Before the Crestwood Red Devils’ football team officially moves to the Greater Portage Athletic Conference next year, they are reigniting some old rivalries. The Red Devils could not match Portage County rival Mogadore’s physicality, losing 38-7 at Memorial Stadium last Friday evening in Mogadore.
“It was a very physical game on both sides of the ball,” said Coach Jack D’Amato. “I think we shot ourselves in the foot by not converting on third and fourth down and some penalties got us behind the sticks. We could not get anything going after that.”
It marked the first time Crestwood (0-1, 0-0) faced the Wildcats since 2019, which was the Red Devils’ final year in the Portage Trail Conference before transferring to the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division.
On Friday, the rivalry resumed, with the Wildcats holding a two-game winning streak and extending the streak to three games in the final game against the Red Devils before officially becoming league rivals once again.
“It is nice to able to get the backyard rivalries going again and our kids are overly fired up,” noted the seventh-year coach. “It means something because some of these older guys, they go to Maplewood together, so they see each other and they know each other, so they want to be able to show up for their town and their home community.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Mogadore erupted for 18 points in the second quarter.
Senior wide receiver/defensive back Kade Thomas sparked the Wildcats by scoring two touchdowns, one on a three-yard run and another on a 27-yard reception from senior quarterback Maddox Smith. Senior tailback Jake Hopkins added a three-yard touchdown run to Madore’s big second quarter, pushing the Wildcats to a commanding 18-0 lead at the half.
According to D’Amato, the Red Devils stopped executing their game plan and lost the physical battle at the line of scrimmage.
“They came out with a lot of formations that we had not seen in the scrimmage films that we had, and they did a great job,” he acknowledged. “They were a more physical team, and they put it to us through the air and on the ground.”
Mogadore maintained control by scoring again in the third period, as the 5-foot-10 Thomas scored on a 10-yard touchdown run, stretching the lead to 25-0.
The Red Devils finally responded as junior quarterback/defensive back Michael Kalista scored Crestwood’s first touchdown of the season on a 79-yard run in the fourth period, trimming Mogadore’s lead to 25-8 after the Red Devils converted a two-point conversion.
Although Crestwood only recorded 33 passing yards in the game, its rushing attack was explosive, tallying 248 yards on 33 carries.
“We got a good few runs that happened,” D’Amato said. “It is just about maturing as a whole team coming together and trying to figure out our mistakes, learning from them and moving on to the next competition.”
The 5-foot-9 Kalista anchored the Red Devils’ ground game by rushing for 140 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries.
“Michael had a great day carrying the ball and that is what we are going to look for all year for him to do,” said D’Amato.
D’Amato added that the Red Devils moved the ball frequently thanks to some big runs, advancing the ball past midfield several times, but were undone by some unforced mental errors, including penalties.
“We got aggressive plenty of times and then we shoot ourselves in the foot one way or another by getting behind the sticks with a penalty or not executing blocks and having minimal or zero gains,” he said. “It is just a matter of us executing a little bit better.”
He noted that the Red Devils have plenty of time to address their mistakes but with a grueling non-conference schedule, Crestwood has no time for complacency, as the challenging non-conference games will lead directly into another formidable stretch of conference games against CVC Valley Division opponents.
“It is a matter of keeping these guys in control and making sure that they understand,” he added. “It is not the Crestwood football that I expect and it not what I will accept going forward so we will get to the bottom of it and hopefully get it turned around and fixed.”
The Red Devils will face off against another Portage County rival and future GPAC foe Garfield, as they will welcome the G-Men to Jack Lambert Stadium in Mantua on Friday evening at 7 p.m.
