The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Wickliffe defeats Oberlin after sloppy first half
A few minutes after Wickliffe’s 54-18 seasonopening win over visiting Oberlin, a player posed a question in Oberlin’s postgame huddle.
“Is (Wickliffe’s) Number 2 just a junior?” Upon receiving an answer in the affirmative, the player could only shake his head in dismay.
Chase Fortkamp, the Wickliffe junior that wears number 2, was a force all night on both sides of the ball.
Fortkamp carried the ball 14 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns, and caught two passes for 96 yards and two more scores.
His first three touchdowns helped Wickliffe build a 20-0 lead, and he added some big hits from linebacker on defense, including a sack of Oberlin QB Azaire Hairston on a third down play deep in Wickliffe territory in the second quarter.
“He’s our guy,” Wickliffe coach Marce Porcello said. “He’s tough, and he battles on both sides of the ball. He does a lot for us, and he had a great game.”
Fortkamp wasn’t a oneman show for Wickliffe, either. Fellow junior Mason Bala chipped in a combined 85 yards rushing and receiving, and crossed the goal line three times.
The Blue Devils may have lost all-time leading rusher Isaac Pettway to graduation, but showed in their season opener that despite their low numbers (23 players), they’ve got more than enough returning talent to make a run at a fourth consecutive playoff appearance.
“Number 2 made some nice plays, we just missed the one play, the waggle,” Oberlin coach Michael Akers said.
“He’s a good football player. We knew he was going to do it, and he did it. I told the kids, I’m sure their team took a beating from the really good (seniors) they had last year, so they’re seasoned. It’s a good football team. We’ve got to get back to work, get our young kids up to gear. We played well in spots, we had it to 28-12 at one point. (We gave up) a long kickoff return, squibbed a kick, just simple things like that. Made a few mistakes.”
Wickliffe junior QB Evan Rypinsky rolled left and fired a quick pass to Fortkamp, who rumbled 42 yards down the sideline on the third play of the game for a 6-0 Blue Devil lead. Rypinsky and Fortkamp clicked on the exact same play again on Wickliffe’s next possession, this time for a 54-yard scoring play.
“That’s everything,” Fortkamp said. “We always try to receive the ball because we just want to get a quick start, get it out there, and set the speed of the game real quick.”
Both teams had trouble holding onto the ball in the first half, each fumbling the ball four times. In the midst of the exchange of turnovers, Hairston broke free for a 56-yard touchdown run to get the Phoenix on the board, and Bala scored from 7 yards out after his 33-yard burst put the Blue Devils in the red zone. Bala’s score gave Wickliffe a 28-6 lead at halftime.
Hairston, who led Oberlin with 156 yards rushing, broke off a 50-yard touchdown scamper to start the second half, but Wickliffe answered when Rypinsky found Bala for a 21-yard scoring strike.
Wickliffe’s Zak Esteves, a two-way lineman, picked up a Phoenix punt that squibbed along the ground and found clear sailing ahead for a 40-yard touchdown return.
“It felt really great,” Esteves said. “I’ve never been a person to run the ball, I’ve always been a lineman. It felt like they were breathing down my neck, so I just
“Number 2 made some nice plays, we just missed the one play, the waggle. He’s a good football player. We knew he was going to do it and he did.” — Oberlin coach Michael Akers on Wickliffe’s Chase Fortkamp
WICKLIFFE 54, OBERLIN 18
took it and kept going.”
Fortkamp’s fourth touchdown, a 5-yard run, gave Wickliffe a 48-12 lead and initiated the running clock.
Oberlin will travel to Greenwich South Central on Sept. 6, while Wickliffe will host Harvey the same night.
“It was a little sloppy in the first half, we turned the ball over a few times,” Porcello said.
“I thought we responded pretty well to the adversity. They (Oberlin) were pretty physical up front, with some big guys. I thought our defense played pretty well, they have some athletes, and their quarterback’s a good player. (The turnovers) were kind of Week 1 jitters, we’ll fix that. With only having 23 guys, it’s hard to simulate the speed of the game, but we’ll get in game shape.”