The Crestwood Red Devils’ football team hit a speed bump two weeks ago but has bounced back nicely. The Red Devils overpowered Chagrin Valley Conference rival Brooklyn 52-14 in a crossover conference duel last Friday evening at Brooklyn Memorial Stadium.
“It was nice to see the kids come out and compete in the last two weeks but this week specifically,” said Coach Jack D’Amato. “We made some changes personnel-wise, and everyone bought into what we are doing. It is we over me and all we want to do is continue to win football games as a team.”
It marks the second straight lopsided victory for the Red Devils (4-1, 0-0), who have outscored the opposition by a 92-20 margin in their last two games. According to the fifth-year coach, it has been a perfect response in the wake of their first loss of the season when they were shutout by CVC foe Cuyahoga Heights 35-0 in week three.
“It means a lot,” he noted. “It just shows the strength of character of our kids to be able to put it behind us and move on and one thing does not make a trend and hopefully we can continue that.”
On Friday night, Crestwood’s rushing attack once again propelled it to an early lead in the first quarter. Senior tailback/defensive back Nate Blasiole scored on a five-yard touchdown run and the Red Devils converted a two-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead and senior tailback/linebacker Tristen Addis added another touchdown, this time from 15 yards out and another successful two-point conversion pushed their advantage to 16-0.
The Red Devils’ backfield continued dominating in the second quarter, each scoring another touchdown and a pair of successful two-point conversions propelling Crestwood to a commanding 32-0 lead.Having been stifled by Crestwood’s defense by seeing its running game yield little fruit, the Hurricanes took to the air and outscored their conference rivals by a 14-6 margin, capped off by an 11-yard touchdown reception from junior Lyle Taylor, trimming the Red Devils’ lead to 38-14 at the half.
D’Amato acknowledged that Brooklyn’s passing game came alive, but his squad also aided their rally with several penalties. The Red Devils finished the game recording six penalties for 65 yards, which has been a recurring theme this year.
“That is something we are going to clean up and work really hard at over the next couple of weeks to clean it up because you cannot win tight football games by giving up yardage on mistakes, holds, late hits or whatever it may be,” he said.
The Red Devils responded in the third quarter with a 43-yard touchdown run by the 5-foot-8 Addis and converted another two-point conversion, extending the lead to 46-14 to trigger the running clock for the rest of the game.
Crestwood did not record a passing yard in the game as its entire offense was dictated by the run, which was led by Addis and the 5-foot-9 Blasiole, who combined for 272 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
D’Amato said that as dominant as Blaisole has been, Addis has added himself as another dynamic threat in the backfield.
“It is like lightning and thunder really for those guys and it is exciting to see Tristen carry the ball and get downfield,” D’Amato said. “They are not very tall guys so they hide well behind our offensive line, but they are strong physical runners and pretty dang fast.”
It is the second straight season Crestwood has raced out to a 4-1 start but D’Amato added that his squad is determined to not let history repeat itself. The Red Devils faded after their hot start last season, going 1-4 in their final five games.
“This is a meat grinder of league play that we are going to see the next five weeks and to be successful we need to focus on ourselves and just make sure we are taking care of the things we need to be taking care,” he added.
In addition to Crestwood’s rebound from their week three loss, they have made significant changes on offense, giving reps to freshman quarterback Michael Kalista who is spliting time under center with senior quarterback Charlie Sommer.
“We want to make sure that Michael is in there and helping us win as well because really we are going to rotate four guys between the backfield between the running back and quarterback position with Tristen, Nate, Charlie, and Michael,” D’Amato said.
Crestwood begins CVC Valley Division play when it hits the road to face newest conference rival Chagrin Falls at C.S. Harris Stadium this Friday at 7 p.m.
