Despite tireless efforts by St. Clairsville head coach Brett McLean and Athletic Director Kelly Rine, the Red Devils will not be playing this weekend.

It’s been a roller coaster of emotions over the course of the last nine months.

Even before the Red Devils’ 2014 season ended in the second round of the playoffs against Columbus Bishop Hartley, McLean and Rine were working the phones looking for an opponent.

They’ve dealt with this in years past. It’s one of those deals that when you win a lot of games and have good players, it’s a struggle to find games. All of the area’s premier programs – on both sides of the river – have dealt with it.

However, the difference this year as compared to those before, St. C. was unable to find an opponent. Well, it found a game and had it agreed to, but Ontario Prospect Academy opted to back out of the deal just last week.

Sitting idle in high school football isn’t totally uncommon. It’s unfortunate, but not uncommon. Several teams around the state have a bye week. The unfortunate part is football is the only sport where the players aren’t promised the postseason. So, as a head coach or A.D., you’d like your team to play a full complement of games.

Other than that, schools rely on football and basketball for big crowds and gates. The support groups rely on parking and concession proceeds. Now, St. C., which has one of the premier facilities in the area, has just four home games and it’s first isn’t until week five against Indian Creek.

As for the postseason, St. Clairsville’s divisor drops to nine and it moves on.

The timing of the off week isn’t great by any means. Shadyside’s bye week last season came in week 10, so it had the opportunity to rest, heal and get ready for the postseason.

St. Clairsville, which is 2-0 after two impressive road victories, now has two weeks to get ready for a road trip to Martins Ferry.

But, like McLean told me after the Red Devils’ victory at Coshocton over the weekend, it comes down to just handling the situation well and making the best of it.

POTENT HUSKIES

Justin Kropka stood on the field in Urichsville and told me, “if we get our guys in space, we’re pretty good.”

Kropka has never been one to brag or embellish. It’s just not in his nature.

He’s also not one to lie and that proved to be the case again. The go-to-guy last Friday at Weir was senior standout Travis Stenson. A workhorse running back, but is also a more than capable of catching passes out of the backfield.

Stenson had a night to remember against the Red Riders. He accounted for 376 yards and four touchdowns.

The Huskies are a very dangerous outfit. They have multiple home-run hitters in the offense. In many spots, I believe this is the most talented team that Kropka has had at his disposal.

The Huskies make their home debut Friday against Bellaire.

SHOWDOWN IN HANNIBAL?

It’s been a few years since we’ve been able to use this subhead, but it’s exactly what’s about to transpire at Martin Flannery Field.

The Pilots are set to roll out the red carpet for fellow 2-0 Monroe Central this Friday night.

River has reached this point with impressive victories against Reedsville Eastern and Shenandoah. Monroe Central has wins against Union Local and Shadyside on its resume.

If you’re going to Hannibal on Friday, you’d better get there early. It’s never too early to talk playoff points and this game is big for both teams. As big as it is, it’s also not the end of the world since it’s only week three.

An interesting matchup will be the Pilots’ big play threats in Lukas Isaly and Braden Whetsell against a very formidable Seminoles’ defense.

Plus, a Mike Flannery vs. Jay Circosta coaching battle always has intrigue.

Read more about this game in Wednesday’s Xs and Os.

TOUGH TRIP

There are plenty of unenviable road trips that teams make during the course of the season.

Beallsville High School may have had one of the worst in Ohio last Friday when it ventured to Maria Stein, Ohio, which is on the Indiana border. Not only was the trip nearly four hours (by car), but the Marion Local Flyers are the four-time defending state champions.

The Flyers won, 54-6. Not many expected the game to be highly competitive, especially when you consider the Blue Devils dress just 14 players.

But, Athletic Director Chris Pagano, who put together the Blue Devils’ schedule basically in just less than two months, reached out to me via text message Saturday morning.

Pagno’s message to me said, “we went, lost and came back, but it was a HUGE win for our program and most importantly, the Beallsville community. A great experience. All the good words we say about sportsmanship and development were on full display. Beautiful.”

Maybe it wasn’t as tough of a trip as most had expected it to be?

CHECKING IN ON THE LOCALS

JOHN MAGISTRO led Westerville Central to a 2-0 start after his Warhawks posted a come-from-behind 41-37 victory against New Albany.

MIKE ORLANDO, the Steubenville Central graduate, led his Cincinnati McNicholas squad to a 24-21 victory against Anderson.

BELLAIRE GRAD Jerry Buti’s Defiance squad dipped to 1-1 on the season after a 35-21 setback to Kenton.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE grad Levi Nelson led his Rittman squad to a 2-0 start thanks to a 34-20 victory against South Central. Next up for the Indians is a date with 1-1 Mapleton.

MARTINS FERRY grad Fred Ray, who is the head coach at Fairview High School in Kentucky, suffered his first loss of the season. His team dropped to 2-1 after a 40-14 setback to Lawrence County.