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Shadyside and St. Clairsville
Two tightly-laced communities rich in tradition and right now rich in victories. Two communities that are extremely similar in everything other than population and the fact that the latter has a mall and a Wal-Mart.
One thing that brings them even closer is the success their football squads are having this fall.
Each school claimed yet another victory Saturday night in its respective division as both schools are still in hot pursuit of the coveted gold trophy.
Shadyside advanced to the Region 23 championship by virtue of a 27-12 victory over River, while St. Clairsville overcame an athletic Licking Heights squad to post a 27-13 victory at Zanesville.
Both teams are cut from the same mold. Not in terms of size or stature or anything like that, but for the fact that they utilize their weapons efficiently and effectively, while playing lights-out defense.
It's been that way all season for both teams. Neither teams shoots itself in the foot too often and none allow too many big plays.
And one of the intangible factors that both teams have going for them is the fact that their supporters come out in droves. Martins Ferry's Purple Rider Stadium was a sea of orange, while reports indicated to us the Red Devils' faithful made the trips in mass to Muskingum County.
That's what it takes. The coaches and players realize their family members will be there supporting them, but they need the entire community. If you take a minute and drive through each community, it doesn't take long to realize that the towns are firmly planted behind the team.
St. Clairsville's trip to Zanesville wasn't all that long, but to make sure as many students were able to get to the game as possible, the school found sponsors and had busses for students, taking them to Zanesville for the game. The ride and the ticket were supplied. They did the same thing during the Red Devils' trip to the district tournament in basketball.
Those same busses will be needed this week most likely seeing the Red Devils are heading to Franklin County. St. Clairsville was assigned to play at Gahanna Lincoln High School against Williamsport Westfall.
As I've done most of the season, I ventured onto Mapquest.com and looked up the distances to the field from the respective schools. The Red Devils will be making a nearly 2-hour trip to suburban Columbus, while Westfall's drive is a smidge over 40 minutes. Doesn't quite seem like equal distance, but the Red Devils will certainly welcome the ability to play on turf.
It'll be the first time all season, the Devils are on the artificial stuff since they scrimmaged Wheeling Central and took part in the Football Jamboree in August. But, if you think Anthony Vincent, Dustin Hynes and Kurtis Cullen are slippery on grass, better get a glimpse of them this week.
Shadyside, meanwhile, will be preparing for its first trip outside of the county for a playoff game this year. The Tigers have a much shorter trip to New Philadelphia's Quaker Stadium. The Tigers played back-to-back weeks in New Phila. last year, so they are familair with the territory.
The Tigers will begin preparations for a strong Newark Catholic squad, which brings into the frey a running back who's rushed for better than 2,000 yards on the season. Needless to say, defensive coaches Mark Holenka and John Grinch will probably be "burning the midnight oil" again this week trying to devise a plan.
However, the Tigers have had a plan all season and their players have executed its brilliantly. The Orange offense gets a lot of the attention and rightfully so for a outfit, which is scoring at a near 40-points per game clip, but the defense is staunch and after this past week's performance shouldn't be overlooked any longer.
It's just a shame that both of these schools are playing on Saturday and local fans can't enjoy both games, but it's safe to say, whichever game neutral locals opt to attend, they will be heading to a fine football game with fine football teams.
RIVER SEASON
Major kudos deserve to be sent in the direction of River head coach Mike Flannery. This guy and his Pilots bowed out of the Division VI state title chase Saturday night at the hands of up-river rival Shadyside.
However, that should do nothing to overshadow what the Pilots accomplished through the course of the previous 11 weeks.
The Pilots utilized an outstanding offensive line and droves of skill players named either Starr or Potts. Flannery knew in the pre-season his team had a chance to be a lot better than the previous year. How much better he didn't know, but he got outstanding work from his seniors in leading this group.
River's defense was outstanding the entire season, but it ran into a Shadyside team that had just a little too much speed and just too many weapons to contain.
Again, the season by the River Pilots shouldn't go unnoticed and I would be willing to bet it doesn't go unnoticed.
The Pilots will definitely miss the work that Troy Starr did this season as a running back, but the cupboard is far from bare in Hannibal. Flannery will return one of the finest two-way lineman next season in junior D.J. Duke who was boreder line unblockable for most of the season.
KEEP WEARING THOSE SHORTS
Well, the shorts paid off again for the St. Clairsville Red Devils' coaches. This marks the 12th straight week now that Brett McLean and company have dawned the shorts on the sideline.
Superstition is one thing, but let's hope none of these coaches catch a sickness from this. However, I would be willing to bet as the Red Devils keep rolling, adrenaline keeps taking over and body temparatures rise to the point where none of the coaches even realize that it's fairly chilly.
Now the question is, if the Red Devils don't win the state championship, meaning they wear the shorts and were to lose at some point this season, would they bring the shorts back next season in the opener? A new trend would be started, but needless to say, that's probably the furthest thing from anyone's mind in the Belmont County Seat.
MARTINS FERRY HOSTING
Athletic Director Dave Bruney, Joe Kosar and Carol Burda and the entire Purple Rider athletic department deserve a major pat on the back for their work with Saturday's Division VI playoff game between Shadyside and River. The Purple Riders have hosted playoff games of their own in the past, but this was the first time they hosted as a neutral site, and in my eyes it went off with out a hitch.
The fans loved the proximity of the location obviously, and with the turf and new pavement the Purple Riders' facility is one of the finest in the area and let's just be honest, the finest in Belmont County.
