ON THE RUN — Steubenville junior quarterback Javon Davis runs for positive yards during Friday’s 41-7 win over West Holmes at Harding Stadium. Big Red is 3-0 and heads to Boardman Friday evening. (Michael D. McElwain)

Week 3 of the high school football season definitely was all about that rush!

Case in point — Edison racked up 405 yards on the ground in its 36-12 victory over Buckeye Local. Two Wildcats (Seth Cade and Joe Nave) went over the 100 yard mark and River Pappas added 80. Edison now is 2-1 on the campaign.

Weir High moved to 3-0 with a hard-fought 15-6 road victory over John Marshall. The Red Riders compiled 291 yards on the ground with Cody Enrietti and Dom Murphy both topping the century mark.

Indian Creek improved to 2-1 by blanking Oak Glen 56-0. The Redskins ran for 277 and seven touchdowns. Greg Wade paced the attack with 84 yards and a couple of scores. Robert Coppa also found the end zone twice.

Toronto knocked Sebring McKinley from the ranks of the unbeaten via a 43-22 road triumph. The 3-0 Red Knights, who finally will have a home game this week, collected 260 yards on the ground. Max Tice used his eight carries to gain 99 yards.

The Red Knights have rushed the football 119 times in their first three games, accumulating 866 yards for a per carry average of 7.3.

Big Red only had 22 rushing tries in rolling past Millersburg West Holmes 41-7 but Steubenville posted 206 yards, an average of 9.3 yards per try. Jalen McGhee accounted for 85 yards on just five carries.

Harrison Central lost for the first time (a tough 35-34 setback at Bellaire) but the Huskies continued to pile up the rushing yardage. Harrison had 326 total yards with Tyler West getting 235 on 24 attempts. He also scored three touchdowns.

Two good ones:

Enrietti finished with 149 rushing yards in Weir’s victory while Murphy galloped for 118.

“That was our plan going in,” Weir coach Tony Filberto said about his running attack. “They’re both going to get their carries.

“They’re both really productive backs. With Cody and Murph, it’s two good ones in the same backfield.”

Weir will host Keyser (2-1) this week.

He’s back:

Big Red’s McGhee missed the Pittsburgh USO game due to an injury sustained in the season opener.

The senior showed his speed in the West Holmes game, taking a handoff and sprinting 60 yards untouched for a score. He’s averaging 8.3 yards per carry.

“Jalen ran well for us tonight,” Reno Saccoccia stated.

Praise for line:

Edison coach Derrick Stickles showed some love for the guys up front after Friday’s game with Buckeye Local.

“Our offensive line is getting great push and that’s allowing us to run the ball,” he said. “They’re playing really well right now.”

Cade led Edison with 141 yards on 20 carries while Nave added 137 on just 11 tries.

Joe says:

Joe Eitel has released his updated Ohio computer rankings for the week.

According to Eitel, Big Red is third in the Division IV, Region 15 standings, behind Johnstown Monroe and Shelby. Indian Creek stands at 12th in the region.

Harrison Central is eighth in Division V, Region 19 and Edison 13th.

Toronto stands third in Division VII, Region 25. The Red Knights are ranked behind Mogadore and Warren JFK.

Not satisfied:

First year Buckeye Local coach John Holman feels like “the opportunities are there” for his Panthers.

“I’m not going to stand here and be upset because the opportunities are there for us, but I’m not satisfied,” he told the Herald Star’s Mike Mathison following the Edison game. “As an offense, we have to capitalize on the opportunities that present themselves.

“Our defense was out there a lot. We want our defense to be bend, but don’t break. And, we came up some big plays. Yes, the other team is going to have some long drives, but we have to find a way to keep them out of the end zone and we did that tonight at times.”

The Panthers did intercept two passes. Kadin Weaver delivered a pick at the goal on Edison’s first drive of the game. Dan Callarik took his pick, it came on the final Wildcat march of the opening half, 85 yards to the house.

Callarik also scored on a 50-yard run and caught three passes for 65 yards.

Boardman bound:

After three straight at Harding Stadium, Big Red will head north this week for a date at 2-1 Boardman. The Spartans fell 21-14 to Massillon Jackson in Week 2.

The schools will be meeting for the first time since 2001, a 52-0 Spartan victory. Boardman actually holds a 7-6 lead in its series with Steubenville.

After last week’s Legends Night win, Saccoccia stated the key for his club involves having a great Monday.

“I told the kids after the game tonight, we have to have a great Monday,” he stressed. “If that happens, then the coaches won’t have to be jerks Tuesday and Wednesday. A great Monday will set the tone for the week.”

A big day:

Besides running for 235 yards, Harrison Central’s West also caught four passes for another 65 yards.

West, just a sophomore, is the leading rusher in the Herald Star/Daily Times coverage area through three weeks. He has carried the football 57 times for 627 yards (an average of 11 yards per tote) and has five rushing touchdowns.

