By Brian Dzenis

bdzenis@vindy.com

BERLIN CENTER

Western Reserve head coach Andy Hake had a a message for his players as they walked off their home field Friday night.

“We’ll win the rest of them because we have to,” he said.

Such is life for the Blue Devils in the top-heavy Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference. It demands near-perfection to get to Week 11 and the Blue Devils ran into a Springfield Tigers side that stood tall in the fourth quarter for a 30-10 victory.

The Blue Devils (6-1, 3-1) are in a tight three-way race for the conference title with the Tigers (6-1, 3-1) and McDonald (7-0, 4-0). Despite each team’s success, they sit at the edge of the Division VI, Region 21 playoff picture. Their win totals are padded with a lot of lopsided wins. Western Reserve entered Friday’s game having conceded seven points in four games.

“I wish we were in more games like this. If you’re in more games like this, you play better in games like this,” Hake said. “We’re going to bounce back. We’re going to figure it out and I’m proud of my guys.”

Springfield is breathing a sigh of relief. There’s path to both the league title and the playoffs with the Tigers’ final three games coming against sub-.500 competition.

“If we would have lost this one, we would have been out of Week 11,” Springfield senior Shane Eynon said. “That’s what we’ve been working for.”

Two huge Springfield defensive stops and a Western Reserve blunder put the contest in the Tigers’ favor.

Trailing 17-10 going into the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils found themselves in a fourth-and-goal at Springfield’s 4. Quarterback Ryan Slaven rolled to his right and saw nothing but defenders and the ball went to the turf for the turnover on downs.

A Springfield fumble a few plays later gave their opponents the ball at the Tigers’ 14. The Blue Devils failed to capitalize and settled for Cody Wise’s 28-yard field goal to cut the deficit to four points.

“It was big. We made a call on our d-line and it stopped their momentum and our linebackers cleaned it up,” Eynon said.

Springfield marched down the field and sent out Clayton Medvec to attempt a field goal. Medvec slipped in the wet conditions and the kick was blocked, but the Tigers got a gift: the Blue Devils had 12 defenders on the field.

“We have six seniors. Our youth caught up with us a little bit, but that’s OK,” Hake said. “You learn from this kind of stuff and you bounce back. That’s what it’s all about.”

Two Luke Snyder rushing touchdowns later, Springfield had the game won.

There wasn’t a steady ran falling in Berlin Center, but a consistent mist made the ground game more viable. Snyder rushed for 138 yards and QB Brannon Brungard passed for 69 yards and a touchdown to Garrett Stallsmith. All of Brungard’s passing totals came in the second half.

Adam Gatrell led Reserve with 90 yards on 20 carries.

“We wanted to stop the run with Gatrell and Slaven. They’re two backs who have been fantastic all year,” Springfield coach Sean Guerriero said. “We were trying to attack them and seal it up.

“We felt like if we had the opportunity to stop the run, we’d have a good chance at winning.”

Slaven scored Reserve’s lone touchdown in the first quarter on a QB sneak.

Zach Stouffer intercepted Slaven and ran 35 yards to convert the pick-six for the Tigers. Medvec made a 35-yard field goal.

Springfield defensive lineman Brady Brungard ended Reserve’s final possession by picking off a tipped pass.

“It’s awesome. I think he did last year in a JV game too,” Eynon said. “It was just awesome.”