The Devils, who list just 29 players on their roster, work as hard as anyone on the field, and have capable players at several key positions. What Plainville is searching for is results. Now, after another shutout loss, this one a 21-0 setback at home against East Catholic/Cheney Tech on Monday night, first-year coach Greg Styles has put his finger on the cause of Plainville's woes.

"We just make mistakes in key situations," Styles said. "The kids are playing hard, we just make that big mistake that keeps us out of the end zone or keeps us on the field on defense."

After a scoreless first half, the mistakes started to pile up, and so did the number of Eagles' points. Junior running back Dahna Deleston (13 carries, 213 yards) ran over the Devils' defense, and junior fullback Joe Hartigan (65 yards, 2 touchdowns) finished off East Catholic drives as the Eagles pulled away from their hosts in the third quarter.

East Catholic (2-1) opened the second half with a six-play, 3:28 drive which ended shortly after Painville's first defensive mistake. Deleston broke a 17-yard run with the Eagles facing third-and-7, forcing Plainville (0-3) to have to make another defensive stand. And it nearly did. After forcing East Catholic into a third-and-3 situation, however, Plainville let Hartigan break through the line and rumble 32 yards for the game's first score.

"Coming out of halftime, the kids were pumped about where we were in the game," Styles said. "We had them caught on a third and long, and one mental mistake later, we have to go in there and fight again, it's tough when you have to do that."

Plainville's defense, which had played well prior to the Eagles first score, responded and held the Eagles again three minutes later. The Blue Devils offense, which has yet to score this season, followed by going three-and-out and giving the Eagles the ball right back. And this time, they paid for it.

A 20-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Chris Hubtala to Deleston was immediately followed by Hartigan's second score, a 25 yard touchdown run that made it 14-0 Eagles with 2:22 left in the third.

The pattern continued as Plainville drove to midfield on the ensuing possession, but stalled there, and punted back to the Eagles. The Blue Devils defense stopped East Catholic twice, forcing a third-and-four on the East Catholic 29. But Deleston finished things off for the evening, going 71 yards for the score, as the Eagles built a 21-0 lead with 9:52 left in the game.

Plainville's best chance to score came with 6:24 left. After Craig Vincelette (10 for 30, 115 yards) found senior tight end Dan Garewski for 16 yards to the Eagles' three-yard line, a botched handoff between Vincelette and Mike Giraulo (52 yards receiving) cost Plainville the ball and kept them off the board for the third straight game.