Blue Devils close with eight straight victories
By ryan jones
COLUMBIANA
Columbiana came into its Week 10 contest with Western Reserve ranked No. 11 in Division V, Region 17, and needed a win plus some help to notch a playoff berth.
The Clippers weren’t able to uphold their end of the bargain. The Blue Devils’ stout defense recovered four Columbiana fumbles as Western Reserve won, 15-0.
Western Reserve (8-2) tallied its eighth consecutive win after starting the season 0-2.
“There’s not a better feeling in the world,” Western Reserve’s Micah Marra said about playing in the playoffs next week.
This group of Western Reserve seniors owns a 26-2 career mark in ITCL Tier 2 play.
“This is special for me because these seniors were freshman when I started coaching at Reserve,” Blue Devils coach Andrew Hake said. “We’re not dead yet. It might have looked that way after the 0-2 start. You can’t make a turnaround like this without great kids. We’ll be ready for whoever we play next week.”
Marra, who plays guard and often lines up in the backfield when Western Reserve goes to its stack I-formation, helped pave the way for tailback Tim Cooper.
Cooper, who ran for 134 yards on 32 carries, put the Blue Devils on the board with a 10-yard touchdown run right before halftime for a 6-0 lead.
“The whole line played better as the game wore on,” Cooper said. “I just get behind big Micah Marra and follow him through the whole. The line makes my job easy.”
Columbiana (6-4) was undone by unforced errors. The Clippers marched 54 yards to the Western Reserve 11-yard line on their first possession of the game before fumbling on a toss play.
“We thought there were some things we could get against them,” Columbiana coach Bob Spaite said. “We had to get up early on them and that didn’t happen. We moved the ball well that first drive and then we went with the toss play and the ball was a little behind Brandon [Hacker].”
Western Reserve quarterback Nick Allison connected with Parker Warren for a 47-yard touchdown to make it 12-0 in the third quarter.
“It was a little discouraging that we weren’t able to get our passing game going in the first half,” Warren said. “I knew sooner or later we would find a big play because we were running the ball well.”
Parker Clegg kicked a 24-yard field goal to make it 15-0 lead with 5:37 to play.
“I’m so proud of these kids,” Spaite said. “They fought through so much adversity this season. They gave maximum effort and whacked everyone we played this year. I don’t think anyone walked off the field after playing us and said ‘that was easy.’ ”
Subscribe Today
Sign up for our email newsletter to receive daily news.
Want more? Click here to subscribe to either the Print or Digital Editions.
AP News