Staff photo / Brian Yauger Western Reserve sophomore Chris Pater makes an interception during the first half of Friday’s game. The Blue Devils were able to take advantage of three first half turnovers in the victory.

BERLIN CENTER — Western Reserve rode a dominant first half performance on the way to a 28-14 victory over Mineral Ridge on Friday.

The Blue Devils took advantage of three first half interceptions, which they parlayed into touchdowns.

Pair that with a stellar rushing attack, and Western Reserve was in business.

“I thought we were able to control the line of scrimmage,” Blue Devils coach John Armeni said. “With three seniors that are on our line, we were able to dominate the line of scrimmage on offense, which enabled us to run the football. I think defensively our line did a nice job and the linebacking core, I’m obviously biased, but we think we have the best linebacking core in the league and it’s led by Nathan Hemburger, you know, who had another stellar game tonight.”

Jack Darney and Luke Henning each scored a pair of touchdowns in the first half. Darney’s both came in the first quarter off a 52-yard reception and a 15-yard rush.

Henning’s scores each came off rushes from inside the 10-yard line.

Even while getting blanked on the scoreboard in the second half, that would be all the Blue Devils needed to seal the victory and move to 7-2 on the season.

Mineral Ridge pushed back, and pushed back hard in the second half. While only scoring one touchdown after halftime, the Rams forced two crucial turnovers to give them great scoring opportunities. They just weren’t able to convert.

“We just couldn’t capitalize,” Rams coach Brian Shaner said. “It’s been like our story of the year. We get ourselves right there and when we try to get back in, we just don’t capitalize, but we’ll keep working on it.”

In the locker room, Shaner emphasized the importance of playing “Mineral Ridge football.” While the Blue Devils didn’t let them play their brand of ball in the first half, the Rams had to force the issue after the break, and it worked.

“It was a gut check,” he said. “They came out and they put it on us a little bit. We had to call them out a little bit. ‘Guys, what are we going to look like?’ We didn’t play our brand of football in the first half and that’s nothing against Reserve because they didn’t let us play our brand of football.

“(In the second half), our guys came out with a fight. That’s how we play. Reserve has got a darn good football team. With Henning at quarterback and Darney at tailback, they’re really talented.”

This marks Western Reserve’s second straight win following the loss to Springfield. After the loss, the Blue Devils have been all the more motivated to win. The Springfield game served as a mirror on the Reserve program, showing what they need to do if they want to win.

“Springfield’s a measuring stick in this league and they have been for quite some time,” Armeni said. “When you play them, it’s not always pretty, but when you get an opportunity to do that, you learn a lot about yourself. You learn what you’re good at and what you’ve got to work on. We’ve played two of the top teams in our region in Malvern and Springfield. We’ve learned from both of those and we’re going to keep working to get better.”

With one week left in the regular season, the Blue Devils’ finale is arguably their most important game yet. Western Reserve closes the season out with bitter rival Jackson-Milton in the Battle of Route 45.

“They circled that game on their calendar here in Berlin Center like they circle Christmas, so win, lose or draw, we know that’s going to be a battle,” Armeni said.

Ditto for Mineral Ridge, which hosts rival McDonald in the season finale.

“Can’t wait,” Shaner said. “That’s why that’s why we moved the rivalry games back to Week 10. All the chips are on the table. It’s going to be a fun one and it’s going to be a great game.”