T-L Photo/KIM NORTH BELLAIRE fullback Brayden Roth rips off a long run against River Saturday afternoon at Nelson Field. He scored a touchdown in the Big Reds' 28-14 victory against the Pilots

BELLAIRE — Head coach Mark Spigarelli expected his relatively young Bellaire squad to have to learn on the fly somewhat.

Those nerves showed early Saturday afternoon in the Big Reds season opener against River when the Big Reds’ initial play from scrimmage saw the snap get fired over the head of sophomore quarterback Jake Heatherington and eventually recovered by River.

And on the next play, the Pilots were in the end zone thanks to a Michael Johnson 13-yard scamper.

From there, however?

Bellaire showed what it was capable of doing.

The Big Reds reeled off 21 unanswered points in the second quarter and went on to post a 28-14 victory against the Pilots at sun-drenched and warm Nelson Field.

“Bad snaps very rarely happen to us, but we settled down and played pretty good football from there on out,” Spigarelli said. “We missed some plays in terms of dropped passes, missed assignments and had way too many penalties. Those are things we have to clean up fast.”

Spigarelli — though elated for his players to get the win — was excited for both teams that they were able to persevere throughout the summer to get to the point of having a season. And then throw in climbing humidity and a nearly three-hour game, which led to numerous stoppages of play in the second half due to cramping.

“I want to congratulate both teams because it was another hot, humid Saturday afternoon at Nelson Field,” Spigarelli said. “Hats off to all of these kids for everything they’ve had to deal with since March and to be able to get out here (Saturday) is great.”

The Big Reds, who wanted to be more balanced offensively, showed signs of that, but when it came time to needing to ignite the offense, Spigarelli opted to go with the back-field duo of Brandon Mamie and Brayden Roth. Relatively new to varsity action, both had strong performances against the Pilots.

Mamie got things started for the Big Reds on their third possession of the game. Capping an impressive 13-play drive that saw Heatherington complete five passes, Mamie plunged in from 4 yards out. Lucas Littell added the first of four placements during the game to knot the contest with 11:23 to play.

The Big Reds continued to build momentum thanks to a special teams blunder. Littell’s ensuing kickoff resembled a pop up on the infield of a baseball game, but it traveled 10 yards and landed in no-man’s land. Nary a Pilot fielded the ball and Bellaire pounced.

One play later, Roth was off to the races from 39 yards away.

Mamie finished off a six-play drive from 3 yards out with 44 seconds to go in the half, making it 21-7.

River got within a score with 4:20 to go in the third quarter by hitting another big play. Johnson, who only touched the ball seven times, got behind a Big Reds defensive back and Brody Lollathin found him for a 70-yard touchdown. The PAT was true and it was 21-14.

The teams went back and forth with punts, but it was the final Bellaire punt, which proved to be costly. Heatherington, who punted well all afternoon, boomed one that the Pilots muffed with less than three minutes to play.

Mamie was in the end zone on the next play from 6 yards out to seal the deal.

“We had some big plays, but we couldn’t sustain drives,” River head coach Mike Flannery said.

The Pilots, who visit Steubenville’s Harding Stadium to take on Steubenville Catholic next Saturday, will simply go back to the drawing board after being guilty of four turnovers and accumulating 224 yards of offense, but only 62 on the ground.

“They out-played us and they out-coached us,” Flannery said. “We have to get ready for the next five games and put this one behind us. We simply have to get better.”

Boxscore:

Bellaire 28, River 14

River 7 0 7 0 — 14

Bellaire 0 21 0 7 — 28

R — Johnson 13 run (Hocutt kick).

B — Mamie 4 run (L. Littell kick).

B — Roth 39 run (L. Littell kick).

B — Mamie 3 run (L. Littell kick).

R — Johnson 70 pass from Lollathin (Hocutt kick).

B — Mamie 6 run (L. Littell kick).

Rushing: River, 24-62-TD (Johnson, 5-13-TD; Dennis, 10-49; Creamer, 3-5; Lollathin, 6-(-5)). Bellaire, 32-118-4TD (Mamie, 21-75-3TD; Roth, 7-60-TD; Heatherington, 4-(-2)).

Passing: River, 12-26-162-TD-2x (All by Lollathin). Bellaire, 14-24-108 (All by Heatherington).

Receiving: River, 12-162-TD (Dennis, 1-(-4); Lawrence, 1-5; Rose, 4-74; Johnson, 2-73-TD; Long, 2-6; Isaly, 1-6; Creamer, 1-2). Bellaire, 14-108 (Sechrest, 5-48; Pettigrew, 2-1; Fish, 3-30; A. Littell, 3-18; Mamie, 1-11).

First Downs: River, 11; Bellaire, 13.

Fumbles: River, 1-1; Bellaire, 1-1.

Penalties: River, 7-55; Bellaire, 9-80.