A good thing:

Edison will celebrate homecoming Friday when Beaver Local visits.

“We’re going into homecoming 2-1 and that’s good for this program,” coach Stickles stressed. “We play a good Beaver Local team at home and we know what we’re up against. It’s going to be a good atmosphere.

“We made a lot of mistakes offensively and blew a few assignments defensively (in last week’s game with Buckeye Local). We have to do a better job as a coaching staff getting our guys ready for Friday night.”

No excuses:

As Steve Daley noted after Catholic Central was blanked by a big and strong Western Reserve squad, “we’re a little banged up.”

The Crusaders have lost running back/defensive end Levi Thompson, possibly for the season. Two other regulars, seniors Luke Coniker and Vinny DiCarlantonio, missed the game with injuries. Ryan Neely was injured late in Saturday’s game.

“Right now and it’s not an excuse, we’re a little thin and we’re a little banged up,” Daley noted. “We have to suck it up and get ready for next week.”

The Crusaders will travel to Toronto Friday for the 44th all-time meeting between the schools.

“This (the loss to Western Reserve” is going to hurt,” Daley pointed out. “After tonight, our kids have to put it behind them just like we do as coaches. We have to start working on getting ready for Toronto.”

A gambler:

Buckeye Local’s Holman showed he’s willing to take chances when called for a fake punt on fourth and 19 from his own 31. The move paid off as Sean Millard traveled 38 yards for a first down. The next play resulted in a completed pass and took BL to a first and 10 at the 22. Unfortunately, Edison’s Cade intercepted the next Panther aerial attempt.

The turnover bug bit the Panthers often in the loss to Edison. At the start of the second half, BL had a 10-play drive that ended on a first and goal from the four when the Panthers fumbled. Buckeye would threw two more interceptions in the contest.

Test for Creek:

After the big win over Oak Glen, Indian Creek coach Andrew Connor stated “we told the kids all week that this was a test to see if they were going to get better.”

“We just kept stressing get better, get better and I think we did a good job of that,” he continued. “Any time you can get your 68 kids into a football game, that’s a great victory.”

Short week:

Something will have to give when Oak Glen visits Madonna under the Thursday night lights.

The Hancock County rivals both are 0-3.  This will be the second straight Thursday night appearance for the Blue Dons, who fell to powerful Wheeling Central last week.

Lots of weapons:

As mentioned, Toronto has rolled to 866 rushing yards in three games.

In reaching that number, the Red Knights have really spread the wealth.

Max Tice leads the Toronto running back stable with 194 yards. Danny Zdinak has 113, Carson Meek 111, Nate Karaffa 106 and Daniel Braniff 73. Thomas Fordham has contributed 72.

Ty West is Toronto’s top receiver with seven grabs for 95 yards.

No rest:

Brooke’s tour of the top 10 West Virginia Class AAA football teams continues this week with a trip to Hurricane, currently ranked seventh by Metro News.

The injury-riddled Bruins already have played No. 2 Huntington, No. 3 Morgantown and number eight University.

The Hawks handed Brooke a 35-13 defeat in Week 3 play.

Chris Yachini continues to be a bright spot for Mac McLean’s squad. He caught four passes in the loss at University good for 139 yards a touchdown. The senior has 10 receptions on the season. He’s tied with Buckeye’s Callarik in the receiving total category.

In case you’re wondering, Brooke’s Week 5 foe is Wheeling Park, the defending Class AAA champion. The Patriots currently are ranked sixth.

Metro News has Weir High rated third among West Virginia Class AA squads.

Top stats:

Running wild

¯ 235, Tyler West, Harrison Central, 3 touchdowns

¯ 149, Cody Enrietti, Weir High

¯ 141, Seth Cade, Edison, 2 touchdowns

¯ 137, Joe Nave, Edison, 2 touchdowns

¯ 127, Garet Hostuttler, Madonna

¯ 118, Dom Murphy, Weir High

¯ 99, Max Tice, Toronto, touchdown

≤ 85, Jalen McGhee, Big Red, touchdown

¯ 84, Greg Wade, Indian Creek, 2 touchdowns

Gunslingers

¯ 123, Jared Moore, Buckeye Local, 7 of 22

¯ 109, Wyatt Elias, Harrison Central, 9 of 10, score

¯ 100, Nate Karaffa, Toronto, 7 of 11

Hands team

¯ 5, Kaleb Waggoner, Edison, 41

¯ 4, Chris Yachini, Brooke, 139, touchdown

¯ 4, West, Harrison Central, 65, touchdown

¯ 4, Tavon Jeter, Madonna, 22, touchdown

¯ 4, Matt Bell, Catholic Central, 17

¯ 3, Dan Callarik, Buckeye Local, 65

¯ 3, Sean Millard, Buckeye Local, 40

¯ 3, Kyle Roberts, Harrison Central, 36, touchdown