By Curtis Pulliam

cpulliam@vindy.com

Lowellville

Western Reserve’s Evan Nesbitt knew the potential his special teams unit had for a touchdown return.

He was surprised when the Blue Devils pulled off three against Lowellville.

“We have the guys back there that can house it any time we want really,” Nesbitt said after Friday’s 55-31 victory. “The guys in the front line really blocked well and I just took it all the way.”

Nesbitt had two of the returns and Brian Sunderman added the other.

“I was pretty excited about it,” said Nesbitt scoring his first kickoff return of the year. “It was a pretty big deal. We were already down seven and the second one was even bigger.”

The game started with a bang as Lowellville’s Evan Stevens returned a kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown.

On the following kickoff, Nesbitt got his first on a 82-yard return. The Blue Devils made the two-point conversation to take an 8-7 lead.

Western Reserve head coach Andy Hake was worried about the kickoff his team gave up.

“We got to come out and play better,” said Hake about the opening kickoff sequence.

Following a Jake Maszczak 41-yard field goal for the Rockets, the Blue Devils showed their muscle.

On their next drive, the Blue Devils’ Ed Smith ran for a 22-yard touchdown and Tim Coler added a 1-yard score following a defensive stop.

Nesbitt’s second return came with 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter to put the Blue Devils up, 28-17.

“Evan is great man, he’s a first-team all-league if there ever was one,” Hake said. “He’s had a great year.”

The Blue Devils controlled the line of scrimmage most of the game.

“Our offense, we scored I think almost every drive,” Hake said. “We only punted on one drive.”

Up 28-17, quarterback John Clegg found a groove.

The senior ran for a touchdown and found wide receiver Joseph Falasca for two more scores.

“It’s awesome when you have somebody like that,” Clegg said. “As you can tell, it is pretty easy to throw the ball to him. He makes me look good.”

Clegg finished with 147 yards through the air.

“I just have to throw the ball around him and he’ll get it,” Clegg said. “He’ll make plays for you.”

Hake said, “John’s a really good quarterback. We just are trying to get better for the playoffs, man.”

For Lowellville head coach Jeff D’Altorio, it was a disappointing loss after the hot start.

“Our special teams on the kickoff really hurt us,” D’Altorio said. “We did a couple different kicks and we just didn’t cover any of them very well.

“That really killed us.”

Lowellville’s Alex Harklerode finished with 170 yards passing.

“We had some pretty big drop passes in some key situations,” D’Altorio said. “If we complete those passes, this is a whole different game.”

The Blue Devils held the Rockets off the board in the second and third quarters.

“Our defense played really good I thought, we stopped them,” Hake said. “They had the ball down there a lot because they kept getting good field positioning.

“But we have to be more consistent.”

Penalties were a problem for both teams. Western Reserve had 14 and Lowellville had 17.

“It’s good to see the kids getting into the battles, though, and fighting back,” said Hake about the numerous penalties. “That’s our plague.

“In my six years, that’s are Achilles’ heel. We play very tough but we have to get more discipline.”