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Showdown or Mow down?
We’re not sure which of the above titles better fits what transpired at Martins Ferry’s Purple Rider Stadium Friday night when Union Local showed up for what was supposed to be a huge Buckeye 8 showdown.
The Purple Riders flexed their muscle, showed their speed and basically laid the hammer down on the Jets to a tune of 60-18. Simply unbelievable. Union Local came into the game with a high-powered offense, but the Ferry defense performance led to a lot of head scratching.
The Purple Riders brought all sorts of pressure on Jets’ quarterback Jordan Barbina and made sure he stayed in the pocket whereas in week’s past, the Jets’senior ace had been able to out-race many on long runs. Ferry was too fast, too athletic and maybe most importantly too determined.
The Riders – who had been showing signs since the second half of their overtime win at Harrison Central – officially got over the hump last Friday. Jeremy Murray, Rawn Driver, Patrick Allen, Marques Bass provided the speed, while rugged senior Matt Shreve continues to show just what kind of prep football player he is since he came back from an early-season injury.
Purple Riders’ head coach Dave Bruney was rather impressed with his squad’s performance, whereas Mark Cisar and the Jets are headed back to the drawing board, trying to make sure that kind of loss doesn’t train wreck what could be a most productive season.
The Riders are starting to show the signs of brilliance many thought they could display. A road trip to West Muskingum lies ahead this week. And something tells me, you’ve not heard the last of the Jets who will return to the friendly confines to meet Edison this week.
MUCH-NEEDED VICTORY
The St. Clairsville Red Devils fell into the category of needing a win in the worst way. When you talk about psyches taking a hit, you’d almost have to talk about the Red Devils. St. C. had lost two in a row, but the Red Devils re-grouped like we expected and knocked off previously undefeated Weir High last weekend at the Belmont County Fairgrounds.
Senior quarterback Adam Shanks made plays with both his legs and his arm and the Red Devils got solid running once again from Brody Call.
A big key to the 35-17 victory was a lack of turnovers. The Red Devils took care of the football, which is a big key no matter what level of football you’re playing on.
St. Clairsville leaves Buckeye 8 conference play for two weeks with winnable games against Meadowbrook and Steubenville Catholic lying ahead after this week’s trip to Wintersville to meet scrappy Indian Creek. The playoffs aren’t out of the question for the Red Devils seeing they are currently sitting in eighth place in the unofficial computer poll, but they can’t afford to stub their toe anymore if they hope to qualify for the prestigious post-season party for the third straight year.
SECOND HALF BEGINS
The second half of the season begins Friday and one school, which is currently 5-0, is excited to kick it off to continue its assault, but the back-half of its schedule contains nary a creampuff. The Bridgeport Bulldogs – for the second consecutive season – have reached the midway point unschathed. However, the meat of the Bulldogs’ schedule begins this Saturday with a night trip to Madonna to face the undefeated Blue Dons. Games against River, Beallsville and Shadyside follow before finishing against Cameron. The next four opponents have one combined loss.
It will be interesting to see how the youthful Bulldogs handle this stretch. Last year, they went 1-4, knocking off only Cameron in the second half of the season. We know this, Bridgeport’s a lot better than they were last year. Being a lot better doesn’t always translate into wins and losses, so it’ll be just a game of wait and see.
RESTING ON LAURELS
The Shadyside Tigers – the lead of this space a week ago – were coming off a big win over Wheeling Central, which snapped the Maroon Knights’ 35-game winning streak. However, the Tigers must not have realized that the season didn’t end with that contest.
In their game at Zanesville Rosecrans, the Orange basically slept walked through the first half and looked up at a 12-7 deficit at the intermission. However, veteran head coach Ty Fleming and his staff seemingly lit a fire under the Tiger players, who came out in the second half and promptly took the ball 70-plus yards for what was the game-winning touchdown.
Again, the Tigers will be favored in every game they play the rest of the way. However, they’d better realize they need to string together four quarters, which is something we’ve yet to see them do.
This week will be no pushover despite Barnesville’s 1-4 record. The Shamrocks always play the Tigers tough, plus it’s Pumpkin Festival week in western Belmont County, which means the Tigers had better strap it up.
BEALLSVILLE TEST
The Beallsville Blue Devils have ran absolutely roughshod through the first half of their schedule. Lopsided scores have become a constant in Beallsville football games. This week – on paper at least – is the toughest test for the Blue Devils when they load up the buses and head to Noble County to meet Caldwell.
The Blue Devils have a high-powered offense – averaging 51.2 points a game – and a stingy defense, which allows just 48 points the entire season.
