By Rob Potter
LIVINGSTON MANOR — October 9, 2007 — The Millbrook Blazers put a damper on the Homecoming festivities for the Livingston Manor/Roscoe Devilcats on Saturday afternoon at Livingston Manor Central School.
Millbrook jumped out to a 42-7 lead in the second quarter and went on to post a 48-15 victory in the non-league football game against the Devilcats.
After stopping LMR on its opening possession, Millbrook (3-3) drove 74 yards in seven plays to score the game’s first touchdown. Tom Wohlfahrt capped the drive with a 47-yard run with 7:29 remaining in the first quarter. Aiden Little then kicked the extra point to give the Blazers a 7-0 lead.
Nick Finger ran for a 3-yard TD with 3:39 left in the quarter and Little booted the PAT kick through the uprights to extend the Millbrook advantage to 14-0.
On the following LMR possession, quarterback Mike Hendrickson tried to throw a pass to teammate Troy Edwards. But Millbrook defender Zachary Roach intercepted the ball to give the Blazers a first-and-10 at the Devilcats’ 27-yard line.
Millbrook needed just one play to extend its advantage. Peter Keenan caught a pass from Roach across the middle and dashed to the end zone. Little added the PAT kick to give the Blazers a 21-0 lead with 1:55 left in the quarter.
Finger scored on a 4-yard run in the final seconds of the quarter to make it a 28-0 game.
Keenan had a 30-yard TD run early in the second quarter to push the Blazers’ lead to 35-0.
LMR (0-6) got on the scoreboard with 3:21 left in the second quarter. Hendrickson took the snap and then ran off tackle and upfield. He broke a couple of tackles on his way to the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown run.
Hendrickson then kicked the extra point to cut the Millbrook lead to 35-7.
A minute later, Finger ran for a 35-yard TD to give Millbrook a 42-7 advantage at halftime.
The Devilcats scored their second touchdown of the afternoon with 8:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. On a first-and-10 at the Millbrook 35-yard line, Shane Lewis took a handoff from Hendrickson and sprinted up field. Lewis, a junior running back, broke two tackles as he ran to the end zone.
Hendrickson threw the two-point conversion pass to Claude Davis to make it a 42-15 contest.
Finger led the Blazers’ offense, rushing for 180 yards.
“We took it on the chin the last two weeks, so it was nice to come out here and get a victory,” Millbrook Coach Sean Keenan said. “Nick [Finger] and Tom [Wohlfahrt] both did a good job of running the football for us today.
“Both LMR coaches are class coaches,” Keenan added. “They have classy players and they played the game with a lot of class. It was a pleasure to come up here and play against these guys.”
Lewis and Hendrickson paced the Devilcats’ offense. Lewis rushed 11 times for a team-high 105 yards, while Hendrickson carried the ball 15 times for 82 yards.
Seth Darbee gained 18 yards on three carries.
Hendrickson completed 5-of- 20 passes for 114 yards. Darbee caught two of those passes for 32 yards and Davis had two receptions for 57 yards. Lewis caught one pass for 25 yards.
“The big play for them was the counter play,” LMR Co-Coach Fred Ahart said. “We stopped them early, but they scored a couple of times with that counter play.”
Despite the lopsided loss, Ahart noted that he and fellow LMR Co-Coach Kevin Clifford were pleased with how the Devilcats competed.
“They did a good job and played a good game,” Ahart said. “Our players kept hustling and working hard the entire game. Our goal is to keep working hard and improve every week.”
Notes: Prior to the game, the LMR senior players – Clay Banks, Seth Darbee, Mike Diescher, Josh Gorr, Justin Mendez and Axel Robinson – gathered at the 50-yard line to honor the memory of Kelly Lackey by retiring his number 42 jersey.
Sadly, Lackey, a member of the Devilcats’ football team, passed away last fall just weeks after being severely injured in a car accident.
During his high school football career, Lackey rushed for 1,190 yards and averaged 12 tackles per game. In addition, he was chosen as an All-Section IX Class D Linebacker, named an All-Section IX Class D fullback, selected as the team’s Defensive MVP three times and named the team’s Offensive MVP for one season.
“Not only will we remember the stats and awards, Kelly had received during his career, but even more we will remember the way Kelly played the game,” read a portion of tribute to Lackey which was printed on Saturday’s game program. “Kelly played with pure heart and desire no matter what the score or the opponent.”
Mike Diescher was chosen as the Homecoming King. Fellow senior Jennifer Green, who is a member of the Manor cross country team, was elected Homecoming Queen.