By Rob Potter
LIVINGSTON MANOR — September 21, 2010 — The Livingston Manor/Roscoe Devilcat football team exceeded its win total from last season with a 34-0 non-league victory over the Fallsburg Comets on Thursday afternoon at Livingston Manor Central School.
With the win, LMR improved its record to 3-0 this season. The team posted a 2-7 record for the 2009 season.
Fallsburg fell to 0-3 on the young season.
Despite a steady light rain falling during the first half, the Devilcats’ offense had little problem moving the ball.
With 22 seconds left in the first quarter, LMR quarterback Troy Correa threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Smith. Correa then ran for the two-point conversion to give the Devilcats an 8-0 advantage.
LMR extended its lead to 16-0 with 8:52 remaining in the second quarter. On fourth-and-goal from the Fallsburg 1-yard line, Devilcats’ running back Mike Mills ran into the end zone. Smith then ran for the two-point conversion.
However, tempers flared after Smith’s conversion run. Players from both teams were pushing and shoving each other and punches were thrown. Thankfully, the officials and coaches were able to stop the melee after a few seconds. Two players from each team were ejected from the game.
Following the game, Fallsburg Coach Adam Ramirez said that coaches from both teams and the officials would take a look at the game tapes to make sure the correct players were ejected. When asked about the altercation, LMR Co-Coach Fred Ahart said “the situation is under review.”
The players who were ejected will be ineligible for their team’s next game.
When play resumed, the Devilcats extended their lead to 22-0 as Correa ran for an 8-yard TD with 3:53 to go until halftime.
Correa gave LMR a 28-0 advantage with a 37-yard touchdown run with 39 seconds left in the third quarter.
Junior running back Chad Rosario scored the final Devilcats’ TD of the afternoon with a 4-yard run with 6:27 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Correa and Rosario each carried the ball nine times for 53 yards to lead the LMR offense. Mills added 32 yards on eight carries, while Smith ran eight times for eight yards and Joe Fredenburg had three carries for seven yards.
Correa completed 6 of 10 passes for 83 yards. Smith, Rosario and Mills each caught two passes. Smith had 63 yards receiving, while Rosario and Mills had 15 yards and five yards, respectively.
“Early on Fallsburg played well,” Ahart said. “But our first pass play for a touchdown really opened things up for us. Our offense was able to move the ball after that.
“Our defense played very well all day,” he added.
Ahart noted that counting their victory against Tri-Valley in last season’s finale, the Devilcats have won four games in a row.
“We are very pleased to be 3-0 to start this season,” he said. “But we still have work to do. We are going to continue to work hard and improve.”
Ramirez noted that his team also needs to improve.
“Our offensive linemen weren’t able to hold their blocks today,” he said. “We were able to move the ball at times, but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot with mistakes.
“LMR is a very good football team,” Ramirez added. “They are well-coached and they played very well today.”