WHEELING – Linsly did something Saturday afternoon that few teams have been able to do over the past decade or so — hand Fort Frye a rare road loss.
The Wheeling-based Cadets (3-1) dominated both sides of the trenches in a workmanlike 41-0 victory during Reunion/Alumni Weekend on Fawcett Field at Lockhart Stadium in the Leatherwood section of the Friendly City.
It had been since Oct. 17, 2014 that the Beverly-based Cadets (5-1) had tasted defeat on the road during the regular season. That came in a 24-8 setback against Caldwell at the Noble County Fairgrounds.
“Wow. Wow,” Linsly head coach B.J. Depew said when told of Fort Frye’s road streak. “I did not know that. We know how big of a win that was right there because they are a good football team.
“We made plays when we had to and we didn’t give them any breathing room at all on offense, and we clicked really well on offense,” he added.
Linsly controlled the interior on both sides of the ball as it ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns, while on the opposite side, it held Fort Frye to a mere 61 yards of total offense.
“I was really pleased with how physical we played up front on both sides of the ball,” Depew said. “There had been some shortcomings there, especially on offense, but we made some progress.”
Depew said the week off last weekend really helped his team.
“The kids really showed up today,” he noted.
The offensive front of left tackle Jack Selmon, left guards Toni Malkki and Brock Kuttle, center Patrick Christ, right guard Anderson Palian and right tackle Tommy Turak continually opened holes for the backs.
Defensively, the front four of ends Landon Taylor and Roi Gerson and tackles Jamie Riedel and Malkki, along with inside linebackers Ray Kovalesky and Neri Weiner and outside ‘backers’ Stanisi and Brody Cottrill swarmed all over the place. Gerson had a pair of fumble recoveries.
“Our run defense has been outstanding. We gave up about a yard-and-a-half to a really good team (St. Francis DeSales) two weeks ago,” Depew said. “I don’t know what the stats were today, but Frot Frye is a team that prides itself in running the football. They run it against everybody, but they didn’t today.”
Fort Frye had 11 runs of negative yardage and only amassed 43 on 33 carries.
Stanisi scored on runs of 23 and 12 yards to give Linsly a 14-0 lead after one quarter. Malte Feil added both conversion kicks.
Weiner scored on a 5-yard romp and sophomore Braden Wade, making his first varsity start, found Jaxon Murray in stride down the Fort Frye sidelines from 60 yards for a 28-0 halftime advantage as Feil was perfect on four tries.
Nathan Smith picked off a tipped Fort Frye pass and ran it back 52 yards as the margin ballooned to 35-0 in the third quarter after Feil’s placement.
Wade, who connected on 12 of 19 passes for 254 yards, rifled his second TD to a wide-open Ramello Derr for a 27-yard strike. The run for two failed after a bad snap.
“I’m so happy for Braden to be able to have this moment,” Depew said. “He had two really good weeks of practice. I’m thrilled for him. He’s a great kid and has real;ly been a student of the game. He’s shown patience and is doing what we are asking him to do.”
Stanisi finished with 85 yards on half-a-dozen carries and the two TDs. Derr caught four passes for 101 stripes.
Linsly converted 15 first downs to just four for Fort Frye.
Linsly welcomes Steubenville to West Family Stadium at West Liberty University on Friday for homecoming.
