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CALCUTTA -- The Indian Creek football team is on a roll at a big time of the year.
Coming off a season-high in points and yards last week and winners of three of their last four games, the Redskins look to keep the momentum going as they head to Beaver Local for a key showdown in the Division IV, Region 15 playoff race.
Creek is currently on the outside looking in at No. 16 in this week's computer ratings, with the top 12 set to make the playoffs.
Beaver Local is one of the teams ahead of them, just inside the playoff picture at No. 10 in the region. Both teams are sitting at 4-3.
Connor and Beaver Local head coach Mike McKenzie have been going against one another for a long time, going back to McKenzie's days at Edison.
Connor expects this year's Beavers to be very similar to the McKenzie led teams he's gone against in the past.
"Mike is a good man, you get into coaching, and you make a lot of friends, and me and Mike have been friends for a long time, since his days at Edison," Connor said. "The one thing I know when we play a Mike McKenzie team is it's going to be well coached, well-prepared team, the kids are going to play hard for him, so that's what we're going to look forward to on Friday night."
The teams have two common opponents this season as Creek has a win over Brooke but lost to East Liverpool and the Beavers have a win over the Potters but fell to the Bruins.
Beaver Local is averaging 24.7 points per game and allowing an average of 21.7.
They have dropped their last three-straight after a 4-0 start.
For Creek, Bruce Mazar and Ethan Starr lead the way.
Mazar rushed for 216 yards and four touchdowns, including breaking an 80-yard TD on the first play from scrimmage, last week against Harrison Central.
He now has 942 yards and 15 touchdowns on the season.
Starr rushed for 138 yards and three touchdowns and threw for another 148 yards and a TD against the Huskies.
"I think we've been doing some of the basic things well and it's led to the big things," Connor said. "We cut down our penalties last week, we stayed ahead of the chains. Our running and passing kind of complemented each other very well.
"We've been able to have a pretty good balance. I think Ethan's done a really good job of throwing the ball to different receivers. That was one of the big things we wanted, was to complement our running game with Bruce, and I think the last couple weeks we've been able to do that.
"Defensively, we've been able to stop big plays, and so we just want to continue that on Friday night."
Creek is scoring an average of 31.9 points per game and allowing an average of 29.9.
After the trip to Beaver Local Friday night, Creek has another big road game at St. Clairsville before hosting Edison in the annual Route 43 Bowl in Week 10. A win in all three would go a long way to locking up a return trip to the playoffs.
"We told our kids they have a chance to control their own destiny, but we also know we have to take care of business and Beaver Local has been a tough place to play over the years," Connor said. "These games have been real-close for the last decade or so that's what we expect again -- a battle."