SHARPSVILLE — Moniteau didn't try to make things easier for Sharpsville, but it turned out that way.

Three Moniteau fumbles led to touchdowns by the Blue Devils, who used five big plays to account for all of their scores in a 35-0 Sharpsville victory in the season opener for both teams.

“We shot ourselves in the foot so many times,” Moniteau coach Jeff Campbell said. “We have to fix our problems. (Sharpsville's) a pretty good football team.”

And the Blue Devils, last year's District 10 Class A champion, showed it early as it needed only two plays to take the lead.

Joey Pagliaroli broke free for a 60-yard run and he tacked on the extra point for the 7-0 lead just 48 seconds into the game.

Following a fumble by Moniteau quarterback Denny Pry two possessions later, Blue Devils quarterback Bryan Stafford connected on a 60-yard pass to Tyler Luchey.

Luchey slipped past one tackler, shook off another and continued on his way to the end zone with 4:23 left in the first quarter.

An Andrew Armagost fumble in the second quarter led to Sharpsville's next score, a 40-yard jaunt by Ross Llewellyn that capped a three-play, 53-yard drive.

On the ensuing kickoff, Moniteau fumbled and Greg Popatak scooped up the loose ball in stride and scored on a 35-yard run with 3:02 before halftime for a 29-0 lead.

“We have a lot of seniors and they played a lot last year,” said Sharpsville coach Paul Piccirilli. “It's different this year because we have zero depth behind them.

“(Moniteau) played hard. They played tough. They went through some non-football issues this week. Jeff did a great job getting them ready,” Piccirilli added.

The Warriors were dealing with a hazing incident that led to three players being suspended from the team.

In the first half, the Warriors mustered just 63 total yards and finished with only 94. Running back Dustin Geagan finished with just 22 yards on 12 carries.

“The one thing we knew was they liked to run up the middle,” Piccirilli said, “so we worked from the offensive tackles to the inside.”

The Blue Devils had their final drive of the first half end at the Moniteau 1-yard line, but added the final score with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter — a 70-yard strike from Stafford to Joey Flynn — that started the mercy clock.

Stafford finished with 196 yards on 7-of-9 passing to aid the win.

“He gives us speed in the running game,” Piccirilli noted. “We knew he could do it. Last year he competed with Jake Henwood. He did well, but Jake got the job.”

The game was not the kind the young Warriors would have liked to begin its season.

“We saw them in two scrimmages and we didn't see that,” Campbell said. “We're filling in so many positions. I have one returning offensive lineman, a new quarterback, all our wide receivers are young. We have a lot of sophomores.”

“You build up to where you had Ethan Pry, Kyle Armagost, Joey Deal, Chester Gladd, David Campbell and the list goes on. A lot of these kids now were those kids a few years ago.”