by Frank Aceto

Associate Sports Editor

Bedford -- The Tallmadge football team had its greatest success in 2004 and 2005.

That may change soon.

The Blue Devils are making sure no one forgets 2008.

Sixth-seeded Tallmadge advanced to the Division II Region 5 championship game with a convincing 27-7 victory over the seventh-seeded Madison Blue Streaks Nov. 7 at Bearcats Stadium in Bedford.

With the win, the Blue Devils earned a date with the fifth-seeded Akron Archbishop Hoban Knights Nov. 14. Results were not available at press time.

The Knights made sure none of the top four seeds in this region advanced to the final.

Hoban stunned top-seeded Mayfield 16-13 to earn a ticket to the title game.

The Knights also scored a 21-10 upset win over fourth-seeded Warren Howland in their first-round matchup.

With Tallmadge's 30-17 victory over third-seeded Parma Padua Franciscan and Madison's commanding 35-0 triumph over second-seeded East Cleveland Shaw the previous week, it's safe to say this region can be known as the bracket-buster region.

As for the Blue Devils, they continue to remind people of the glory days.

Tallmadge reached the Division II state semifinals in 2004 and 2005.

Those squads fell just short of crossing the finish line, but they set the standard for future teams.

At one point, the 2008 edition looked nothing like the 2004 or 2005 units.

In fact, after a heartbreaking 21-20 loss to Cloverleaf on the road, the Blue Devils were, simply put, average. A 3-3 record certainly justified that.

But the word "average" seems to have vanished from Tallmadge's vocabulary.

The Blue Devils went on to win their next six games -- all by double digits.

They may have saw their four-year reign as Suburban League champs end after the Cloverleaf loss (both Tallmadge and Cloverleaf finished second behind Highland).

But the Blue Devils still had plenty of motivation to continue playing.

"I'm so proud of our guys, especially our seniors," Tallmadge seventh-year head coach Joe Vassalotti said. "After the Cloverleaf game, we had longest bus ride of the year. At that point, we knew the league race was out of the picture, but we knew we still had a chance to make the playoffs."

When it comes to the overall records, the 2008 squad has no business being mentioned with the state semifinal teams. Those squads went 25-3 during that two-year period.

But if the Blue Devils get past Hoban, a team Tallmadge beat 19-7 in a 2005 regional championship game, this can not be denied: Tallmadge can add 2008 to its collection when it comes to future discussions of greatest teams.

E-mail: faceto@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-686-3914