BELLAIRE SENIOR Ray Ray Pettigrew tries to avoid Martins Ferry’s Dylan Ward during Friday’s 118th meeting between the two rivals at Purple Rider Stadium. The Big Reds cruised to a victory.

MARTINS FERRY – High school football can be all about getting hot at the right time of the season.

After struggling out of the gates with a 1-3 record, against one of, if not the toughest schedules in the Ohio Valley, Bellaire put the finishing touches on a strong closing run Friday night against arch-rival Martins Ferry in the 118th meeting between the storied schools.

Senior quarterback Jake Heatherington fired three touchdown passes, classmate RayRay Pettigrew put on a dazzling show with a pair of highlight-reel scores and the defense did the rest, limiting the Purple Riders to just 203 total yards, as the Big Reds raced to a comfortable 39-8 victory over Martins Ferry at the Dave Bruney Football Complex inside Purple Rider Stadium on Senior Night.

The victory not only guarantees first-year head coach Mark Bonar’s 6-4 Big Reds a first-round home playoff game next week, but it keeps the coveted SPARKY Trophy in Bellaire as well. The Redmen also finish the regular season on a three-game winning streak and having won five of their last six outings.

“I don’t think we really knew each other well enough early on,” Bonar admitted. “But I know that playing the schedule we did early on paid off later in the season. The kids did a great job picking me up after the slow start.”

Meanwhile, coach Justin Kropka’s Purple Riders, who could have also advanced to the post-season with a win, cap a respectable 4-6 campaign in his first year at his alma-mater.

“Coming in to the season I would have done back flip if you told me we were going to finish 4-6,” Kropka said. “And while this was a bad time to pick to play our worst game of the season, it happens. These kids have to know that (Friday) will not define our season.

“These kids have heled bring this program back from the ashes and gave the community something to be proud of once again. This season has been a huge positive and these kids have given every former and future Purple Rider something to be proud of. This was a program saving season for us and I cannot thank this team enough for that.”

With the large crowd barely settled into their respective seats the Big Reds were already celebrating their first touchdown of the night. On its very first play from scrimmage Pettigrew went into motion, took a handoff and sprinted 46 yards down the near sideline and into the end zone. Lucas Littell’s point-after made it a 7-0 margin just 14 seconds into the contest.

“Overall, I thought we played a pretty good game defensively,” Kropka said. “But they did a great job on the first play from scrimmage and caught us off guard. We figured they would have something drawn up and when you put the ball in Pettigrew’s hands and he is able to hit a hole, it’s over.”

The visitor’s second score was another quick one, this time thanks to a muffed snap on a punt attempt with the Redmen taking over at the Purple Riders’ five. Just plays in Heatherington hit senior Terrin Frazier across the middle for the score at 5:47. The PAT failed, and it stood at 13-0.

Junior Logan Edgar set Bellaire up for the final points of the half with a late interception. Starting at the Ferry 35, the Big Reds used nine plays, and most of the remaining clock with Heatherington’s second touchdown pass going to Jake Dowling on a seven-yard fade with 1:42 showing on the clock to push the score to 20-0.

Pettigrew’s second score of the game brought back memories of former Bellaire, Ohio State and National Football League standout “Mr. Excitement” Joey Galloway. On third-and-six from the Riders’ 46, Pettigrew caught a short out-route to the right, broke a pair of tackles while cutting to the middle of the field, appeared to be down again before breaking free and running into traffic near the 10. However, the elusive speedster kept chugging, carrying defenders on his back into the end zone for the touchdown to make it 27-0.

The Big Reds set the running clock in motion late in the third quarter when Roth rolled into the left corner of the end zone from five yards away at 1:57 of the third.

Only two plays later Bellaire sophomore Maurice Webb’s shoe-string interception was returned 55 yards for a touchdown as the margin ballooned to 39-0.

Freshman running back Joseph Turner helped the Purple avoid the shutout with 5:09 to play when he broke free down the sideline for a 39-yard scoring burst before adding the two-point conversion for the final points of the contest.

Roth finished with 77 yards on the ground for the winners while Pettigrew had a pair of carries for 60 and caught four passes for another 68 yards for the Big Reds.

“I felt like we played very well, and the guys made some great plays (Friday),” Bonar added. “This was a big win for us and the kids and our fans are very excited. I never like to look ahead, but I believe we will have a home playoff game next week, and while I don’t know who we will be playing, we will be ready to go.”