LOOKING TO FINISH STRONG — Indian Creek starts what it hopes is a strong finish to push for the playoffs when they travel to Beaver Local on Friday night. - Michael D. McElwain

CALCUTTA — The Indian Creek football team is looking to snap a three-game losing streak against Beaver Local.

The Redskins are set to take on the Beavers at 7 p.m. Friday night on the road at Pastore Field.

Indian Creek enters this week’s game against its Buckeye 8 opponent coming off a 46-14 victory against Harrison Central last Friday night at home inside Kettlewell Stadium.

“We were able to get out early,” Indian Creek (6-1) head coach Andrew Connor said. “We were able to build off of our enthusiasm and our momentum. We were able to get the win against a feisty and well-coached Harrison Central team.”

Beaver Local enters this week fresh off a 39-31 victory against Hubbard in overtime at home.

“They are tough,” Connor said. “I have a lot of respect for Mike McKenzie. Beaver is well coached. They’re disciplined. They play hard. They do the little things well. They play a tough schedule. They are very good team. Their record does not tell the full story.

The Beavers enter this game with a record of 3-4.

“The biggest thing with them is they want to run the football,” Connor said. “They run 4,000 different formations. They do a good job because their kids know where to lineup. They want to catch you in something. They want to outflank you. They want to catch you if you over compensate for something. They give you a lot of looks offensively.

“They do what they do. They want to run the football, and they do it effectively. They want to run the football.”

This season, Beaver Local has defeated Brooke, 35-0, Salem, 32-25, and Hubbard.

The Beavers defeated the Eagles thanks in part to the play of backup quarterback Wade Foster, who entered the game in the fourth quarter when starter Taylor Johnston went down with an injury.

“They know what they are doing,” Connor said. “They must spend forever on it. It doesn’t matter who is in the game or who is playing. They have a good foundation offensively. I give a lot of credit to Mike McKenzie and his staff.”

Beaver Local’s losses this season have come against Struthers (41-7), St. Clairsville (27-21), East Liverpool (14-9) and Union Local (41-14).

“Defensively, they’re big, they’re physical and they tackle well,” Connor said. “They run a base 4-3. Their cornerbacks do a good job of coverage on the outside. Their linebackers tackle well. Their defensive line is very disciplined. They do the little things correctly. They are not going to beat themselves.”

Indian Creek has won its last four games, and the Redskins switched things up at times in their win against the Huskies.

“The biggest thing offensively last week was we switched some formations,” Connor said. “We went against what we normally do.

“This week, we want to stay in front of the chains. It is not good when you are behind the chains. Defensively, we want to stop the big plays. That is something we have been able to do consistently this season. Beaver Local wants to create big plays. They can score in bunches. We can’t let them score on big plays.”

The Beavers defeated the Redskins, 48-6, last season on the road, 56-13 in 2022 at home and 41-7 on the road in 2021.

“We are going to have to get off to a good start,” Connor said. “For some reason, that is something we struggle with on the road. We always seem to get off to slow starts at Beaver Local.

“Our kids understand how important these games are at this point in the season. Hopefully, we are able to respond well.”

Indian Creek enters this week’s game in 12th place in the Ohio Division III, Region 11 rankings.

Beaver Local is ranked 12th in the Division IV, Region 15 rankings.

“We told our kids we haven’t beaten Beaver Local in three years,” Connor said. “A lot of teams had beaten us three straight years. We are going to try our best to end that streak.

“The kids are focused. We tell them all we can control is what we do Friday night. That’s it. We want to come out and play well, play physical and play with attitude.”