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St. C., Bellaire bid for 5-0 starts

The fifth week of high school football action in the Ohio Valley kicks off tonight and extends into Saturday.

St. Clairsville travels to Kettlewell Memorial Stadium in Wintersville tonight to meet homestanding Indian Creek in the latest edition of “Thursday Night Lights.”

All games have 7 p.m. kickoffs slated.

The Red Devils (4-0) enter the contest as the No. 1-ranked team in Ohio’s Division IV for the second consecutive week. Head coach Brett McLean’s squad owns victories over Oak Hill (31-19), Wheeling Park (26-21), East Liverpool (34-20) and Martins Ferry (27-6).

Quarterback Tyler Tonkovich returned in last week’s win over the Purple Riders after sitting out the East Liverpool game with an injury. He has passed for 552 yards and six TDs while only throwing one interception on 34 of 68 accuracy. Tonkovich has also run for 187 stripes and two scores.

Defensively, Reese Skaggs has charted five quarterback sacks while Austin DaRe has two interceptions, running one back for a TD. Both have a fumble recovery, as well.

Friday night games have:

Bellaire (4-0) at Cambridge (2-2)

The Big Reds are ranked No. 7 in Ohio’s Division V and will be looking to stay unbeaten when they battle the Bobcats at McFarland Stadium in Guernsey County.

Bellaire has been paced by a balanced three-pronged rushing attack. Colt Sechrest leads the way with 267 yards and averages 10.3 yards-per-carry. Brayden Roth has lugged the leather 51 times for 260 yards while Brandon Mamie has 190 stripes on 52 totes. All three have reached the end zone three times each.

Quarterback Jake Heatherington has completed 33 of 73 attempts for 436 yards and five touchdowns with no INTs.

Sechrest also leads the team with 10 catches for 109 yards and a TD, while Ray’shad Petteway has hauled in seven balls for 135 yards and four six-pointers, three of them coming last week in a win over Toronto (25-6).

Monroe (2-2) at Buckeye Local (0-4)

This will be the first time these two schools have met on the gridiron when they clash at World War II Memorial Stadium in Yorkville.

The Seminoles have been led by the running of fullback Alex Kilburn and quarterback Malachi Rose-Burton.

Monroe Central started 2-0 with wins over Union Local (26-22) and Bridgeport (41-8) but has dropped its last two outings to River (26-8) and Caldwell (36-33).

The Panthers, meanwhile, have relied on the running and passing of quarterback Trey Hoover. Brian Palmer Jr. and Dylan Palmer are also offensive threats.

Bridgeport (2-2) at Conotton (3-1)

The Bulldogs will be looking for a second straight win as they trek to Bowerston after snapping a two-game losing streak last week at Beallsville (46-14). They topped Federal Hocking (15-6) in the season opener before dropping back-to-back outings to Monroe Central (41-6) and Frontier (50-6).

Bridgeport has been led on the ground by the Brothers Bugaj — Jonathon and Joey. Quarterback Colin Jackson has been solid so far, while Mason Aberts and Quinton Burlenski are outside threats.

In the Saturday contests:

Union Local (1-3) at Warren (3-1)

The Jets will fuel up for the trip to Vincent for a 1 p.m. kickoff against the Warriors.

Union Local is coming off a setback to Harrison Central (40-20) last week. It has also lost to Monroe Central (22-16) and Martins Ferry (30-18). The Jets only win is over Buckeye Local (19-6).

East Hardy (2-0) at Shadyside (1-3)

The Tigers find themselves in an uncharacteristic position with only one win in four starts as they welcome the Cougars to the artificial surface at Fleming Field.

The Tigers are led by the running of Wyatt Reiman who has collected 296 yards and scored five touchdowns on 60 carries. Jacob Visnic has found the end zone three times on 24 carries .

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