STEUBENVILLE — The Danville Blue Devils turned into road warriors on Friday night.
Coach Matt Blum’s squad was the lower seed in its playoff opener, but looked like a powerhouse to be reckoned with after a 54-0 pounding of host Steubenville Catholic Central in the Division VII playoff opener.
No. 11-seed Danville (6-5) will return to action next week at Lancaster Fisher Catholic. The Irish are 8-2 and well-rested after a bye as Region 27’s third seed.
The sixth-seeded Crusaders finished the season at 6-5.
Google Juggernaut, and you’ll see “A huge powerful and overwhelming force or institution.”
Ask anyone from Steubenville Catholic Central and they may well have a different definition. The Danville Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils loaded their buses and traveled two plus hours due east and rolled over the Crusaders 54-0 in round one of the District VII football playoffs.
The visitors drew first blood with 4:53 remaining in the opening stanza. Quarterback Carson Proper kept the pigskin and found paydirt. After the successful two-point conversion Danville was up 8-0, but that lead was short-lived.
Less than a minute later, Cy Wallace took the ball and galloped 45 yards for the second touchdown of the first 12 minutes. The two-point try failed.
Early in the second period things seemed to unravel a bit for the Devils, they lost a fumble and were flagged for two pass interference infractions.
“I called a time out when it was 16-0,” Blum said. “We gave up two pass interference penalties and I challenged them not to let them (Catholic) back in the game and on the very next play, we got a scoop.”
The “scoop” Blum mentioned was a quarterback sack and fumble recovery for the Devils.
The remainder of the game was a blur of one score after another. The word blur was appropriate at least twice more in the game. Cy Wallace bolted 80 yards for a touchdown and Briggs Wallace took kickoff to begin the second half and galloped the length of the field for another touchdown.
“They played with their hair on fire,” Blum said of his squad. “I’m really proud of them, you know, we took a two-and-a-half hour bus ride and played the way we did.”
Looking into the stands on the visitors’ side of Harding Stadium, the coach was proud of the community, too.
“I would guess we had as many fans as they did,” the coach said.
The team bus was not the only one traveling east on U.S. 36.
“There were 50 kids on the spirit bus,” Blum said.
Blum feels that he and his team owe a debt of gratitude to those who support them.
“We have to play our way the best way we know how and strive to give them a product on the field that they can be proud of.”
(Photos by Dan Werner)
