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St. Clairsville scores 42 unanswered to overtake Meadowbrook

Photo/SETH STASKEY ST. CLAIRSVILLE'S Logan Shields looks for a hole during the first half of Saturday's Division IV, Region 15 semifinal against Meadowbrook.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — A little momentum, a few adjustments and, probably most importantly, an entire team’s worth of belief went a long way Saturday night.

St. Clairsville needed all three and some additional factors including a gadget play and a couple of key takeaways, to pull off a comeback they’ll be talking about for years to come in the Belmont County Seat.

After spotting fourth-seeded Meadowbrook a 28-0 lead in the middle of the first half, the Red Devils proceeded to score the next 42 en route to a cherished 42-28 victory, earning St. C. a spot in the Region 15 championship game next Saturday night against Bloom-Carroll.

“Honestly, this was a program win,” St. Clairsville head coach Brett McLean said. “We won this game because of the kind of kids we have and the kind of coaches we have because it took some deep soul searching when you’re looking at a 28-point deficit to a team that’s averaging 60 a game.”

Along with the soul searching, the Red Devils were able to do some critical on-field things like protect the ball after two early interceptions that resulted in touchdowns. They also sustained drives which kept the Colts offensive juggernaut on the sideline and kept their defense on the field for long stretches.

Much of that fell onto the shoulders of senior quarterback Tyler Tonkovich. McLean put the ball in his hands to take the game over and he responded with 125 yards and scored on a 17-yard run to begin the third quarter.

“Meadowbrook made a play on both (interceptions) and teams are going to make plays,” McLean said. “Our quarterback’s confidence allows him to bounce back. At the end of the day, it boiled down to trusting your older guys.”

The passing combination that’s worked all season for the Red Devils was what struck again to get St. C. on the board. Tonkovich found junior Colin Oberdick for a 38-yard touchdown. Jake Bolyard was perfect on the first of six PAT kicks.

Not only did the St. Clairsville begin to seize momentum, the defense began to get stops. Colts quarterback Davis Singleton victimized the Red Devils with his arms and legs early. However, the Colts went away from the quarterback run as the game went along.

With Reese Skaggs, Drew Sefsick and Mason McCort providing pressure, the Colts offense never seemed to find the early rhythm it had.

“We came out with a little bit of an attitude based on our treatment here,” Meadowbrook head coach Coular Clendenning said. “We felt like we got disrespected, so we came out with an attitude, and I think we lost that attitude. But, give St. Clairsville credit because their kids kept fighting and my hat’s off to them for that.”

Just before halftime, the Red Devils struck again as hard-nosed junior Logan Shields punched in for the first of his four touchdowns. This one was from 3 yards out.

“We obviously made X and O adjustments, but a lot of the half was spent talking about how we wanted the rest of this night to go,” McLean said. “We needed a spark. I thought we managed the clock well which allowed us to get that score. Then we kept the momentum going into the third quarter.”

Receiving the second-half kickoff, Tonkovich engineered yet another drive which he capped.

The rest of the night belonged to Shields from a scoring aspect. He scored on runs of 16, 2 and 2. The first 2-yard burst, which proved to be the game winner, was set up by a trick play.

Shields found Tonkovich all alone for a 21-yard gain on a fourth-down play.

“Logan, Tyler and Jacob (Jordan), our entire backfield, really works well as a unit,” McLean said. “They complement each other, move in and out of the game unselfishly and root for each other.”

Shields finished with 81 yards on 14 carries.

Division IV

Regional Semifinal

(at Red Devil Stadium)

St. Clairsville 42, Meadowbrook 28

Meadowbrook 14 14 0 0 — 28

St. Clairsville 0 14 14 14 — 42

M — Swartz 1 run (pass failed).

M — Todd 64 pass from Singleton (Todd pass from Singleton).

M — Eubanks 15 pass from Singleton (McManaway pass from Singleton).

M — Singleton 25 run (run failed).

StC — Oberdick 38 pass from Tonkovich (Bolyard kick).

StC — Shields 3 run (Bolyard kick).

StC — Tonkovich 17 run (Bolyard kick).

StC — Shields 16 run (Bolyard kick).

StC — Shields 2 run (Bolyard kick).

StC — Shields 2 run (Bolyard kick).

Rushing: Meadowbrook, 39-164-2td (Singleton, 18-91-td; Lacey, 3-9; Swartz, 13-64-td). St. Clairsville, 47-235-5td (Jordan, 20-26; Tonkovich, 21-125-td; Shields, 14-81-4td; Oberdick, 2-3).

Passing: Meadowbrook, 18-37-245-td-2x (All by Singleton). St. Clairsville, 9-14-138-td-2x (Tonkovich, 8-13-117-td-2x; Shields, 1-1-21).

Receiving: Meadowbrook, 18-245-td (McCall, 1-2; Todd, 4-77-td; McManaway, 5-79; Eubanks, 7-80-td; Lacey, 1-7). St. Clairsville, 9-138-td (Oberdick, 4-65-td; DaRe, 1-28; Balgo, 2-8; Jozwiak, 1-16; Tonkovich, 1-21).

First Downs: Meadowbrook, 22; St. Clairsville, 23.

FUmbles: Meadowbrook, 0-0; St. Clairsville, 2-0.

Penalties: Meadowbrook, 8-80; St. Clairsville, 4-50.

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