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SNAPPED

Creek stops 11-game skid vs. St. C with 30-13 win

BIG SIX — Indian Creek’s Robert Coppa scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter of Friday’s win over St. Clairsville at Kettlewell Stadium. (Mike Mathison)

WINTERSVILLE — At long last, the Indian Creek football team has snapped its losing streak against St. Clairsville.

The Redskins scored the first 17 points of the game en route to securing a 30-13 victory over the Red Devils Friday night on Homecoming at Kettlewell Stadium.

St. Clairsville had won the last 11 meetings.

“It’s been 11 years,”Indian Creek (4-1) head coach Andrew Connor said. “It feels great.

“It is something you don’t forget. It has been difficult. The kids wanted this win. They worked hard all week. It is nice to get the monkey off of our back.”

Indian Creek made big plays in all three phases of the game en route to the victory.

“We did not take advantage of our opportunities,” St. Clairsville (1-4) head coach Brett McLean said. “Give them credit. The took advantage of their opportunities. They made the plays. They made some nice plays. They did what you need to do in big games.

“Hopefully, those guys can stay healthy and have a great year. Andrew and those guys deserve it.

“We are not there yet. We are still scratching, clawing and fighting.

“Our mental aspect is the most important thing right now. Will we break down, or will we continue to scratch, claw and fight.

“This is a tough loss to swallow. They have a great group of kids.

“I am proud of my kids. We started slow in the first half, especially in the first quarter. We were slow to react and slow to get our feet moving. I have to do a better job of making sure our kids are ready to play when they get off of the bus.”

The Redskins amassed 282 yards of offense on 42 plays. Indian Creek rushed for 222 yards on 36 carries.

“We played well in all three phases,” Connor said. “We were very-good on offense, we gave up a couple freaky plays on defense and our special teams played very, very well. It was an all-phases win for us “

Individually, quarterback Greg Wade accounted for 129 yards of total offense and a touchdown. He completed 6 of 6 passes for 60 yards, and he ran for 69 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.

Robert Coppa produced 67 yards and three touchdowns on the ground for the Redskins.

“St. Clairsville is well coached,” Connor said. “They are a great program. They are able to reload. That is a credit to the St. Clairsville coaches.

St. Clairsville quarterback Zach Bigelow tallied 235 yards of offense. He completed 15 of 25 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran for 44 yards on 18 carries.

“We kicked a field goal, and we blocked a field goal,” Connor said. “Defensively, we stopped the run. Bigelow ran around, but we stopped their running game.

“Offensively, we moved the sticks. We mixed it up well.”

Indian Creek got the ball to start the game, and the Redskins drove down to the Red Devil 34. The hosts were called for a 5-yard penalty on fourth down, and instead of going for it Connor sent in the punt team.

Billy Haislet’s punt covered 22 yards, but the returner fumbled the ball and Indian Creek recovered the loose ball at the St. Clairsville 17.

“I told the players a punt is not a bad play in a big game,” Connor said. “Everyone did their job. It was a good punt, and we were able to recover the fumble.”

Six plays later, Coppa plowed in from the 1 to put the Redskins on the scoreboard, and Ensign Maiorano kicked the extra point to put the Redskins out in front 7-0 with 6:29 left to play in the first quarter.

“We had a good stop, but then we fumbled the ball and we ended up in an early hole,” McLean said. “That took the wind out of our sails.

“They had the emotional edge all night. We had that lucky bounce led to our second touchdown. It looked momentum was going to be on our side, but they took the momentum right off of us.”

The Redskins added to their lead on their next drive as Brandon Hiles kicked a 22-yard field goal to extend Indian Creek’s advantage to 10-0 with 52.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Indian Creek increased its advantage in the second quarter thanks to a 5-yard run by Wade. Maiorano once again split the uprights on the PAT, and the home team led 17-0 with 5:34 left to play before halftime.

St. Clairsville got on the scoreboard right before halftime when Bigelow hooked up with Harris on a 21-yard touchdown with 6.9 seconds still showing on the scoreboard clock. Matt Greenwood delivered the extra point to make the score, 17-7.

The visitors drove down to the Redskins’ 5 to start the second half, but they were unable to punch the ball into the end zone. St. Clairsville was forced to try a 22-yard field goal, but the kick was blocked keeping the score at 17-7.

“When we saw the momentum was starting to maybe go the other way, we were able to get it back,” Connor said. “Our defense bent, but it did not break. We were able to come up with a big stop, and then we were able to block that field goal.

“Momentum is big in a big game. Every time we felt the momentum start to shift, we were able to get it back.”

Coppa opened the scoring early in fourth quarter when he scored on an 8-yard run, and Maiorano’s extra point was true to make the score 24-7 with 11:45 remaining in the game.

The scoring drive came after Indian Creek stopped a fake punt attempt by St. Clairsville from the Red Devils’ 35.

The Red Devils caught a lucky break on the second touchdown when Williams scored on a 50-yard catch and run on a 4th-and-15 play from midfield. The ball was tipped into the air, and Williams was able to haul it in before running into the end zone. The extra point sailed wide keeping the score at 24-13 with 7:08 left to play in the ballgame.

Coppa capped the scoring in the game with a 10-yard run up the middle. A bad snap prevented the Pat from being kicked, keeping the score at 30-13 with 1:45 left in the game.

“The big thing is this was the loudest this stadium has been since I have been here,” Connor said. “We had the people behind us. Their fans were great. This is a community win. I am happy for the community. I love this place. It was a big win. Everyone came together. It was a special night.”

Indian Creek heads to Brooke next week, while St. Clairsville heads to Harrison Central.

Indian Creek 30, St. Clairsville 13

St. Clairsville       0  7  0    6  —  13

Indian Creek     10  7  0  13  —  30

IC: Coppa 1 run (Maiorano kick)

IC: Hiles 22 field goal

IC: Wade 5 run (Maiorano kick)

SC: Harris 21 pass from Bigelow (Greenwood kick)

IC: Coppa 8 run (Maiorano kick)

SC: Williams 50 pass from Bigelow (kick fail)

IC: Coppa 10 run (run fail)

Team Statistics

RUSHING: St. Clairsville 30-75 (Bigelow 18-44, Heatherington 3-5, Maroon 2-4, Kolb 4-17, Storer 3-5); Indian Creek 36-222 (Wade 17-69 TD, Harton 4-59, Coppa 17-67 3TDs, Williams 1-3, Rawson 2-24 ).

PASSING: St. Clairsville 15-26-191-2-0 (Bigelow 15-25-191-1-0, Carrothers 0-1-0-0-0); Indian Creek 6-6-60-0-0 (all by Wade).

RECEIVING: St. Clairsville Harris 3-35 TD, Starks 6-49, Heatherington 4-47, Storer 1-10, Williams 1-50 TD; Indian Creek Rawson 4-45, Coppa 1-9, Mamula 1-6.

FIRST DOWNS: St. Clairsville 12; Indian Creek 13.

PENALTIES-YARDS: St. Clairsville 3-15; Indian Creek 4-25.

FUMBLES-LOST: St. Clairsville 4-2; Indian Creek 3-0.

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