Photo by Kim North Members of the Barnesville Shamrocks gather around the Milk Bucket Trophy they won for the seventh straight time with a 55-14 win Friday night at Shamrock Stadium.

BARNESVILLE — Back in the late 1970s Cincinnati had the ‘Big Red Machine.’ During the 2020s, Barnesville has had the ‘Big Green Machine.’

The well-oiled Shamrocks capped their third consecutive perfect 10-0 season with a commanding wire-to-wire, 55-14, rout of visiting western Belmont County rival Union Local Friday night before a standing-room-only crowd at Shamrock Stadium.

With the lop-sided victory, Barnesville extended its regular-season winning streak to 36 games and the senior class wrapped up an astonishing 39-1 record during the regular season and 43-4 so far in their careers.

“Outstanding. I’m super proud of these guys,” a happy Barnesville head coach Blake Allen said. “Our kids get up for this game every year. It means a lot to us … this rivalry. I don’t have to say much to get these guys ready for this game.

“We know how much this game means. The Milk Bucket means a lot to us,” Allen stressed. “The guys showed that tonight. We had a really good week of practice. We were on a mission and came out ready to play, firing on all cylinders.

“I’ve lost the words to describe them,” Allen said of his 13-member senior class that has stuck together since they were in 8th grade. “I appreciate them but I try not to take it for granted because they are a special group. But like I just told them, we don’t want this thing to end any time soon. We’re going to celebrate this tonight and whenever we find out who we are playing in the playoffs, we’ll start preparing for them.”

The Shamrocks will find out Sunday afternoon when the official pairings are released by the OHSAA who their first-round opponent will be on Friday at Shamrock Stadium in the Division V, Region 19 postseason.

They entered rated No. 5 but had moved up to No. 3, unofficially, late Friday night after the win was calculated in.

The loss dropped Union Local to 11th, unofficially, and will have to go on the road.

Barnesville won the opening coin toss and took the ball. It never slowed down.

Junior tailback Trey Toliver set the tone for the game on the fourth play.

Taking a toss right from quarterback Casey Carpenter, Toliver weaved his way down the near sidelines, dodging tackler after tackler and receiving outstanding downfield blocking from right tackle Luke Taylor before completing the 64-yard dash. Evan Lough’s PAT made it 7-0 with a mere 2-minutes, 15-seconds elapsed off the clock.

“That play just gives me chills. I watched it on our tablet. That is the embodiment of our team,” Allen said. “You’ve got all the (offensive) linemen hustling 60 yards down the field and Trey not giving up and fighting all the way. That’s the temperament of this team.”

A three-and-out by the Jets (8-2) gave the ball right back to the Shamrocks. Four plays later, Toliver crashed in from a yard out and Lough made it 14-0. A pair of Casey Carpenter to Cam Carpenter (no relation) picked up 44 yards on the 57-yard drive.

Eli Messenger picked off the first of his two passes on Union Local’s next snap, returning it to the Jets’ 2 after a facemask penalty. Toliver went behind Taylor and right guard Dillon Lucas, filling in for the injured Braden Butler, and a 20-0 lead after the two-point pass failed with 6:39 still on the first-quarter clock.

“I don’t think we could’ve started any better, on both sides of the ball,” Allen said of the early outburst. “The kids were locked-in. The coaches were locked-in. My hat is off to them.”

Cole Francis swiped a Colby Carpenter pass on Union Local’s first play of the second quarter, setting the Shamrocks up once again. Following a 17-yard completion from Casey Carpenter to Bradey McIntire, Carpenter found fullback Koby Jones in the left flat. The 5-8, 195-pound junior turned the corner and then turned on the jets as he outran everyone to pay dirt to complete the 54-yard scoring connection. Lough’s PAT upped the margin to 27-0.

After a Union Local punt traveled negative 1 yard, Barnesville needed just three plays to go 39 yards as Toliver had his fourth TD of the half, this time from 2 yards. A 54-yard Carpenter to McIntire pass preceded Toliver’s TD run, which came with 1:42 left in the first half. Lough made it 34-0.

Barnesville wasn’t finished.

Union Local finally generated some offense as it moved to the Barnesville 9 on a 29-yard completion from Carpenter to Billy Schumacher, but on second-and-4, Francis picked Carpenter off for the second time (fourth overall) and returned it to the Shamrocks’ 22. Toliver had back-to-back runs of 10 yards and Casey Carpenter found his younger brother, Colt, for 13 to the Jets’ 46 with a tenth-of-a-second on the clock.

After a timeout, Casey Carpenter rolled to his right before heaving the ball towards the goal line where McIntire out jumped a group of players, catching the ‘Hail Mary’ before falling backwards on the end zone. Lough’s placement made it 41-0.

“Give Barnesville credit. They are a great team. They jumped on us fast, they’re a heck of a ball club, and we got ourselves in a big hole quickly,” Union Local head coach Bernie Thompson said. “We didn’t play our best all around. We’ve got to regroup. We’ve got the playoffs ahead of us now, so we need to go and try to win a playoff game.”

A pair of huge runs by the Jets’ Brody Perzanowski gave the visitors some life in the third quarter. The sophomore broke off a 65-yard scoring sprint on the first play of the second half, and after Barnesville answered with a 5-yard run by Jones, Perzanowski went 53 to set up a 6-yard scoring pass from Carpenter to Logan Hess. Jeff Bolon was good on both placements.

Barnesville capped the scoring when Hines Ford went in standing from the 2. Lough added the extra point for the 55-14 final.

The Shamrocks amassed nearly 500 yards of total offense, finishing with 493. Of that, 256 came through the air as Casey Carpenter completed 11 of 14 and two TDs. The ground game racked up 239 with Toliver going for 137 on 14 carries and the four TDs. Jones added 66 on five totes. McIntire caught five passes for 125.

“I think so,” Allen said when asked if the Shamrocks are peaking at the right time. I thought we came out a little sluggish on defense in the second half and they (Union Local) broke a couple of big plays. I told the kids that at some point in the near future, we’re going to have a four-quarter fight on our hands, so we have to be ready for that.”

Perzanowski wound up with 213 yards rushing on 21 carries. Carpenter was 4 of 12 for 41 yards.

Barnesville also clinched the OVAC Class 3A championship for the second straight season. The 55 points marked the fifth time the Shamrocks have scored 50-plus. They also have a 60-point outing and have scored at least 44 in all 10 contests, of which all have had running clocks.