Leading the attack is senior home-run hitter Eric Lucas who’s ran for 451 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. All told, he’s scored 14 touchdowns. He’s also passes for 218 yards. He’s a do-everything kind of player for the Blue Devils.
The Redskins, meanwhile, come in as losers of two in a row. They gave Monroe Central and River all they wanted the past two weeks, but feel short.
This could be one of the more intriguing games of the weekend.
ON THE MARK
Bellaire’s Ryan Feller had a most memorable afternoon Saturday at Nelson Field. Not only was it homecoming and not only did the Big Reds win their second straight, the junior signal caller etched his name into Big Reds’ lure.
Feller – who took some lumps a year ago in his year as the starter for Coach Gregg Bonar – turned in the greatest single-game performance in terms of yardage in Bellaire history. Yes, that includes names like Jose Davis, Nate Davis, Ty Masciarelli, Nick Rocchio and numerous others.
The 6-ft-2 slinger completed 20-of-30 passes for 418 yards, breaking Jose Davis’ single-game record by a single stripe. Feller has played well most of the season and is one of the big keys to Bellaire owning a 3-2 record at the season’s mid-way point.
The Big Reds will look to sustain their momentum this week at Harrison Central against the 4-1 Huskies.
TOUGH TRIP
There are tough road trips throughout the course of a season, but Steubenville’s packing up this week for its first voyage away from the friendly confines of Death Valley. The Big Red will make the more than two-hour trek to Columbus to meet Bishop Watterson High School. The Eagles – a Division II power – are sitting at 4-1 and haven’t lost since week one. The Eagles are coming off a victory over Cleveland Benedictine.
The Big Red has answered all challenges for 55 straight games in the regular season, which to me, is totally amazing. It’s a total credit to obviously having talent. However, to be that well-prepared and that motivated each week says something about the Big Red coaches. I am a huge fan of Reno Saccoccia. This guy is old school and gets the absolute last ounce of energy from his players.
There’s just something different about Big Red’s players, coaches and the entire Big Red mentality. Whatever the difference may be, and I’d be willing to bet there are many, it translates into victories and lots of them.
KUDOS
I must offer sincere congratualtions to the Edison Wildcats. It has nothing to do with the outcome of the Wildcats’ game against Harrison Central. You’ve got to recognize the effort of the Wildcats for what they had to deal with last week in terms of lacking electricity enough to even have school and practice most of the week. However, they still managed to get the game in as scheduled. To that we offer kudos to the players, coaches and administration for their efforts.
IRISH STATEMENT
The St. John Central Fighting Irish had been close a couple of times this season in road games at Paden City and Conotton Valley. However, it was Friday night and the Irish finally got over the hump and got Scott Holt his first victory of his career with a 27-26 win over Bishop Donahue.
St. John needed the win in the worst of ways. No, we’re not talking about playoffs, but just for their own psyches. It’s got to be tough to be expected to lose every week.
However, you’ve got to give credit to the coaches and the players for hanging in there. The competitive nature can sometimes take a hit – no matter how much of an athlete or coach you are – when losses keep mounting one right after another.
PICK PARADE
The Times Leader’s Pick Parade – which is contained inside today’s edition – is a logjam at the top of the leaderboard with four pickers knotted for the lead. Myself, Kim North, Mark Dierkes and first-year Pick Parade member Mike Palmer have all posted marks of 52-13.
Last week’s Advertiser of the Week Dr. Christopher Burns finished 10-3 on the week. Make sure to check out Page B2 today to see who we like this week before you make your picks for the Pick Parade Contest.
REALITY OF THE SPORT
For the most part, everyone loves football. However, the cruel, harsh reality that football is a violent sport couldn’t be more evident than in Saturday’s Ball State-Indiana game, which was broadcast nationally on the Big 10 Network. A lot of Ohio Valley fans tuned in to see the exploits of former Bellaire High all-stater Nate Davis who is the quarterback for the Cardinals.
However, during the course of the game, former Cincinnati Withrow standout Dante Love was seriously injured, fracturing his spinal cord on a wicked, but totally legal hit on an attempted pass completion. Love underwent five hours of surgery in Indianapolis and according to the Ball State press release we received early Monday, he’s got feeling in all of his extremities, but his football career is over.
However, after serious rehabilitation, Love’s expected to be able to lead a healthy, productive life.
It’s a shame because Love is one heck of a player who probably had visions of the National Football League.
It’s also a shame for the Cardinals who lose their number one deep-threat option, but let’s be honest football takes a back season to life and walking when you’re talking about the kind of injury that he suffered.
Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com