ST. CLAIRSVILLE'S Domenic Panepucci (29) defends against Bloom-Carroll's Branyon Dobbs (28) as Red Devil teammate Colin Oberdick (8) converges on the play. The Red Devils were blanked, 40-0, by the Bulldogs in a Division IV, Region 15 championship game inside Red Devil Stadium.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Falling behind early on has been a trademark of St. Clairsville this season. However, the resilient Red Devils have stayed the course and eventually rallied for a victory. The first half of that trend continued Saturday night at Red Devil Stadium, but this time there would be no rally.

Bloom-Carroll returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, led 28-0 at the half and then relied on its staunch defense in earning its fifth shutout of the season, 40-0, in the Ohio Division IV, Region 15 championship game. The Bulldogs advance to the state semifinals against No. 12 Mentor Lake Catholic which rolled past No. 6 Youngstown Ursuline, 35-7, last night.

“Things kind of snowballed right from the start on the opening kickoff and then we had a couple of mistakes,” veteran St. Clairsville (9-1) head coach Brett McLean said. “You’re playing great football teams at this point. This kind of thing can happen.

“They had a lot of juice and we knew it,” McLean said of No. 3 seeded Bloom-Carroll (9-0). “We had some things we were hopeful we could get accomplished, but give their defense credit. That’s the way they have played all year. They have plenty of speed and aggression on that side of the football. I’ll take that any day. They wanted to make tackles and they did. They tackled you on the spot.

“We moved the ball at times but they just shut you down,” he added. “They fought until the end to get that shutout. That shows you what kind of inspiration their team has. They have built to get to this point. They’ve been to the regional championship a couple of years in a row, and I know that feeling the kids get when they are there when they are young. They want to get back to win the thing (a state title).”

Beau Wisecarver took the opening kickoff at his own 9 and started to his right. He faked a reverse handoff and scooted around the corner. The junior speedster cutback at his own 40 and outraced everyone to paydirt. Chase Allwood made it 7-0 with just 16 seconds elapsed.

The Bulldogs’ Chase Plantz tackled St. Clairsville’s Drew Sefsick for a 15-yard loss on a fake punt near midfield. Bloom-Carroll made it 14-0 five plays later when quarterback KJ Benedict found mammoth fullback Hobie Scarberry for a 17-yard scoring pass. The 5-10, 225-pounder bulled over a Red Devil at the goalline. Allwood booted the PAT.

A nice punt return by Drew Angelo set the Bulldogs up at the Red Devils’ 38. The Fairfield Countians reached the end zone on four plays, with Scarberry rambling in from 30 yards on a 4th-and-2. Allwood made it 21-0 with 1:14 remaining in the first quarter.

A Plantz interception once again gave the visitors good field position as they started at the St. Clairsville 30. Eight plays later, Scarberry took a direct snap and rumbled 9 yards to paydirt. Allwood bumped the margin to 28-0 with 50 ticks showing.

It marked the second consecutive week the Red Devils had trailed 28-0 at the half, but they stormed back against Meadowbrook last week, tallying 42 unanswered points. That would not be the case Saturday night.

St. Clairsville, the top seed, only crossed midfield three times on the night. It drove to the Bulldogs’ 47 late in the first quarter only to see the fake punt go awry. They also reached the B-C 21 after a 14-yard completion from Tyler Tonkovich to Austin DaRe, but a holding call set them back before turning the ball over on downs. Then, in the waning moments of the contest, the hosts drove to the 3 but Tonkovich was stopped a yard shy of the end zone on fourth down.

“I give our kids credit, as well. They fought … I never saw them quit. I never saw us lay down,” McLean stressed.

The Red Devils were bottled up all night as they rushed 38 times for 91 yards and passed for 112 on nine completions. Logan Shields had 46 stripes on the ground while Tonkovich managed 42.

Scarberry picked up 113 yards on 15 carries and three TDs. Benedict completed 8-of-11 for 115 yards and two touchdowns. He hasn’t thrown an interception all season.

“The end-of-the-season speeches are never easy. This senior class was small in numbers, but ginormous in heart and character. I told them this is the most abnormal season we’ve ever encountered and they couldn’t have handled it any better if they tried. It was a pleasure to coach them every single day,” McLean noted of his group that went 37-8 in their four years. “They handled the adversity and all the COVID stuff so well. They found a way to get us 10 games. We played a really tough schedule and they are a really good group of kids that will be successful in life.

“I hate to see those nine guys go … some of them three-year starters and things like that, but they have set the bar really high for the next couple of groups of kids.”

The shutout marked the first time the Red Devils have been blanked at home in the playoffs since Nov. 9, 2013 when Liberty-Union won 31-0.

Bloom-Carroll has only yielded 34 points all season.