LOUDONVILLE — An all-time Friday night lights classic took place at Redbird Stadium as the Danville Blue Devils and Loudonville Redbirds traded blows on the gridiron all night long.
Ultimately, it was coach Matt Blum’s Blue Devils that came away with the 34-28 win against Danville’s former coach, and now the Redbirds‘ boss, Ed Honabarger.
“They could have easily folded there at the end of the third quarter, when we let a touchdown up, and then we go on to score twice,” Blum said while holding back tears.
“It just speaks levels to the types of kids we have; it meant a lot.”
The high level of player Blum has at his disposal was very apparent with sophomore captain Cy Wallace’s performance.
Wallace was dominant as a running back, picking up yards consistently on key downs. He also recorded two touchdowns on the ground and what would become the game-changing interception.
“He’s a stud, it’s as simple as that,” Blum said. “He embodies what I want our program to be about, and for him to be able to make those plays, it speaks that.”
Unfortunately for Coach Honabarger, beating his former team will have to wait.
“They just took advantage of a couple more opportunities in the second half, that’s all it is,” Honabarger said. “It was a great high school football game, and we can learn from it.
“We’ll watch film tomorrow and see where we made some mistakes, and move on and try to get ready for Fredericktown next week.”
A back-and-forth first half
Danville struck first after a methodical run-heavy drive that was capped by a Cy Wallace rushing touchdown from around midfield. It was 8-0 Blue Devils after a successful two-point try.
The Redbirds quickly responded when senior Josiah Hershberger made a nice return from Danville’s kickoff, landing the ‘Birds in ‘Devils’ territory.
Sophomore quarterback Chayse Wright capitalized on the nice field position with a quarterback keeper for a touchdown. But the home team trailed 8-6 after the blocked extra point.
The last scoring play from the first quarter was on another quarterback keeper. This time, it was the Devils’ freshman signal caller, Parker Proper, with the score to make it 14-6 Danville.
The Redbirds got an offensive drive started on Danville’s side of the field again, after a nice punt return from sophomore Collin Caley. He finished the drive he started by catching a touchdown pass on a 4th-and-5 play. The ensuing two-point conversion tied the game at 14-14 midway through the second period.
Yet, Danville bounced back.
Going for it on 4th down for the second time in the ensuing possession, Proper heaved a touchdown pass to senior wideout Wesley Payne. That put the Devils back on top 20-14.
The first half fireworks didn’t end there.
Hershberger found the right seam again on his kickoff return, this time passing the pylons for the Redbirds to put the home squad on top 22-20 at halftime. The margin was thanks to the successful two-point play.
Danville rallies
After back-to-back punts from both sides to open the third quarter, points didn’t come until the end of the third.
A typical run-heavy drive from the Redbirds set up another quarterback keeper touchdown from Wright, and put Loudonville ahead 28-20.
With 9:12 remaining in the fourth quarter, Danville nearly tied things up after junior Nolan Ridgeway ran in for a touchdown. But another failed two-point conversion kept the Redbirds in the lead 28-26.
Just when things were looking dire for the Blue Devils, Cy Wallace snagged an interception. Although his long return was wiped out by penalties, Danville had the ball and a chance.
If you blinked, you probably missed this: after another big Wallace run, the Devils were suddenly knocking on the Redbirds’ door.
Chewing the clock effectively, the Devils put the ball in Wallace’s hands again with 49 seconds to play. On a reverse trick play, Wallace found the end zone again for the winning points.
The successful conversion made it 34-28 Devils. Who pounced on the ensuing squib kick to seal it? Cy Wallace of course.
