Members of the St. Clairsville offensive line are, kneeling from left, Andrew Elerick, Chase Espen, Austen Angus and, standing from left, Javon Lyons, Avery Henry and Trey DelGuzzo. The Red Devils will battle Licking Valley at 7 Saturday night at Zanesville’s Sulsberger Stadium for the Ohio Division IV, Region 15 championship.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — With 107 yards Saturday night against Licking Valley, Brady Kolb will reach 2,000 yards rushing for the season.

It’s a plateau rarely-reached, but highly-recognized.

Kolb, crafting another all-Ohio campaign in the backfield for unbeaten St. Clairsville, is willing to accept the plaudits that’ve come his way, but not without recognizing those who’ve helped him get there.

High atop his list are the boys up front — his offensive line.

“I give them more credit than I give myself,” Kolb said. “They’re doing their best and certainly making my job easier.”

Javon Lyons (right tackle), Avery Henry (right guard), Chase Espen (center), Austen Angus (left guard), Trey DelGuzzo (left tackle) and Andrew Elerick (tight end) comprise the group and, to hear Kolb tell it, have made his path to success smooth and free of obstacles.

“They create some pretty big holes,” he said ahead of the team’s regional final showdown against Licking Valley on Saturday. “It’s pretty awesome. They’re definitely pushing the (defensive line) further and further back. It’s just crazy seeing that many big bodies blocking and the great job they do.

“I really do appreciate what they do.”

And the linemen appreciate Kolb’s successes, too. In fact, they relish in them.

“Whenever he has a big game, it means a lot,” Espen, a senior and first team all-Eastern District selection this fall, boasted.

“It means that we’re doing our job if he’s doing well. We all work as a team for it. If one person doesn’t do their job, it all falls apart.”

That rarely happens as the unit carries with it high expectations.

“We know what to do and what job needs to be done,” Espen said.

For Kevin Sacco, St. C.’s line coach, watching the unit jell has been nothing short of “awesome.”

“I’m extremely proud of everything they’ve accomplished up until this point,” he said. “The best thing I can say about them is that each week they’ve learned different things and improved weekly. We’ve challenged them to do that.”

And, in turn, the players have continued to challenge each other.

“We’ve come together,” DelGuzzo, a senior second team all-district pick, said. “That’s what made me so proud of these guys. We’ve just learn to grow with each other and pick each other up.

“I think communicating up front with each other and building each other up is what’s needed to be successful. If I do something wrong, one of the other guys will pick you up. That makes you feel so much better.”

Another senior, Elerick, who garnered special mention all-district accolades, said the guys on the unit are like brothers, having played together since seventh grade.

“The way we make our name on the field is by getting the running back in the end zone,” he said. “Not a lot of people know our names, but they know what we do.”

That being push the other team’s defense around. And what better way to practice that then by performing the feat on your own during practice.

“There’s been times where they’ve been challenged, whether it be by the coaches or our opponents,” Sacco said.

“In our league, there’s plenty of competition. Our own defense is pretty good, so facing them throughout August getting ready for Carrollton (season opener) created some heated days.

“Our defense has really pushed us to be better and that’s been a huge benefit.”

Unlike skill players, who can look at stats as a measuring stick of their performance, linemen use different methods of gauging success. In addition to seeing how well the team does rushing-wise, Sacco has his own way of grading the players.

“I look at them individually and grade them pass/fail,” he said. “Sometimes, they’re not happy with the grade, but that way we can break it down and I can send them clips and say, ‘OK, this how this should be.’ We’ve been able to do that with some of the technology we use.”

Sacco said he’s been genuinely pleased with the group’s work ethic, willingness to learn and togetherness. That, coupled with experience at other places on the offense, has left the Red Devils on the cusp of the program’s forth regional crown.

“If you have good players that are carrying the ball for you and are hitting the holes and doing things correctly, that makes our job so much easier because defenses have to respect their skills,” Sacco said. “When they do that, we can map out what we want to do to help those guys get in the end zone.”