MARTINS FERRY – Martins Ferry exploded for 37 second-quarter points en route to a 58-20 victory over visiting Edison Friday night.

“We probably played our best football on both sides of the ball,” Purple Riders coach Dave Bruney said.

The contest was deadlocked at 7-all late in the first quarter before the hosts reeled off 44 unanswered points to take total command. A trio of turnovers by the Wildcats (2-7) helped turn the tide.

“Turnovers were the story of the night,” Edison head coach Derrick Stickles lamented. “You can’t turn it over that many times and expect to be competitive. It was 7-7 early and we really thought we had a chance to run with this team (Martins Ferry), but turnovers got us.”

Arjay Burress scored the second of his five touchdowns with just under a minute to go in the initial stanza to make it 13-7. Marc Haesen split the uprights for a 14-7 reading. Highlighting the 7-play, 69-yard march was a 26-yard scamper by Burress around his left end as wideout Jake Barritt supplied a key downfield block.

The speedy Barritt, who returned the opening kickoff 40 yards, took a punt back 30 yards on the last play of the quarter to set the Purple Riders up at the Edison 29. Three plays later, junior quarterback James Edwards rolled to his left and spotted tight end Matt Barbour wide open in the end zone for a 13-yard scoring strike. Jack Fitch ran around left end for the 2-point conversion, making it 22-7 with 10:42 on the clock.

On the Wildcats next snap, a swing pass from Joe Nave to Carter Andreozzi was fumbled. Martins Ferry’s Andrew Watts scooped it up and returned it 31 yards to the Edison 13. On the next play, Burress sprinted up the middle and into the end zone standing up as the margin ballooned to 29-7 after Haesen’s placement with 10:26 left in the half.

Watts came up big on Edison’s next series of downs when he picked off Nave the Purple Riders’ 32. Seven plays later, Burress followed the blocking of right guard Mark Douglas and right tackle Nick Bain into the end zone from 2 yards out. Barritt’s 2-point run made it 37-7.

Barbour fell on a Wildcat fumble on their first snap of the next possession, giving the Purple Riders the ball at the Edison 30. A pass interference penalty on the visitors moved the ball to the 15 and Bryce Coleman carried the leather to the 1 before Burress went over the left side behind center Jonathan Bodkin, guard Kyle Staley and tackle Brian Sadosky to up the count to 44-7 after Haesen’s PAT with 4:34 left.

“Good teams do that,” Bruney noted of the way his team took advantage of the Wildcats’ miscues. “We’ve been able to do that any time anyone has given us a break, we’ve taken advantage of them.”

After holding Edison on fourth-and-4 from the Martins Ferry 24, it took six plays to go the distance and cap a 37-point explosion in the second quarter. Edwards hit Fitch in stride down the left sidelines with under 30 seconds left in the half and the speedster took it to the house, completing a 52-yard connection. Haesen made it 51-7 at the break.

The second half was played under the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s mandatory 30-point mercy rule.

Edison scored twice in the third frame on passes of 11 yards from Nave to Dom Rogers and 34 yards from Nave to Andreozzi. Cody Kosegi booted one of the two placements to draw the Jefferson Countians to within 51-20.

However, Martins Ferry went 66 yards on 10 plays and used an even 7 minutes off the running clock in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Jared Straub was the workhorse, carrying the ball eight times for 55 yards, including the last 8 for six points. Haesen banged his sixth PAT through the uprights.

The Purple Riders took a 7-0 lead on a 7-yard run by Burress on their second possession. Edison tied it on a 12-yard pass from Nave to Ethan Shannon and Kosegi’s PAT. However, that would be as close as the Wildcats would get.

Martins Ferry amassed 450 yards of total offense, including a ground-and-pound 349 on 47 carries. Burress led the way with 22 totes for 134 yards – all in the first half. He is just shy of 1,600 yards on the season and has scored 24 rushing TDs. Coleman added 56 on 4 carries, while Straub had 55 on that last drive.

Edwards completed all but two of his eight passes, with one being dropped, for 101 yards and the two scores. He now has tossed 10 touchdowns and accounted for 900 yards through the air. Barbour snagged three passes, while Barritt grabbed two.

Edison picked up 298 yards of offense, but 230 of that came via the air and most of it after the game was well in hand. Nave finished 17 of 34 for 230, with three TDs and a pair of picks. Andreozzi had six catches and Rogers five.

Martins Ferry remains at home next week as long-time rival Bellaire visits for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday. Edison concludes its season at Wintersville against county rival Indian Creek.