Photo by Nick Henthorn Harrison Central’s Blake Atkins returns a kickoff during the Huskies’ game against Union Local on Sept. 13. The Huskies will host St. Clairsville on Friday for the Coal Bucket at Wagner Field.

CADIZ — St. Clairsville and Harrison Central have been playing football since Lakeland, Cadiz and Jewett-Scio consolidated in 1999.

In fact, the rivalry goes even further as St. Clairsville played Cadiz High School during various seasons from 1923 to 1970 with the Red Devils holding a 15-11-3 all-time series lead, winning eight of the last 10 meetings — a loss and a tie.

The two neighboring rivals will collide again Friday night on the artificial surface at Wagner Field in Cadiz with the Coal Bucket at stake. The Red Devils hold a commanding 22-4 advantage in the series, winning four straight and and 14 out of the last 15 — the Huskies lone triumph coming in 2019 at Red Devil Stadium in an epic 42-35 contest. St. Clairsville has outscored Harrison Central 902-266 in the 26 contests.

Kick off for the 27th annual meeting is set for 7 p.m. as Harrison Central will induct several former athletes into its Hall of Fame.

“Honestly, winning this game is always one of our goals entering the season. It’s been played for a long time and we want the kids to understand the heritage, the industrial impact of the coal mines for our communities and towns,” veteran St. Clairsville head Brett McLean said. “I don’t think there is a kid on either team that hasn’t had a grandpa, grandma , mom, dad, uncle or aunt that worked in the coal mines.”

St. Clairsville (5-0) enters the matchup unscathed in five contests with wins over Creston Norwayne (28-21), Zanesville (34-0), Beaver Local (27-21), Martins Ferry (55-21) and East Liverpool (35-14). It is ranked No. 2 in the latest Ohio Division IV, Region 15 computer ratings released Tuesday behind Indian Valley.

“Obviously, they are pretty good,” Harrison Central head coach Anthony Hayes noted of St. Clairsville. “They have good size on both of their lines. Their skilled athletes are really good and they have outstanding numbers that allow their kids to get prepared week-in and week-out.”

The Huskies (1-4) are looking to stop a four-game losing skid after defeating Claymont (28-13) in the opener. They have lost to Buckeye Trail (44-41), Malvern (38-28), Union Local (49-13) and Fort Frye (51-6). Those teams are a combined 16-4.

When asked what has been the difference between week 1 and the other four, Hayes was quick to point out the source.

“Our health. We haven’t been healthy since the opener,” he stressed. “It started in week 2 with one or two injuries and then it snowballed on us. Each of the last four weeks we have lost at least one starter. It’s been a weird combination of injuries. We had a kid jump up for a pass and jam his knee when he landed. We had another that was stood up in a pile and hurt his back trying to twist out of it. Unfortunately, they are the type of injuries that take a significant time to heal.”

While some players will miss Friday’s game, Hayes said he and his staff will “coach the other kids up and get them ready to play. We are well aware of the task ahead of us. Many of our young kids have been thrust into the fire once again.”

St. Clairsville is a little nicked up, as well. It played the last game-and-a-half without senior tailback Dino Burk who was injured in the first half of the Martins Ferry game. However, backups — Gavin Schoolcraft and Ollie Muhly — have filled in more than adequately. Schoolcraft has run for more than 100 yards the last two weeks, while Muhly eclipsed that barrier last Friday.

“Both Gavin and Ollie had great nights last week,” McLean said. “They were led by our offense line and the tight ends and fullbacks that lead them through the line.”

McLean was really pleased with the way the Red Devils played on the defensive side of the ball in the second half against the Potters.

“We were on the road again against a new opponent on our schedule. We hadn’t played them in 4-5 years, so it was a chess match in the first half. They have some nice athletes,” he said of East Liverpool. “I think we held them to 10 yards of total offense in the second half. Coach Frye and his staff did a remarkable job of getting our kids into positions to make plays.”

As the second half of the season gets going, McLean said it’s time to get re-focused.

“Now is the time to re-group and re-evaluate our situation,” he said. “We need to clean up our injuries and mistakes and get ready for the stretch run.”

He added that the Huskies will test them.

“This is always a physical game. They like to run the ball from some awkward sets that aren’t typical of what we’ve seen so far,” McLean continued. “They keep you guessing as to what they are going to do.”