by Frank Aceto

Associate Sports Editor

Parma -- These elimination games appear to be fun for the Tallmadge football team.

The sixth-seeded Blue Devils continued to defy the odds with a 30-17 victory over third-seeded Padua Franciscan Oct. 31 in Parma.

With the win, Tallmadge earned a date with seventh-seeded Madison -- who scored a shocking 35-0 winner over second-seeded and previously unbeaten East Cleveland Shaw -- Nov. 8 at Bearcats Stadium in Bedford. Results of that contest were not available at press time.

The Blue Devils won their fifth straight game. If Tallmadge had lost any of its four previous games, the Blue Devils wouldn't have made the trip to Parma.

Five weeks later, Tallmadge finds itself as one of the final 16 Division II teams standing.

"This one is really sweet," Blue Devils head coach Joe Vassalotti said. "A lot of people counted us out at mid-season.

"The guys never doubted themselves and that's a credit to the leadership of our seniors," he added.

As if these elimination games weren't stressful enough, the Tallmadge players also had to overcome and even harder obstacle against the Bruins: themselves.

The Blue Devils committed four turnovers on the night compared to none for Padua.

Tallmadge also showed some poor clock management in the final two minutes of the first half which led to a Bruins' touchdown in the final seconds.

In the end, none of it mattered.

The Blue Devils, like a cat with nine lives, had at least one more football game to play.

"We put ourselves in some tough positions, but our guys rose to the occasion," Vassalotti said.

Particularly senior Tyler Fortner.

All the tailback did on this night was rush for a game-high 263 yards on 40 carries and three touchdowns.

And just for good measure, he added an 88-yard kickoff return that set up another score in the second quarter.

Tallmadge needed Fortner and other players to rise to the occasion. The Blue Devils made some critical mistakes that could have been disastrous.

Less than five minutes into the game, Tallmadge gave away the pigskin twice.

Padua junior defensive lineman Anthony Stryffeler recovered a fumble on the Blue Devils' first possession and Bruins' senior defensive back Ryan Schoeller intercepted senior Craig Siesel's pass on Tallmadge's next possession.

The second turnover eventually allowed Padua to put some points on the board. After the pick, the Bruins had the ball on the Blue Devils' 15-yard line.

Tallmadge's defense, led by senior 6-foot-4 end Andrew Roy, stopped Padua from reaching the end zone. But Bruins' senior kicker Scott Blasinsky booted a 35-yard field goal to gave Padua a 3-0 lead with 5:16 left in the first quarter.

The Blue Devils, however, responded in a blur.

Despite being pinned back at the 9, Tallmadge marched 91 yards to take a 7-3 lead.

Fortner capped the drive when he exploded through a big hole and found nothing but green grass in front of him en route to a 74-yard touchdown run.

Senior kicker James Plunket added the first of his three extra points.

And then Tallmadge got butterfingers again.

Fortner fumbled the ball inside the Blue Devils' 10, and the Bruins got the ball at the 4 when senior linebacker Nick Milano recovered the loose pigskin.

Senior running back Cory DPiero scored from four yards away on the next play and Blasinsky added the first of his two extra points to give Padua a 10-7 advantage with 11:04 remaining in the first half.

But as it has proven over the last five weeks, Tallmadge is no stranger to adversity.

The Blue Devils regained the lead in less than a minute as Fortner's 88-yard kickoff return put Tallmadge inside the 10.

Tallmadge senior Paul Pakan, who replaced Siesel at quarterback, made it 14-10 with a six-yard scoring pass to senior tight end Cory Armbruster.

The Blue Devils appeared to take complete control with nine-play, 59-yard drive that took nearly five minutes off the clock. Fortner concluded the drive with a three-yard TD run to make it 21-10.

And that's when Tallmadge suddenly had clock issues.

With the ball spotted at the Bruins' 37 with 2:03 left in the first half, the Blue Devils had two choices: Go for the kill or run out the clock.

They did neither.

Tallmadge was forced to punt after three plays and Padua had the ball on its own 20 with 1:04 left.

Bruins' senior quarterback Andrew Dziak seemed perfectly comfortable with the situation. Executing the no-huddle offense to perfection, Dziak completed 4-of-4 passes for 38 yards during the drive, including a three-yard TD pass to senior wideout Pat LaGuardia with 1 second left.

"We tried to be aggressive [on offense]," Vassalotti said. "At the very worst, we were going to pin them [the Bruins] deep in their own territory. It didn't work out."

Once the Blue Devils returned from the locker room, however, everything worked perfectly.

They put together an impressive 14-play, 83-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard field goal from Plunket. The possession, which began with 7:58 left in the third quarter concluded more than nine minutes later.

Padua had one last shot late in the fourth quarter.

On fourth down-and-seven from the Bruins' 44, Roy came out of nowhere to sack Dziak. Roy, who could be found just about everywhere throughout the evening, finished with nine solo tackles, three assists, two tackles for losses and two sacks.

"I just wanted to go at him hard," he said. "I got some help from [senior nose guard] Nick White. We knew we had to stop the run. That's our strategy every game."

Fortner added a 23-yard TD run on the final play of the game.

E-mail: faceto@recordpub.com

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