Western Reserve running back Timmy Serensky, left, follows a block from teammate Carson Myers on a run during the second quarter of a game against Trinity on Thursday in Berlin Center.

BERLIN CENTER — For the first time in 2025, the victory bell rang just outside the north end zone at Western Reserve.

It wasn’t the prettiest, but the Blue Devils held on to beat Trinity 33-18 on Thursday for the team’s first win of the season.

“Ugly wins are better than pretty losses. I learned that a long time ago,” Western Reserve head coach John Armeni said. “We got a good group of seniors, but we’re relying on a lot of young kids at key positions – quarterback, running back. They made an awful lot of mistakes, but what we say was dig deep in critical moments and make plays.”

Armeni said his young players are starting to get their “battle scars.” And the first couple quarters exemplified that fact.

There were few passes between the two teams, and the boys in the trenches dictated the game.

After Western Reserve forced a short punt and took over at its 38, sophomore running back Timmy Serensky led the Blue Devils down the field. Sophomore quarterback Dominic Krut put the Devils on the board with a 2-yard QB sneak, but the extra-point attempt was wide left.

The Blue Devils’ next drive ended prematurely after a hard hit knocked the ball out of Serensky’s hand, leading to a fumble recovered by the Trojans. However, the Blue Devils forced a punt and began the next possession at their 25.

Western Reserve (1-1) ate up most of the quarter with its ground attack. Serensky punched it in from 5 yards out off the right side to increase the lead to 13-0 with 2:26 remaining before the half

The Trojans (1-1) recovered a squib kick to begin their next drive with a short field. They got down to the Western Reserve 10-yard line with 25 seconds left before the break.

However, Nate Alexander intercepted Trinity quarterback Derion Smith in the end zone as time expired, preserving the Blue Devils’ 13-0 lead.

The Blue Devils picked up a loose kickoff to start the second half and took possession at the Trinity 45-yard line. However, Krut had trouble handling a bad snap, and it was recovered by Smith for a touchdown. Smith couldn’t pick up the Trinity two-point run, but the Trojans cut the deficit to 13-6 with 11:07 to play in the third quarter.

Serensky and the Blue Devils responded quickly.

Serensky took a handoff and broke outside to the left of the formation and scored on a 51-yard touchdown run for his second score of the night.

“Timmy’s a little piece of iron,” Armeni said. “He’s tough, he works hard, he’s not afraid of contact and when someone’s gotta take those tough carries, he’s the guy, he does that for us. He did a great job against a great Crestview team, and he did a pretty good job this week against a D-V playoff team.”

The Trojans finally broke through against the Western Reserve defense midway through the third quarter. Jaylann Branch sliced through the middle of the Blue Devils’ defense and scored on a 16-yard TD run, trimming the WR lead to 20-12.

Trinity’s quick set up on offense caught the Blue Devils out of position on the next drive. The Trojans quickly got into formation and snapped the ball frequently on the first sound.

That caught the Blue Devils off guard at the start of the fourth quarter, and Branch scored his second rushing touchdown from 8 yards out to cut Western Reserve’s lead to 20-18 with 9:35 to play.

“The strange thing is in practice, it goes rather smoothly, but then you get Friday night game speed … not so much,” Armeni said of his team’s troubles before the snap. “There are a lot of little miscues we need to clean up going into Columbiana next week. Our league is really tough sledding, so we need to clean those things up. But once we do, I think this could be a scary football team.”

But the Blue Devils turned things around.

Krut picked up his second TD run of the game after fighting through a couple would-be tacklers, and Western Reserve recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff.

A punt by Cole Dotson pinned the Trojans at their own 4-yard line. The Blue Devils forced a turnover on downs and took over at the 12.

Krut put the game away with a 5-yard touchdown run, his third of the game, with 1:27 left in the game to put the Blue Devils ahead 33-18.

When the game ended, the players celebrated on the field. They rang the bell and followed with the school’s alma mater.

It was a moment that Armeni wanted for his kids, the ability to realize that the hard work they put in during the summer resulted in success.

“We certainly didn’t have that feeling last week, so it’s nice for those young kids to get that feeling in their belly that hard work pays off,” Armeni said.