Could a St. Clairsville-Steubenville game be placed at Purple Rider Stadium? Well, a lot of things have to happen before we'll know that next Sunday, but it's probably not out of the question.
BUSY DAY
St. Clairsville defensive coordinator Bruce Stiles has been working overtime. Along with preparing the defensive game plan for the Red Devils' football team, Stiles is the chief assistant for Mickey Blatnik's Lady Red Devils' girls basketball team. He's been doing double duty and attending both practices. He had quite a day Saturday as he helped coach in the OUE Preview and then boarded up a bus and helped lead the Red Devils to the next round.
Putting in the kind of time that football coaches do to prepare is enough to cause some coaches to just take a long nap after the season-long grind ends, but for Stiles it's right to work on the hardwood.
FINALLY HERE
The game that so many have been talking about since May when the OHSAA released its latest enrollment figures is about to unfold at Canton's Fawcett Stadium Saturday night.
The hype is already under way as two-time defending Division III state champion Steubenville meets defending Division IV state champion Youngstown Mooney in the Division IV Region 13 championship game this week.
It's a game that pits two of the most storied prep football programs in the state against one another .
While many, including this writer, think Steubenville is definitive underdog, it's not out of the question that the Big Red can shock the world. Steubenville kids are some of the toughest, most well-schooled athletes in the Buckeye State let alone the area.
The Big Red coaches will have a plan, and that's a promise. Reno Saccoccia and his talented and credible staff of assistants will devise a plan that puts their athletes in the best chance to succeed. Not whether or not that's enough remains to be seen.
If the game comes down to strictly 'Johnnies and Joe' moreso than Xs and Os, the Big Red will definitely have its hands full. Don't get me wrong, Steubenville isn't just well-coached and tough, they are extremely talented and athletic.
However, Mooney takes that to a different level. The Cardinals boast Danny McCarthy, Brandon Beachum, Michael Zordich, Taylor Hill and John Simon just to name a few. These guys are some of the most elite players in the nation. Not just in the area or in the state, but in the nation.
It's a safe bet to say if you want to get a good seat for this one you better leave now. I understand there's ample room at Canton's Fawcett Stadium, but this game is going to bring out people who've never seen a football game. It's a safe bet to say the entire community of Steubenville and the entire Jefferson County contingent will be making the trip.
Mooney -- which has taken out an OVAC team each of the past three years in Martins Ferry and Bellaire twice -- will bring droves of people as well.
Outside of St. Xavier and Colerain battling at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium, it could be a safe bet that this Saturday night encounter will provide the OHSAA with one of the biggest gates of the season. That's probably why despite the fact that it's a Division I night in Ohio, a Division IV game was placed at Fawcett.
As for a prediction, I am going to go with Steubenville. There could be some bias in that pick, but it's not out of the question that the Big Red could win this game. As for another prediction, the winner of this game will win the Division IV state championship especially now that Kettering Alter has been dispatched.
LOCAL OFFICIALS
We've learned that a pair of local officials worked OHSAA playoff games this past weekend. Kevin Sikora and Tom Bechtel were both in action around the Buckeye State Saturday night. The duo -- which works on the same crew during the regular season -- were miles apart however during week 12. Sikora worked the Youngstown Cardinal Mooney victory over Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary. Bechtel, meanwhile, worked a Division VI game at Findlay, pitting Arlington against McComb.
W.VA. PLAYOFFS
Basically everything was status quo in the Secondary Schools Activities Commission first round this weekend. The area squads in all but Class 3-A moved on. Wheeling Central and Madonna were convincing winners in Class A as were Magnolia and Tyler in Class 2-A.
The Maroon Knights had the tough task of meeting a Clarksburg Notre Dame squad, which was knocked off during the season by Oak Glen. That game was over early as the Knights shot out to a 49-0 lead at the intermission and put it on cruise control from there. Madonna was a winner over Pendelton County by a 42-8 score. One more win by each of the teams sets up an all-OVAC semifinal at Wheeling Island Stadium in two weeks.
Tyler's Knights unleashed a bruising running game that racked up 521 yards, including a 29-carry, 347 yards performance from Jacob Lohri. Magnolia was a convincing winner on Friday over Wyoming East and will meet third-seeded James Monroe this week.
CLASS 3-A LOCALS OUSTED
The going was a little tougher in Class AAA as Brooke and John Marshall were ousted. Parkersburg took out the Monarchs Saturday afternoon and Brooke was taken out by St. Albans on Friday.
That leads me to this question: Why can't the large schools in the Ohio Valley make a better showing than they do? Wheeling Park is one of the biggest schools in the state of West Virginia and it couldn't even qualify. John Marshall and Brooke are the second and third biggest schools in the area and they were quick outs. It just doesn't make sense to me. These schools might want to think about challenging themselves a little more during the regular season.
Here's a novel idea: play Big Red. You might lose, but at least you are preparing yourselves for the rigors of what you might see in the playoffs.
The Super Six came to Wheeling 14 years ago and in that span only John Marshall, in 1996, has claimed the big school crown. It's not like West Virginia has a St. Xavier, Colerain, Ignatius or Glenville lurking that stands in the way every year. There's no reason that these teams shouldn't be able to make at least a run or maybe even win a game or two in the postseason.
However, playing the likes of D.C. Anacostia, D.C. Coolidge or some other stiff won't get it done. Yeah, it props up the record, but there's more to it than that. Isn't there?
Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com