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St. Clairsville stays perfect, stops Indian Creek

Indian Creek’s Logan Wilson chases a punt against St. Clairsville on Friday. Also shown is David Ferroni. (Photo by Joe Catullo)

WINTERSVILLE — Not even Mother Nature’s combination of lightning and heavy rain could stop St. Clairsville from reaching the midway point of the high school football season with a perfect 5-0 mark.

In a game delayed by lightning for a little more than two hours, St. Clairsville held off a gutsy Indian Creek squad, 14-7, in a quagmire at Kettlewell Memorial Stadium. The teams were deadlocked at 7-7 with 8:26 remaining in the second quarter when the contest was halted due to lightning. The OHSAA rule mandates that play be suspended for 30 minutes with each strike of lightning. The stadium was evacuated, and most of the fans opted not to return.

When play resumed, neither squad could generate much offensive firepower as the field conditions continued to worsen as the rain continued to fall.

Brady Kolb’s 35-yard TD run with 3:22 left on the clock gave the visitors a 13-7 advantage. Josh Bolyard tacked on the all-important point after as the count went to 14-7.

Indian Creek got a nice kickoff return to its own 38, but a personal foul penalty on St. Clairsville moved the ball to the Red Devils’ 47 with 3:14 showing.

The Redskins (3-2) were guilty of a motion penalty on first down, but quarterback Sam Mazar found wideout Klay Cottis for 30 yards and a first down to the St. C. 28. Two first downs and another personal foul flag gave Indian Creek 1st-and-goal at the 3. However, on third down the ball was fumbled into the end zone. St. Clairsville’s David Mellema, who also had a key interception, came out of the pile with the ball.

“I told the kids I was 40 when I got here. I’m 65 leaving,” St. Clairsville head coach Brett McLean said. “This is the type of thing that happens when you get into these type of conditions.

“I’m most proud that we showed some character. We tensed up a little bit, and we can’t afford to let that happen. We have to play our style … our type of game. We kept saying, ‘Just keep pounding and pounding and, eventually, we spring through there. Thankfully, Brady did to get that score.”

Kolb gave St. Clairsville a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 2-yard run. Bolyard was good on the PAT.

Indian Creek came right back as Trevor Fante ran in from a yard out. Brandon Hiles kicked the extra point for a 7-7 reading.

“I’m just proud of my kids. I thought we played hard and played to the end. I asked my kids to finish all the time, and I thought they did,” Indian Creek head coach Andrew Connor allowed. “That’s all I’m going to say.”

Indian Creek travels to Brooke next Friday.

St. Clairsville 14, Indian Creek 7

St. Clairsville 7 0 0 7 — 14

Indian Creek 7 0 0 0 — 7

STC: Kolb 2 run (Bolyard kick)

IC: Fante 1 run (Hiles kick)

STC: Kolb 35 run (Bolyard kick)

RUSHING: St. Clairsville 45-190-2 (Kolb 28-133-2, Heatherington 17-57): Indian Creek 37-146-1 (Fante 27-135-1, Fleming 2-6, Mazar 8-5).

PASSING: St. Clairsville 3-9-48-0-0 (all by Carrothers); Indian Creek 6-13-70-0-1 (all by Mazar).

RECEIVING: St. Clairsville 3-48 (Heatherington 1-28, Storer 1-12, Bober 1-8); Indian Creek 6-70 (Cottis 2-39, Fleming 2-12, Thomas 1-10, Walker 1-9).

FIRST DOWNS: St. Clairsville 11, Indian Creek 10

FUMBLES: St. Clairsville 1-1, Indian Creek 3-3

PENALTIES: St. Clairsville 3-33, Indian Creek 6-55

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