By Rob Potter
LIVINGSTON MANOR — October 7, 2003 – The weather on Saturday in Livingston Manor was more suited to ducks than Blue Devils or Wildcats.
Amid a cold, steady rainfall the Roscoe Blue Devils and Livingston Manor Wildcats met on the football field in a Section IX Class D game.
While both teams had some trouble hanging onto the soggy football in the first quarter, the Wildcat offense seemed to work better in the wet conditions.
Senior running back George Thomas carried the ball 34 times for 225 yards and scored two touchdowns as Manor dominated its rival. The Wildcats recorded a 32-0 victory over the Blue Devils.
Manor (2-2, 1-0 Class D) did not attempt a pass in the adverse conditions. Terence McCann carried the ball eight times for 95 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Fullback Kyle Lackey had 52 rushing yards on 12 carries. He scored a 1-yard touchdown with eight minutes left in the game.
Jason Bowers rushed three times for 18 yards for the Wildcats.
After the Roscoe offense went three-and-out on the game’s first possession, Manor took over at its own 43-yard line.
But the ball popped loose on the Wildcats’ first play from scrimmage and the Blue Devil defense recovered it.
Roscoe (0-5, 0-1 Class D) could not take advantage of the turnover and good field position, however. An illegal procedure penalty and the aggressive Manor defense forced the Blue Devils into a fourth-and-20 situation and Justin Bowers again punted the ball to the Wildcats.
Manor took over at its own 21-yard line. Five plays later, the Wildcats fumbled and Roscoe recovered.
But on second down at the Manor 36-yard line, the Blue Devils fumbled the ball and the Wildcats recovered.
The Manor offense then kept a firm grip on the football and proceeded to complete a five-play, 68-yard scoring drive. On a third down play at the Roscoe 28-yard line, McCann eluded the Blue Devil defenders and raced into the end zone to give the Wildcats a 6-0 lead with 1:20 left in the opening quarter.
After converting a fourth down on a fake punt on their next possession, the Blue Devils again were stymied by a turnover. On the first play after the successful fourth down conversion, Manor’s Kelly Lackey recovered a fumble at the Roscoe 42-yard line.
Nine plays later, Thomas scored his first touchdown of the day on a 5-yard run to give the Wildcats a 12-0 lead.
The Wildcats then took the kickoff to open the second half and drove down the field for another touchdown. Thomas reached paydirt from 11 yards out to boost the Manor lead to 18-0.
Later in the quarter, McCann broke to the outside and raced down the sideline to score his aforementioned 50-yard touchdown. McCann than ran into the end zone on the two-point conversion to give Manor a 26-0 lead with 4:17 left in the third quarter.
Kyle Lackey’s 1-yard touchdown run with 8:06 remaining in the game capped the scoring.
Although players from both teams struggled to hold onto the ball in the cold, wet conditions, Roscoe Coach Fred Ahart noted that weather was not that big of a factor. He credited the Manor players and coaches for the game’s outcome.
“George Thomas is an outstanding running back and he runs behind an outstanding offensive line,” Ahart said. “[Manor Coach] Scott Branning does a great job of coming up with running plays and getting his players ready to go.”
Ahart also praised his team’s performance.
“I’m very proud of our players, they played Manor very tough in the first half,” he said. “In the second half, Manor kind of took over, and I thought that touchdown they scored early in the third quarter was the key to the game.”
Branning noted that his team “played great defense.” Roscoe only managed four first downs and five Wildcat defenders – Patrick Branning, Anthony Larry, Kyle Lackey, Thomas and Rich Trotti – each registered five tackles in the contest.
Of course, Branning also noted the play the Wildcat offense.
“Our offense is kind of suited for weather like this,” Branning said of his team, which rushed for 400 yards on the afternoon. “We like to move the ball straight ahead.”
The coach added that he liked the fact that three running backs scored touchdowns for the Wildcats.
Notes: Manor is slated to face Valhalla in a non-league game Saturday night at Dietz Stadium in Kingston. Kick off is slated for 7 p.m.
Roscoe hosts Millbrook Friday night in a Class D game. For the second time this season, temporary lights will be brought to the Roscoe football field so Blue Devils can play a home night game. Kick off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The lights are being donated by the Roscoe Kiwanis Club.