MARTINS FERRY – Having met 114 times through the 2019 high school football season, there were no guarantees that Bellaire and Martins Ferry was going to be able to make it 115 with everything that has been going on with the current campaign and pandemic.

However, after the Big Reds (5-3) were eliminated from the Ohio Division V, Region 17 playoffs last week, and just seven days after the Purple Riders (4-5) met the same fate, it became official that SPARKY was once again going to be up for grabs and the two long-time Belmont County rivals were going to get to add the 2020 season to their long resume of playing with Friday night’s encounter at the Dave Bruney Football Complex.

It is rare that this game won’t have some kind of playoff or Ohio Valley Athletic Conference implications on the line, however, that coveted trophy and all kinds of pride and spirit will be up for grabs. For Martins Ferry Head Coach Chas Yoder and his Purple Riders, it is also the chance to even up the series with Coach Mark Spigarelli’s Bellaire squad currently owning a 54-53-7 lead in the much-ballyhooed rivalry.

Both teams will limp into the contest having lost three of their previous four outings, including a playoff game. The Big Reds, who are nursing some major injuries, were on the wrong end of a 61-0 blowout at Garaway in the Region 17 quarterfinals a week ago while Martins Ferry was able to schedule a last-second game with powerful Steubenville, but came out on the short end of a 43-14 margin.

In its last three losses, Bellaire has been outscored by a 141-27 margin while the Riders have been outscored 125-80 in their three previous losses.

“We told the team last Saturday night after the loss to Garaway that normally you lose in the playoffs and you go home,” Spigarelli said. “But this year, with everything going on, you are guaranteed one more game. Fortunately, things worked out that that game will be Friday night against Martins Ferry and we will be ready to go. We have had some injuries, but the nucleus of our team is still here.”

Missing last week’s playoff game for Bellaire were a pair of two-way standouts, who are both lost for the season, in junior Brandon Mamie and sophomore Brayden Roth. Those two had combined for over 600 rushing yards and seven touchdown on offense and were both also huge contributors on the defensive side. Junior Colt Sechrest, the team’s leading rusher with 393 yards and five scores, wasn’t able to play on offense last week due to a high ankle sprain but did play defense.

Sophomore Jake Heatherington is the quarterback and has thrown for 930 yards on the year, but only 30 of those came last week when he was intercepted twice and completed just three attempts. Jayce Gallaher (three touchdowns), Ray’shad Pettigrew (five touchdowns) and Sechrest are the team’s leading receivers with Pettigrew rushing eight times for 34 yards a week ago with the backfield so depleted. The Big Reds were outgained by a whopping 612-95 a week ago.

“It’s a very tight series and we are really just happy to be able to play it this week,” Yoder admitted. “It has been a crazy year, especially with us picking up a last second game last week and not knowing what was going to happen this week. We really weren’t sure we would get it in but it all worked out.

“It isn’t even a question that it doesn’t take much to get the kids and everyone else excited for this game.”

Martins Ferry is led by All-Ohio linebacker Evan Carpenter, who is also a load to bring down from this running back position. Senior Logan Smith is the quarterback and was a respectable 10 of 18 for 147 yards and an interception last week against Big Red while Chase Goff and Alex Bennett each caught for passes for the Purple Riders.

Yoder’s defense did allow nearly 500 yards of offense to Steubenville, including 451 on the ground, while Ferry was able to muster just four yards rushing to go along with Smith’s production through the air.

“It’s definitely been a weird year but ending it with this game is the way it should be,” Spigarelli said. “We have a very banged up backfield right now, but it is the next-guy-up mentality and some younger kids are going to get the opportunity to show what they can do.

“This is one of those games that it doesn’t matter if you are 0-9 or 9-0 both teams want to win very badly, and the records just don’t matter. The seniors want to go out beating their big rivals and it is a game you will remember forever.

“Martins Ferry has beaten some good teams and the Carpenter kid goes 100 miles per hour on both sides of the football. I’m not sure I have ever coached against a kid that just never stops and continues to play like that. They have a couple of other kids you have to worry about also in Goff and (Trevor) Hanson.

“They are young but also have some experience on the offense line and you look at their roster and there are plenty of well-known Ferry names across the board. We know they will be licking their chops and so will we.”

Yoder and his team is excited for another opportunity to face their rivals.

“We definitely want to end this on a good note and I can’t think of a better way to do that than a win over Bellaire,” Yoder said. “Everyone on our schedule has been tough across the board and we have lost some tight games that just a couple of plays could have made a big difference. But our record is what it is, no matter what we let slip away.

“This game is huge every year and it never matters who has the better record or what the records are. We have had some good practices you keep getting the kids ready and you go out and do what you can do. There have been a lot of unknowns all season long, but one thing is for sure and that is that the kids really wanted to make sure they got to play this game. There is just so much pride and spirit involved.”

While there is just a one game difference in the win totals in the series Martins Ferry has actually won six of the previous eight meetings, and six of the last seven times the two teams have met in the regular season. The Purple Riders picked up a prized 23-12 victory last year at Nelson Field and won 34-0 the previous year in the final regular season game. Bellaire, however, did turn the tables a week later, eliminating Ferry from the playoffs with a revenge 14-7 triumph.