt, the Blue Devils appeared to steal some momentum. But punt returner Cody Helman was pinned at the Lisbon 4 by the Bears’ R.J. Pacella. Two plays later, Barnes was trapped in the end zone for a safety.
Seth McNally’s 32-yard kick return to the Blue Devils’ 33 set up a seven-play drive capped by quarterback Lance Tullis’ 1-yard touchdown run for a 23-3 lead.
Late in the half, the Devils drove to the Leetonia 26. But T.J. Skaggs’ pick of a Josh Cook pass ended the threat.
“It was a game of mistakes,” Lisbon coach Jeremy McElroy said. “We made more than our share. Leetonia did a great job.”
Those lost points were felt in the third quarter when Lisbon’s Jake Terry broke free for a 59-yard touchdown run to slice Leetonia’s lead to 23-10.
McNally’s long kickoff return had the Blue Devils on their heels. But a Tullis pitchout rolled backwards to midfield, resulting in a 23-yard loss and fumble recovery for Lisbon’s Zak Leko.
Once again, a golden opportunity slipped away two plays later when the Bears popped Cook and McNally recovered, setting up a 33-yard touchdown run by Tullis for a 29-10 lead.
Another chance came with Lisbon’s recovery of a muffed punt. But on the next play, McNally recovered a Terry fumble.
“Football is all about how you handle adversity,” Altomare said. “I was pleased with how we handled adversity.”
In the final quarter, Cook’s 1-yard scoring toss to Barnes cut Leetonia’s lead to 29-16 with four minutes to go.
McElroy said his staff felt there was enough time to get the ball back so Lisbon kicked deep. On the first play, Miller responded by breaking through the center of the line for a 64-yard scoring run.
“We didn’t feel it was worth the risk to put them in good field position but unfortunately they had a big run,” McElroy said.
Miller and Tullis said they were very surprised that Lisbon kicked deep trailing 29-16. Tullis didn’t mind.
“It put the ball back into our hand,” said Tullis who completed seven off 11 passes for 119 yards.
Miller also scored a 51-yard touchdown that put the Bears ahead, 14-0.
“I thought I was gone right away, but then I saw [Terry] coming up behind me and it was going to be a race,” Miller said.
“I was nervous,” said Miller of his first varsity start in the backfield. “I didn’t know what to expect, but I had a good line in front of me so I knew I was protected.”
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