Red Devils Down Purple Riders | News, Sports, Jobs – Wheeling Intelligencer
Photo by Joe Lovell
St. Clairsville quarterback Andrew Vera runs past Martins Ferry defenders during Friday’s 54-18 win.
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE — What looked to be a one-sided affair early on turned into a back-and-forth battle in the first half of Friday’s game between St. Clairsville and Martins Ferry inside Red Devil Stadium.
After the Red Devils stormed out to a 14-0 lead, the Purple Riders displayed heart and cut the deficit to 20-18 at one point in the second quarter.
However, the talent and strength of St. Clairsville could not be contained in the second half as the Red Devils reeled off the last 34 points of the game to secure a 54-18 triumph.
“Things didn’t go so well for us in the first half on either side of the ball,” St. Clairsville coach Brett McLean said. “In the second half, though, we were a totally different team. Now, our schedule keeps on rolling and it sounds like coach speak but I’m already thinking about what we have to do to get ready for our next game.”
Despite the loss, Ferry coach Justin Kropka loved the grit his squad showed after falling behind by two scores early in the contest.
“I’m telling you, this team continues to impress me with just their guts,” Kropka said. “We just ran out of guys. We went toe-to-toe with them for three quarters but they just have more guys than we do. Coach McLean has a great program and they’ve built that depth throughout the years. They were bigger and stronger than us and we knew we’d have to take some chances but the absolute guts our kids showed — that’s the kind of thing that is going to build championships for us down the road. Eventually we’ll have as many bullets in the gun as St. Clairsville but we just didn’t have them (Friday). I couldn’t be more proud of our guys and it starts with the seniors. They represented their program and their school very well.”
It took the Red Devils five plays and 1:54 to put the first points on the board, which came on a Jacob Walker 9-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 edge.
After Ferry was forced to punt, Cole Thoburn showed off the wheels as he raced past the opposition for a 53-yard punt return for a touchdown just 4:08 into the action, giving the Red Devils a 14-0 upper hand.
“It takes a lot of guts and bravery to stand back there and field punts,” McLean said. “People who have never done it have no idea. Cole did a fantastic job of it and he’d be the first to say that there were a lot of intelligent blocks in front of him. Jaiden Zebbs made a block with his hands up in the air because he knew it had to be a legal block.”
That’s when the Riders could have hung their heads — but they didn’t.
Instead, quarterback Ayden Ludolph completed three passes on the next drive that covered 77 yards and culminated in a 36-yard TD toss to Landyn Hores.
Ferry really climbed back into the game when Baron Lucey intercepted a pass at St. Clairsville’s own 24-yard line to give his offense a short field.
It took advantage.
This time Ludolph found Hores from 21 yards out to cut the deficit to 14-12.
The highlights continued on St. C’s next possession as QB Andrew Vara perfected the read option keeper and raced 28 yards to paydirt to create a 20-12 cushion.
The Riders really showed guts on their ensuing march as they converted on a third-and-1 and a pair of fourth downs, including a fourth-and-8 where Hores caught his third touchdown pass of the first half from Ludolph from 13 yards out, cutting the margin to 20-18 with 8:55 remaining in the first half.
“I tell Landyn not to be surprised if in some games he gets double covered and doesn’t have many catches,” Kropka said. “But I tell him there will be other games like this. He never complains when he doesn’t get the ball though. We have a lot of high character kids and it’s funny how that shines through when you’re getting beat and facing adversity.”
While the Riders showed fire, it was the Devils who rattled off the final 34 points of the game.
Walker scampered for a 31-yard TD run and Vera found Zebbs for a 25-yard touchdown on fourth-and-4 from 25 yards out with 1:42 remaining in the half to give St. Clairsville momentum and a 34-18 advantage at the break.
“That was a hair from going the other direction,” McLean said. “It just fell in our favor but I’ve been on the other end of that when the ball goes through our defensive back’s hands. Zebbs did a great job to stay focused on the ball and get into the end zone.”
It was all St. C in the second half as Zebbs added a 1-yard TD plunge to his stat sheet and Thoburn added another strong punt return that led to him hauling in an 18-yard TD toss from Vera for a 48-18 cushion.
Brady Schafer entered the game at quarterback for St. Clairsville in the fourth and scored his first career touchdown on a QB keeper from a yard out to cap the scoring.
Ludolph paced the Riders with 153 yards on 8 of 14 passing, while Hores racked up 70 yards on three catches (all touchdowns). Ludolph also paced the rushing attack with 65 yards on 19 carries.
Vera paced St. Clairsville with 157 yards rushing on six carries and 77 yards on 5 of 6 passing.
Walker was also strong in the running game with 107 yards on 11 touches.
“We had superb line play. I’m really excited about our line,” McLean said. “Andrew was a spark plug and had a couple of long runs. He is a quick learner and made us sharp in things I didn’t know we’d be this sharp at right away. Jacob Walker is a phenomenal kid who waited his turn to be our tailback and he’s done great work for us. Don Giffen is our offensive coordinator and he did a great job. