Football

LMR inaugural win could be just the beginning

Devil Cats’ first ‘W’ merely whets the team’s appetite

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY — The exultation of the team’s first win would be hard to put into words but for the Livingston Manor-Roscoe Devil-Cats, the 42-13 thrashing of Webutuck in a Class D league win on October 1 is just the beginning. Coming into this game behind a pair of brutal last-minute losses to Eldred and Pine Plains—both of which could easily have been wins—the Devil Cats wanted to set themselves on a course to a legitimate run to play in the Class D title game.

How could that be, you ask, with the team now posting a record of 1-4, 0-1 Class D? Simple. If Eldred (5-0, 0-0 Class D) can beat Chester (5-0, 1-0 Class D) in its league match up with the Hambletonians and LMR can beat Eldred, something they nearly did two weeks back, the Class D picture would feature three teams with one loss apiece.

That’s assuming a lot, but LMR is taking things one week at a time. Next up is non-league game against Class C Tri-Valley, a team still reeling from its loss to Eldred this past weekend. Bears’ coach Dave Viglione is fully aware of LMR’s capabilities. He was there to see them nearly topple his league rival Pine Plains.

The following week, it’s on to Eldred for the league game both teams have circled as critical.

This week, however, it was time to celebrate the efforts, the sweat and the determination that propelled the newly forged team to its first victory.

Running back Kelly Lackey was key in LMR’s emerging offense. In the game against Eldred, he turned a simple dive play into a 35-yard touchdown run. Against Webutuck, he was unstoppable with the scoring of three touchdowns. His first was a five-yard run, which opened the game’s scoring with 7:28 left in the first quarter. Troy Kirchner’s PAT made it 7-0, but the D-Cats were just getting warmed up. In the second quarter, senior quarterback Mike Perry took it in from the 11. With Kirchner’s kick, LMR took a 14-0 lead into halftime.

With the third quarter barely begun, Lackey capped off a drive with a three-yard run and accentuated the score with a two-point conversion run to boost the lead to 22-0.

The fourth quarter turned into a shootout, which began when Perry hefted a 44-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Schmidt and though the PAT missed, LMR led 28-0.

Webutuck, a team that is winless but refuses to quit finally, got on the board when quarterback Cody Cafiero threw a 66-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Williams. The two-point conversion run came up short.

Lackey got his third touchdown of the day on a five-yard run with 5:15 left in to up the lead to 35-6. LMR’s defense, which had been dominant all day, punctuated their effort when Mike Hendrickson intercepted a Cafiero pass and ran 30 yards for the score. Kirchner’s PAT made it 42-6.

The Warriors answered back when Cafiero threw his second touchdown pass of the day to Williams, who ran for 64 yards. Jeramie Richardson converted the PAT to make it 42-13.

LMR tailback Lance Brookins was the game’s leading rusher with 102 yards on 16 carries. Lackey gained 100 yards on 21 carries and Perry ran 12 times for 49 yards. He also completed three of five passes for 67 yards. Dan DeVantier rushed six times for 37 yards and Hendrickson had two carries for 38 yards. Overall, the Devil Cats compiled 326 yards on the ground and had a total offense of 393 yards.

Coach Fred Ahart told Phil Dusenbury of Section Nine football, “Our offensive line did an outstanding job. We ran a lot behind Ryan Taggart, who did a great job.” Ahart gave kudos to guard Jesse Madera, center Kevin Gately, tackle Mike Diescher and end Kirchner. Ahart went on to praise Justin Murphy, Justin Haas, Justin Mendez, Brian Casey and Seth Darbee among the linemen who helped propel the running attack.

LMR battles Tri-Valley under the lights at Roscoe next week and Webutuck travels to Millbrook in a game that will yield one of the two teams its first win.