By Rob Potter
ROSCOE — A strong second half carried the visiting Eldred Yellowjackets to a 47-12 win over the Livingston Manor/Roscoe Devilcats on Friday night in a non-league football game.
Holding a 19-12 lead at halftime, Eldred (2-0) used its powerful running game to steadily increase its advantage during the second half.
Senior quarterback Bryan Henry and sophomore running back Jordan Tice each ran for a 14-yard touchdown in the third quarter to give the Yellowjackets a 33-12 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Tice had a 16-yard TD run and Ian Halloran ran for a 13-yard TD.
Eldred had to come from behind early in the game, however.
With 8:18 left in the first quarter, LMR sophomore quarterback Troy Correa ran for a 68-yard touchdown on the team’s first offensive play of the night.
But the Yellowjackets responded with a seven-play scoring drive which was capped by Halloran’s 1-yard run. The PAT kick by Bob Warden gave Eldred a 7-6 lead with 5:08 left in the quarter.
With just 31 seconds to go in the quarter, Henry scored on a 2-yard quarterback keeper to make it a 13-6 game.
Henry ran for another 2-yard TD with 10:09 remaining in the second quarter to push the Yellowjackets’ advantage to 19-6.
LMR (0-2) answered with 1:30 remaining until halftime. Correa dropped back to pass and threw the ball over the middle to Brandon Smith, who caught it and sprinted to the end zone for a 55-yard TD.
Halloran led the Yellowjackets’ offense by rushing for 192 yards on 14 carries, while Henry finished with 102 yards on 12 carries.
Tice and Warden rushed for 92 and 46 yards, respectively.
As a team, Eldred ran the ball 42 times for 442 yards.
“Our heads weren’t in the right place in the first quarter,” Eldred Coach Frank Kean said. “They took us out of our game in the first quarter. But in the second half, we started to run the ball. That’s what we want to do, grind it out on the ground. When we do that, we have a good chance to win the game.
“We had great blocking tonight, especially Geno Jones and Scott Hallock on the left side of the line,” Kean added.
Correa paced the Devilcats by running for 187 yards on 12 carries.
“We stayed with them in the first half and had a chance to score the tying touchdown in the second quarter,” LMR Co-Coach Fred Ahart said. “But Eldred took control in the second half with its running game.”
Prior to the opening kickoff, a moment of silence was observed to honor all those who were killed in the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on 9-11-2001.
A moment of silence was also held in memory of Anthony “Tony” Brzytwa, a former Roscoe football player and member of the Roscoe Central School Class of 1991. The temporary lights for the game were donated by the Brzytwa family.