CADIZ–Harrison Central’s once fading playoff hopes received a shot in the arm Friday when the Huskies traveled to Wintersville and took care of business, dispatching Indian Creek 50-13.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak and the bonus points from a Division III victory pushed the Huskies into the No. 13 spot in the Division IV, Region 17 rankings.

“It was good to get back in the win column,” Harrison Central head coach Anthony Hayes noted. “We got beaten up the last three games, but the teams we played are three darn good football teams.

“I’m proud of th e guys. We had a good week of practice and they came out and did a great job.”

After Indian Creek took an early lead, the Huskies scored 43 unanswered points behind a balanced attack with quarterback Hayden Cassidy throwing for 210 yards and two scores and running back Mykel Quito adding 143 yards and two TDs on the ground.

They will need that balance this week to grab that sixth win and keep the V.A.L.E.S trophy in Cadiz. Its current home is Connorville after the Panthers earned a 25-0 win last season at World War II Memorial Stadium.

That game saw Buckeye rush for 257 yards, with Trey Hoover supplying 192 of that total and Skylar Ebright another 75.

In that game, the Panthers had three completed passes for a grand-total of two yards. Might the ground game be its saving grace again vs. its rival?

Creek sophomore Zion McGee did manage to rush for 220 yards on 29 carries.

Head coach Jim Hoover’s club is mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, but finishing with a 3-7 mark instead of 2-8 would be a welcome turn of events.

Buckeye started the season 2-3 before a narrow loss to Shenandoah (42-36) started a four-game slide with the last three coming with a combined score of 161-21, including last week’s 52-14 loss to unbeaten Edison (9-0).

In fairness to Buckeye, those last three losses have come vs. the Wildcats, Caldwell (8-1) and a tough Tiffin Calvert (5-4) team. Injuries haven’t helped either as Buckeye has quite a bit of youth in its starting lineup.

That youth has certainly been put into the line of fire against a stringent slate, but Hoover is happy with the fight he’s getting.

“We’re banged up. We’ve got five sophomores and a freshman starting and I hope we can get healthy this week,” Hoover said. “I love these kids. I coach them any day of the week and I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.”

The Panthers still have some fight left and something to play for, despite not being able to reach the postseason.

A win puts Buckeye at 3-7, which would mean two straight years with three wins, it’s best two-year stretch since the 2011 to 2012 season when it went a combined 10-10.

For a team that went 40-plus games without a win, six wins in two years in definitely a start. Plus, defeating rival Harrison, and winning the V.A.L.E.S. for a second straight season is not a bad ending to the campaign.