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Defenses lead the way in Week 6

Michael D. McElwain MAKING YARDS — Weir High senior Cody Enrietti rushed for four touchdowns during Friday’s win over Union Local. The Red Riders visit No. 1 Fairmont Senior Friday.

Defensive dominance was commonplace as the year’s fastest 10 weeks entered its second half.

Case in point:

Weir totally shut down Union Local’s potent ground game in its 42-14 homecoming victory. The Jets, who entered the contest unbeaten, finished with a net of minus nine yards rushing. At the half. U.L. had just two yards on the ground.

“That was a big win for us,” said Weir’s Tony Filberto. “That team came in undefeated and we controlled this game from the first play to the last one.”

Red Rider defensive lineman Jordan Allen had a monster game for his now 5-1 team. He intercepted two passes and recorded four sacks.

Through six games, Weir opponents average 131 yards in total offense. That average is best among schools in The Herald-Star/Daily Times coverage area.

Meanwhile, Toronto held Conotton Valley to zero net yards in its 62-0 romp on the road. The Rockets were minus three in rushing and plus three in passing. CV had just four first downs.

The Red Knights, now 5-1, will host Beallsville this week before unbeaten River comes calling. The Pilots disposed of previously unbeaten Shadyside during Week 6 play.

Indian Creek coach Andrew Connor thought his defense was “lights out other than a play here or there” in Friday’s 21-14 come-from-behind victory over Brooke.

The Redskin defense allowed just 16 yards on 18 second half plays. Eight of those plays went for negative yardage. Creek’s D has allowed just 8.8 points per game, the best average in the area.

One bad break:

For the most part, Big Red’s defense went the “bend but don’t break” route in its 15-7 loss to Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary.

Steubenville, now 5-1, recovered a fumble in the end zone to thwart one Irish scoring threat then held serve twice, forcing the visitors to kick field goals.

There was, unfortunately, one bad break. That came when Myles Williams broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown jaunt.

“I told our players after the game if they love me and the coaches like we love them, then we’ll be back even stronger than we were going into this game,” Reno Saccoccia said. “If not, then it will happen again.”

He was rolling:

Friday was quite a day for Weir’s Cody Enrietti.

First, he was elected homecoming king by the Weir High student body. Then, he rushed for 147 yards on 30 carries as the Red Riders demolished Union Local.

He ran for four touchdowns and also added a two-point conversion.

Enrietti has more than 100 yards rushing in all six Red Rider games.

Banks in hall:

Justin Banks, an assistant Big Red football coach, joined the Youngstown State University Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Banks, who also serves on Fred Heatherington’s baseball staff, starred on the YSU baseball team from 2003-2006. He ranks among the school’s all-time leaders in hits, at bats, runs scored, total bases, doubles and RBIs. He is the school’s record holder in games played and started.

Eight new members joined the hall prior to the Penguins’ football game against South Dakota.

At YSU, Banks played for Catholic Central graduate Mike Florak, who will join the Crusader Hall of Fame later this week.

Computer update:

The loss to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary will drop Big Red to the fourth spot in this week’s Division IV, Region 15 computer standings. According to Joe Eitel, Big Red will trail Johnstown Monroe, Heath and Cambridge.

Despite winning its fifth straight game, Indian Creek is now 11th in the region.

Once-beaten Toronto is sixth in Division VII, Region 25 and Harrison Central stands ninth in Division V, Region 19.

Weir High should advance to ninth in the West Virginia Class AA standings, according to wvtailgatecentral.com.

No. 1 is next:

After knocking off an Ohio ranked team, Weir will hit the road to face a top-rated West Virginia opponent–Fairmont Senior.

The Polar Bears are off to a 5-0 start and are the Mountain State’s top Class AA club. Fairmont pinned the only loss on Class AAA University and also whipped Buckhannon-Upshur, another AAA foe.

“To be the best, you have to beat the best,” Filberto said about the huge challenge awaiting his Red Riders. “So we’ll be ready to play next week.”

Maximum effort:

Brooke is 0-6. The Bruins have been battered, bruised and besieged by injuries.

Still, third-year coach Mac McLean knows his players continue to give it all they have.

“We have no complaints how about hard our guys are playing our how big their hearts are,” he said after Friday’s loss to Indian Creek. “Everyone is giving maximum effort on the field and that’s all you can ask for as coaches.”

In the loss, sophomore quarterback Logan Williams threw for 96 yards and a touchdown (he connected with Alex Edgell for a seven-yard score). Chris Yachini, the area’s leading receiver, caught four passes for 58. Edgell also accounted for Brooke’s other score on a 47-yard interception return.

“I am really proud of the way Logan played,” McLean stressed.

A misprint:

Attention Big Red fans — the Youngstown Ursuline score appearing in Saturday’s Herald Star was not correct.

The Ohio Associated Press incorrectly reported Ursuline fell 41-12 to Royal Imperial Collegiate of Canada. Big Red’s Week 7 opponent actually was on the positive end of that score.

With the win, Ursuline improved to 3-3.

One hard runner:

Craig Smith had a solid performance in his first game with Catholic Central.

The sophomore, who had to sit out the first five weeks due to the OHSAA transfer rule, collected 128 rushing yards on 19 carries.

“He runs hard,” Crusader boss Steve Daley said of Smith. “He’s a hard north-south runner. We saw that leading up to tonight.

