T-L Photo/RICK THORP St. Clairsville’s Caden Stout (3) and Indian Creek’s Markel Papola (1) go after control of the ball Friday night.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — For 75 minutes Friday night, St. Clairsville and Indian Creek kept the scoreboard operator at Red Devil Stadium looking for something to do.

But for about five minutes early in the second half of their boys’ prep soccer season opener, the man high above the field was scrambling to change the digits.

The teams combined for three goals in nearly a minute of action — two by the Redskins. What was a 1-0 match quickly became 4-1 and Indian Creek used the surge as a springboard to a 4-2 triumph, its first victory against St. Clairsville in nine years.

“This is awesome,” Redskins head coach Chuck Brettell said followoing the OHSAA-sponsored ‘Friday Night Futbol’ contest. “This is not just a season builder, but a program builder. I’m elated.”

Alpha Jallow scored two goals for the Redskins, both coming in the aforementioned surge, which took place in the 51st minute.

“This is a huge win for us,” Brettell said. “We’re kind of young and inexperienced. But we got much better as the match went on. That’s a quality team we beat. Any (St. Clairsville head coach) Gary Watt team is a quality team. The confidence … you can’t put into words what this means.”

Both teams produced a frantic pace during the first half, but the only goal came off the foot of the Redskins’ Gunnar Brettell on a penalty kick just before halftime.

St. Clairsville came close to knotting the game early in the second half. However, Logan Davis swatted away shots at close range by the Red Devils in the 42nd, 44th and 46th minute that kept his team’s slim lead intact.

The Redskins got a little breathing room in the 47th minute when Anthony Perrino squeezed a shot past St. C.’s senior netminder Ryan Davenport, pushing Creek’s lead to 2-0.

Jallow collected his first goal about four minutes later on a header in front of the net.

St. Clairsville quickly responded when freshman Caden Stout got loose in front of the goal and scored, cutting the deficit to two.

But Jallow made the score 4-1 moments later. He garnered control of the ball about 40 yards from the goal and weaved his way through the defense before gently placing the ball into the right side of the net.

Cade Wolfe dropped in the Red Devils second goal with 6:30 showing on the clock, with an assist from Alex Douglass.

“It’s a long season and we have to make sure we keep our heads up and learn from the experience,” Watt said. “I don’t want (the team) to feel like all is lost. We have to make sure we come out of here and learn to improve and come back at it Monday (at Beaver Local).”

Watt was pleased with his team’s effort, especially from his younger plays. He hopes Friday’s match was another step in the maturation process.

“We just need to stay focused on staying positive and looking at the opportunities we can take advantage of.

“(Indian Creek) is a quality team. They have some really nice guys.”