They had no chance.

They dropped their two biggest games of the season and had three losses through six weeks.

Their offense was extremely one-dimensional and predictable.

Yes, the Blue Devils had no prayer of reaching the Division II state football playoffs.

Guess I need to eat my words.

Tallmadge reached the postseason with four straight victories and also won its first playoff game.

The Blue Devils earned a 30-17 victory over the Padua Franciscan Bruins in a Region 5 quarterfinal matchup Oct. 31 in Parma.

And if anyone put odds on its next game against seventh-seeded Madison Nov. 7, sixth-seeded Tallmadge probably was considered the favorite.

Call me stubborn, ignorant or just plain stupid, but I never envisioned something like this happening.

Heading into the postseason, the Blue Devils played three teams that went on to reach the playoffs.

They lost all three.

Tallmadge looked completely overmatched against Nordonia as the Knights dominated from start to finish en route to a 28-7 win in week one at Boliantz Stadium.

A few weeks later, Highland kicked a field goal with less than 30 seconds left to beat the Blue Devils 3-2 in the two teams' Suburban League debut at Rossiaky Stadium.

That contest featured a lot of rain which made the field and the ball very slippery.

But Tallmadge, despite a 100-plus yard performance from senior tailback Tyler Fortner, couldn't get much going on offense.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks later.

That's when the Blue Devils may have saw their season reach the brink when they dropped a 21-20 decision to another league rival, Cloverleaf, in Lodi.

At that point, Tallmadge fell to 3-3 overall and trailed both Highland and Cloverleaf by two games.

So that meant things became much more simplified for the Blue Devils: Win out and see what happens.

That's exactly what Tallmadge did.

Not only did the Blue Devils prevail, but they also won rather easily.

All four victories down the stretch were by double digits. In fact, if you throw in the victory over Padua, Tallmadge has outscored its last five opponents 134-52.

That margin could have been greater.

The Blue Devils gave up the ball twice in the first half against the Bruins. Both miscues took place deep in their own territory and as a result, Padua got 10 points off those turnovers.

Tallmadge had four giveaways and still won handily.

The Blue Devils also had some clock problems.

Leading 21-10, Tallmadge had the ball in Padua territory with a little more than two minutes left in the first half.

The Blue Devils did nothing during the possession and punted the ball back to the Bruins with a little more than a minute left.

And that's when the most stunning turn of events took place.

Padua marched 80 yards down the field and scored on the last play of the half to cut Tallmadge's advantage to 21-17.

Such a drive can be devastating.

Surely, the Blue Devils were in deep, deep trouble.

I guess I'll never learn.

Tallmadge took control and saw its defense, particularly senior end Andrew Roy, make play after play in the final 24 minutes.

The Blue Devils controlled the clock in the second half by giving the ball to Fortner, who had rushed for a school-record 2,309 yards after 11 games.

Fortner may carry the ball more than any back in the area when it's all said and done.

Tallmadge, unable to find a consistent passing game, has put everything on the broad shoulders of its star runner.

In fact, just about every team, particularly down the stretch, has keyed on Fortner.

And yet, no one has been able to stop him.

At this point, it doesn't look like anyone can stop the Blue Devils, either.

I guess it's time for me to face reality.

I was wrong.

Dead wrong.

Maybe I don't deserve an invitation to the Tallmadge playoff party.

But I'm crashing the party anyway.

Brace yourself, Blue Devil fans: This sports writer has taken a giant leap on the Tallmadge bandwagon.

E-mail: faceto@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-686-3914