“It’s nice to have that but we have to be able to do some other things offensively too. We’ll get to work on that.”

Central will look to rebound for its 34-13 Week 6 loss to Bellaire when it hosts Bishop Donahue Saturday.

A good one:

Coaches Derrick Stickles and Ted Arneault Jr. agree — the Edison-Oak Glen rivalry is one worth continuing.

“The games have all been close,” Stickles said after his Wildcats rallied for a 19-14 win over the Golden Bears. “We have developed a good rivalry with them. It has developed into one of the better rivalries in the area.”

Edison sophomore River Pappas produced the two biggest plays in the contest. First, his 39-touchdown run with 4:45 left to play put the Wildcats ahead to stay. Next, he recovered an Oak Glen fumble to seal the deal.

“Edison is not a bad team,” Arneault Jr. stated. “Every game we play against them has been like this. Every year it is like this dating back to 2011. We went 11-2 and made the playoffs. Edison didn’t have a good record that year but the game came down to the last second.”

Pappas finished the game with 82 yards on 14 carries. Seth Cade paced the Wildcats with 157 yards on 30 trips and a touchdown.

Some line praise:

Robert Coppa had a huge night in Indian Creek’s 21-14 victory over Brooke.

The senior ran for 202 yards on 32 carries and scored three touchdowns. In the second half, Coppa collected 143 of his yards on 23 chances. As a team, Creek totaled 243 yards on the ground.

“The holes were there all night,” he said after helping his team improved to 5-1. “Our offensive line did a great job.”

Coppa now leads The Herald- Star/Daily Times coverage area with 10 rushing touchdowns.

“There comes a time in some games where you just have to do what you do best and we did that tonight,” Connor stated. “We relied on our offensive line to move the ball and they did that. I’m very proud of what we did in the second half against a Brooke team that gave us all they had.”

Find a way:

Three plays into Friday’s game with St. Clairsville, Harrison Central lost Ty West, the area’s leading rusher, to an injury. The Red Devils rallied to earn a 32-20 victory, thus keeping the Coal Bucket in Belmont County.

Before being sidelined, the sophomore caught a 27-yard pass and ran for 11 yards. The extent of his injury remains unknown.

“Anytime you lose a guy like him, it’s going to hurt,” said Huskie coach Justin Kropka. “But I thought we battled back and fought through it and played hard.

“We had to play some different kids. The kids that stepped in played well. We’ll just have to regroup and find a different way to win.”

Wyatt Elias, the top passer in the area, threw for 164 yards in the defeat.

Been awhile:

Big Red could manage just seven points in Friday’s loss to Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary.

It’s been awhile since a Steubenville team was held to just a touchdown inside Harding Stadium. In fact, the last time it happened was during the 2012 season, Youngstown Ursuline scoring a 31-7 victory.

In the 2013 playoffs, Youngstown Cardinal Mooney held Steubenville to just a touchdown in recording a 37-7 triumph.

Solid numbers:

Senior quarterback Danny Callarik provided a bit of a bright spot for Buckeye Local in Friday’s 40-6 loss to John Marshall.

He completed 12 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown, coming on a 51-yard strike to fellow senior Sean Millard.

Madonna signal caller Dustin Brown also put up solid numbers in a 30-14 loss at Vienna Mathews.

He had nine completions in 16 attempts, good for 146 yards. He hit speedy Tavon Jeter for a 36-yard score.

No cupcakes:

First-year coach Mark Spigarelli knows the next four weeks are going to be tough for his Bellaire Big Reds, which ran their winning streak to four with the victory over Central.

“We’re at St. Clairsville Friday, then we have Shadyside, Union Local and Martins Ferry,” he said following the victory at Harding Stadium. “Those are four teams that are going to be tough.

“But, that’s the way I want it. I don’t want any easy cupcake games. My players know that and I think they’ll be ready.”

Top stats:

Running wild

¯ 202, Robert Coppa, Indian Creek, 3 touchdowns

¯ 157, Seth Cade, Edison, touchdown

¯ 147, Cody Enrietti, Weir, 4 touchdowns

¯ 128, Craig Smith, Catholic Central

¯ 91, Jesse Ball, Harrison Central, 2 touchdowns

¯ 83, Dakota Price, Oak Glen

¯ 82, River Pappas, Edison, touchdown

Gunslingers

¯ 164, Wyatt Elias, Harrison Central, 164

¯ 151, Danny Callarik, Buckeye Local, 12 of 23, score

¯ 146, Dustin Brown, Madonna, 9 of 16, score

¯ 97, Javon Davis, Big Red, 10 of 16, score

¯ 96, Logan Williams, Brooke, 8 of 20, score

Hands team

¯ 4, Chris Yachini, Brooke, 58

¯ 4, Austin Rawson, Indian Creek, 45

¯ 4, Chase Crago, Oak Glen, 21

¯ 4, Jah Sawyer, Catholic Central, 13

¯ 3, Sean Millard, Buckeye Local, 81, touchdown

¯ 3, Tavon Jeter, Madonna, 78, touchdown

¯ 3, Charles Reeves, Big Red, 49

¯ 3, Gino Pierro, Big Red, 23, touchdown

¯ 3, Jared Moore, Buckeye Local, 27

(Sports editor Mike Mathison and sports correspondent Aaron Petchal also contributed to this story.)

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