Photo by Joe Lovell Martins Ferry’s Ayden Ludolph (5) looks for a pass on the move Friday against the River Pilots at the Dave Bruney Football Complex.

MARTINS FERRY — It may have taken a couple of drives, and River’s best punch, in the first quarter, but when Martins Ferry’s potent offense did get rolling it didn’t slow down Friday night.

Senior Tev’n Williams ran for 114 yards on just five carries, scoring twice, while classmate Ayden Ludolph threw for 175 yards and three scores as the Purple Riders racked up 516 yards of offense, while scoring the final 37 points of the game, in rolling to a convincing 50-14 victory over the Pilots on Hall-of-Fame night at the Dave Bruney Football Complex.

Coach Justin Kropka’s Ferry squad improves to 2-0 on the young campaign heading into their first road game next week at Tusky Valley. Meanwhile, coach Mike Flannery’s River squad will look to hit the win column for the first time in a battle of Monroe County at Monroe Central.

“This is another good rung on the ladder for us,” Kropka said. “Now we take the bus trip to Tusky Valley next week. The big thing is we need to keep it going and not buy into everything is saying on the side.”

After not moving the ball on its first possession, Flannery went to the Wildcat offense and senior do-it-all Lucas Dennis. The Pilots’ second possession ended in the end zone. River moved 74 yards on seven plays, all Dennis carries and led 6-0 at 4:19 when the PAT bounced off the upright.

Things got very interesting after that with Dennis and Williams adding to their respective highlight reels.

Ludolph capped a six-play, 60-yard march with a four-yard touchdown pass to Luca Shane with Jacob Theaker hitting the point-after for a 7-6 lead.

Martins Ferry got the ball back at the enemy 49 just two plays later when Ludolph intercepted Dennis, who became the quarterback when talented senior Peyton Blue was carted off the field with a foot injury.

It was also the Pilots’ only pass of the first half.

The hosts needed just one play to cover the 49 yards with Williams busting loose for the touchdown with 25 seconds showing. The PAT was no good.

River took over at its own 39 and on the very first play Dennis went right, cut to the middle and out-raced the defense 61-yards for the second score in 14 seconds. Dennis ran in the two-point conversion to take a 14-13 advantage.

However, things were not quite over just yet as Ferry took over at its own 46 after a short kickoff and again, on the first play, Williams went straight up-the-middle for 54 yards for the third touchdown in 23 ticks. The try for two failed and it stood at 19-14 after one.

In the first quarter alone the two teams combined for 314 yards and five touchdowns.

Looking to grab the lead back, River advanced the ball to the Riders’ three before getting stopped on fourth down.

Kropka’s team needed six plays to go 97 yards with a 68-yard screen pass to Williams finishing things off. Ludolph ran in the deuce at 4:52 for 27-14 upperhand.

The Purple Riders finished the first half scoring with 24 seconds to go when Ludolph fired his third touchdown pass of the half, 41 yards to Alex Reese with the two-pointer making it 35-14 at the break.

River’s first drive of the third quarter once again ended on downs inside Ferry territory and once again on the ensuing drive the Purple Riders were celebrating in the end zone. Freshman Walkquem Cox toted the ball four times totaling 65 yards and finishing things off with a 15-yard burst at 6:52.

Sophomore Cole Patterson finished off the scoring with a 30-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter.

“I felt like River threw some different defenses at us early on and it took us a couple of series to figure it out,” Kropka admitted. “But when we are able to get our skill guys into space we are going to be awfully tough to stop. For us it’s a different week with different stars.

“As far as River goes, they have a very good coaching staff, led by coach Flannery, and I told Lucas Dennis after the game that he is one of my favorite kids to watch on film. He is just a tough kid.

“Overall, we got punched in the mouth early on and I think that is something that we needed.”

Martins Ferry finished the game with 341 yards on the ground and another 175 through the air. Dennis had an outstanding night for the Pilots carrying the ball 26 times for 208 yards and a pair of scores, but the hosts were able to better contain him in the second half.

“Our football team took a tough hit with the loss of Peyton Blue, who broke his foot,” Flannery admitted. “So, we are going to have to figure out who our quarterback is going to be going forward. I feel so bad for Peyton, the kid worked his butt off all summer long for his senior season.

“Congratulations to coach Kropka and his team, they are a first-class organization. We had some chances, but they are a big-play team with big-time playmakers. We just have to come together and bounce back from these first two games.”