Democrat Photo by Ted Waddell BOUND FOR PAYDIRT: Joe Colacurcio of Liberty heads for six points in Saturday’s non-league win over Roscoe. He has just eluded Roscoe’s Brendon Hendrickson (on ground) and Dusty Bury (24). At right, Tom Dittmar (81) encourages Colacurcio.

Liberty Punt Block
A Key Play

By Ted Waddell
ROSCOE — September 26, 2000 — Class C Liberty had its hands full during Saturday’s non-league football game against the Class D home team Blue Devils of Roscoe, but the Indians took advantage of a few lucky breaks and a called back TD to pull off a 12-0 win over Roscoe.
The game was scoreless in the first half. At 7:55 in the third frame, Joe Colacurcio took it across the goal line on a handoff from Liberty QB Vince Evans. Roscoe’s Jeff Bury blocked a Mike Poje PAT, but the Indians took a 6-0 lead.
With 4:11 remaining in the third quarter, Liberty’s Renauld Buck blocked a Blue Devils punt and Matt Finn grabbed the loose ball and scampered 22 yards into the end zone for Liberty.
Bury, Roscoe’s hard charging lineman again foiled a Liberty PAT, but the visitors were now up 12-0.
A TD pass completion from Roscoe QB Shawn Hendrickson to Bury in the corner of the end zone at 6:50 in the final frame brought the home crowd to its feet, but the cheers turned to groans when the diving reception was called back due to offensive pass interference.
In the closing minutes, Hendrickson connected to Dave Eggleton on a 34-yarder deep in Indian territory, but the desperation drive fizzled.
The Blue Devils had a hard day: a combination of a couple of blocked punts (one was converted in a Liberty TD), a called back TD and several penalties against the home team which took them out of scoring position equalled a case of a team holding off the defending Class C champs, but winding up beating themselves in the final analysis.
“I thought Liberty did a good job on the line of scrimmage, especially in the second half,” said Fred Ahart, veteran coach of the Roscoe football squad.
“We have a lot of young players,” he added. “We’ve improved, but we made some mistakes [today] that set us back...[and] we’ll have to correct that. Our guys played hard, but our mistakes hurt us.”
According to Liberty coach Mike Castelli, “It was a hard hitting game that could have gone either way.”
“They played real well on both sides on the ball,” he said of the Blue Devils. “We had a couple of breaks… the blocked punt was key for us, that was the difference in the game.”
Roscoe (1–1 Class D, 1-3 overall) stats: Brian Ryder rushed 20 times and racked up 100 yards; Dave Eggleton pulled down two receptions for 42 yards; and Hendrickson was 7/13 for 65 yards in the air.
Liberty (1–1 Class C, 3–1 overall): Mike Poje picked up 36 yards on eight carries and Joe Colacurcio added nine carries for 46 yards.