By Rob Potter
LIVINGSTON MANOR — The Livingston Manor/Roscoe Devilcats celebrated homecoming on Saturday afternoon with the traditional parade down main street in Livingston Manor and the crowning of the Homecoming King and Queen prior to kickoff of the Devilcats’ non-league game against the Harpursville Hornets.
Unfortunately for the hometown fans, the Hornets recorded a 34-20 victory.
LMR (1-6) got off to a good start, however, as Troy Correa ran for a 24-yard touchdown to give the home team a 6-0 lead with 6:09 remaining in the first quarter.
Harpursville (2-5), a Section IV Class D team, evened the score at 6-6 on a 4-yard TD run by Tyler Boudreau. Casey Hine’s extra-point kick was good, which gave the Hornets a 7-6 lead with 2:31 to go in the quarter.
An interception by junior defensive back Russell Anderson stopped the subsequent Devilcats’ drive and gave Harpursville a first down at the LMR 43-yard line.
Quarterback Ryan Dalpiaz then capped a seven-play drive with a 1-yard sneak for a TD. Hine added the PAT kick to push the Hornets’ lead to 14-6.
Correa ran for a 20-yard touchdown with 7:27 remaining in the second quarter. The Devilcats tried for a two-point conversion, but the Harpursville defense stopped it to maintain a 14-12 lead at halftime.
The Hornets began the second half with a scoring drive capped by a 2-yard run by Dalpiaz. Hine tacked on the extra point to make it a 21-12 game in favor of the visitors.
Dalpiaz ran for a 1-yard TD in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Devilcats tried to answer, but Anderson intercepted another pass to give the Hornets a first down at the LMR 21.
On second-and-goal from the 7-yard line, Dan Bush found his way into the end zone to give Harpursville a 34-12 advantage. The Devilcats then blocked the extra-point kick.
After Anderson picked off his third pass of the day, the LMR defense forced the Hornets to punt.
The Devilcats then orchestrated a seven-play, 76-yard scoring drive completed by Correa’s 3-yard pass to Adam Hendrix in the corner of the end zone. Running back Troy Edwards then broke a couple of tackles on his way into the end zone for a successful two-point conversion, which completed the scoring.
Harpursville Coach Nick Gentile noted that his team “played well offensively and defensively.
“We really didn’t make too many adjustments at halftime; we just talked with the players and they came out and played better defense in the second half,” he added.
Gentile praised the Devilcats for playing hard the entire game, particularly Correa, whom he said was a “very good player.”
Boudreau paced the Hornets’ rushing attack by gaining 86 yards on 17 carries. Cole Canfield added 62 yards on three attempts and Bush ran seven times for 41 yards.
Correa led LMR by running for 172 yards on 17 carries. Chad Rosario rushed four times for 27 yards and Ross Abbott ran six times for 14 yards.
Correa completed 7 of 13 passes for 86 yards. Brandon Smith and Hendrix each had three catches, for 56 yards and 11 yards, respectively. Edwards had the other reception for 19 yards.
“Harpursville deserves credit,” LMR Co-Coach Fred Ahart said. “In the second half they came out and really controlled the line of scrimmage.”
Ahart was also quick to laud the Devilcats.
“We kept playing hard and didn’t quit,” he said. “That last touchdown drive was a positive for us. It gives us some momentum for our next game.”
Notes: Prior to kickoff, the six seniors on the LMR team – Ross Abbott, Nate Brock, Troy Edwards, Russell Mootz, Stephen Rogers and Brett Youngblood – and their family members were recognized during a ceremony at midfield.
Also honored were the three seniors on the Devilcats’ cheerleading team, Linda Castro, Sara Molusky and Dakota Smith, along with junior captain Amanda Olivo.
In addition, Troy Edwards was named Homecoming King and received his crown from Homecoming Queen Melissa Schroeder.