WINTERSVILLE — Indian Creek stumbled, but the Redskins did not fall into the trap.

The undefeated Indian Creek football team put its perfect record on the line against Beaver Local Friday night. Indian Creek has a big game next week against St. Clairsville, however, the Redskins could not afford to look ahead to their game against the Red Devils as the Beavers posed quite a threat to their unbeaten mark.

This week’s game turned out to be quite the battle as the two teams traded big plays and the momentum multiple times throughout the four quarters. A big stop on fourth down gave Beaver Local a chance to drive 80 yards for the tying score, however, Jorden Hines intercepted a fourth-down pass inside the Indian Creek one with 6.3 seconds left to secure a thrilling 35-28 victory for the Redskins at Kettlewell Stadium.

“It was a great game,” Indian Creek (8-0) head coach Andrew Connor said.

In the end, the Redskins made one more play than the Beavers.

“It was a great game,” Beaver Local (4-4) head coach Mike McKenzie said. “I am proud of these kids. They played hard.”

The score was knotted at 14 at halftime. However, the boys from Jefferson County tallied three touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 35-21 lead into the fourth. Beaver Local made a big play on defense to get back into the game as the Beavers scored on a fumble return to pull within seven points with 10:43 left to play in the game.

The boys from Columbiana County kept the momentum as they recovered the onside kick.

However, the Red-and-White ended up turning the ball over on downs at the Indian Creek 35.

The Redskins took over possession, and the Red-and-Gold began a time-consuming drive chewing up yards and valuable time off the clock. The drive ended on a fourth-down play at the Beaver Local 20, setting the stage for the Beavers to make one last desperate march down the field. Unfortunately for the visitors, their last gasp came up short, and the home team was able to take one snap and run out the clock securing the victory.

Both teams came up with big plays throughout the night, but the boys in red made the most important one.

“There was big plays throughout the game,” Connor said. “The game was back-and-forth and back-and-forth. We just made one big stop when we had to.”

After forcing a turnover on downs on Indian Creek’s first possession of the ballgame, the boys in white marched down the field for the first points of the night.

The drive covered 52 yards, and it was capped off by a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Wade Foster to wide receiver Nicolas McKeznie. Brayden Hall came on and kicked the extra point to give Beaver Local a 7-0 lead with 5:51 left in the first.

The two teams traded punts, and the Beavers led by seven points at the end of the quarter.

Gavin Pownall produced the first of his four touchdowns on a 2-yard run, and Franco Barcalow booted the PAT to tie the score at 7 with 7:48 left to play before halftime.

The Redskins defense stood tall again and forced the Beavers to put once again. After driving 75 yards for a touchdown on its previous drive, Indian Creek drove 63 yards for the victors second score. Pownall once again capped it off as the senior running back plowed his way into the end zone from the 3, and Barcalow split the uprights on the extra point to put the locals up 14-7with 1:32 remaining to be played in the half.

The lead did not last long.

Beaver Local took over at its 42, and the four-play drive was capped off by a 35-yard touchdown pass from Foster to Luke Rettos, and Hall’s extra point was true to knot the score at 14 with 1 minute left in the half.

The Redskins tried to answer with a score of their own, however, they were only able to get to the Beavers’ 48 when time ran out.

Beaver Local got the ball to open the second half, however, the Beavers did not have it for long as the Redskins recovered a fumble on the second play of the half, and Indian Creek took over possession at the BL 35.

The Redskins took full advantage of the miscue as Pownall picked up his third TD of the night – this one coming on a 12-yard pass from quarterback Ian Starkey to give Indian Creek the lead once again. Barcalow banged the extra point through the uprights, and the Redskins led 21-14 with 8:37 remaining in the third.

Indian Creek’s defense came up with its second big play of the quarter as the Redskins forced and recovered another fumble on Beaver Local’s first play of the ensuing drive, and the Redskins took over at their own 47.

Starkey completed a 34-yard pass to Ethan Starr down to the Beaver 10, however, a defender for the Beavers ripped the ball out of Starr’s arms and returned it all the way down to the Redskins 30.

It only took the Beavers to plays to score as Foster scored on a 5-yard run, and Hall’s conversion kicked tied the score at 21 with 5:51 showing on the clock.

The Redskins needed to respond, and they did just that as Starkey found Pownall wide open for a 55-yard catch-and-run, and Barclow kicked the extra point to give his team a 28-21 advantage with 3:59 left in the quarter.

Following another big play the Indian Creek defense, Starkey broke through the Beaver Local defense on his way to a 55-yard touchdown, and Barcalow’s extra point made the score 35-21 with 52 seconds remaining in the third.

The Beavers were forced to punt on their next possession, however, the Beaver Local defense came up with the next big play of the night as they forced a rumble, and Lane Jones returned 15 yards for a touchdown, and Hall’s conversion kick was good making the score 35-28 with 10:43 left to play.

The Redskins and Red Devils will renew their longstanding annual rivalry at 7 p.m. this Friday night at Kettlewell, while Beaver Local is slated to play Cambridge on the road.