RUNNING BY — Indian Creek’s Trevor Fante rushes past Brooke’s Carson Secrist on Friday. (Photo by Andrew Grimm)

WINTERSVILLE — After three straight losses, Martins Ferry appears to have found its groove.

The Purple Riders, winners of two straight, head to Kettlewell Stadium on Friday night for a tough Buckeye 8 test against Indian Creek. But it’s far from one they can’t survive, veteran head coach Dave Bruney believes.

“If we win the turnover battle, win the special teams and win the penalty battle, if you win those three it makes winning a game heckuva lot easier,” Bruney, in his 38th season, said.

Bruney quickly added that’s the case at any level, but his team has recently been solid in all of those levels, and it’s showed on the scoreboard in victories against Harrison Central and East Liverpool.

Turnovers had been a big Achilles’ heel for the Purple Riders. They turned it over seven times in a loss at Union Local, but have turned that around in recent weeks.

“We’ve kind of recovered from that,” Bruney said. “I think we’ve only had two the last three games. We’re right there turning the corner and looking forward to playing well this week. We’re looking forward to playing a good, quality opponent on the road. They’ve played pretty well this year, and it will certainly be a challenge.”

The Redskins enter with a mark of 4-2, with losses to a pair of 5-1 squads — Alliance and St. Clairsville — the only blemishes.

“They’ve been balanced in most of the games they’ve played,” Bruney said. “Overall, they have pretty good balance, so we won’t be able to load up on one segment. They’ve done a good job.”

To hear veteran head coach Andrew Connor tell it, the offensive focus this fall for his team has shifted somewhat.

“We have been a balanced attack offensively, probably more than at any time I’ve been head coach,” he said. “In fact, I think we actually have more passing yards than rushing yards. I think that’s a first.”

Doing the passing has been Brennon Norris. The junior has done well in his first full season behind center, recording two games of 315 yards or better. Behind Norris, sophomore tailback Trevor Fante is rushing for close to 500 yards, with a pair of 100-plus efforts to his credit.

Defensively, Connor has been impressed with his team’s linebacker play led by Cody Allan and Aaron Robinson. He also noted the efforts of defensive ends Logan Wilson and Andy Waggoner.

“Our kids have played defense exceptionally well,” he said. ”They get to the ball well, and I haven’t seen a kid that’s not going hard to the ball, which I’m proud of. The biggest thing for us now is to not hurt ourselves. We’re still making some of the same mental mistakes. I’d like to clean that up, just working on being more consistent.”

In the Purple Riders (3-3), he sees a squad that is physical for 48 minutes.

“When you play them, you know on Saturday mornings that you’ve played Martins Ferry,” Connor said. “They go after it and play hard. That’s a credit to Coach Bruney and how well those kids play for him.”

Ferry’s offense revolves around running back Dalton Hoover (807 yards, 13 TDs), but Connor sees other intriguing facets.

“I’m really impressed with their quarterback,” he said of sophomore Jacob Probst. “I think he’s athletic and has great speed. He can throw a good ball and delivers very well.”

Probst has thrown for 579 yards, and Bruney said he’s coming into his own.

“We have a young quarterback, but he has a lot of experience for a sophomore,” he said. “He’s starting to improve at the rate we thought, and we have some pretty good receivers catching the ball.”

Like Cory Bennett, who has 19 grabs for 196 yards, Bruney also highlighted Dasyn Hores and Shaun Jeter.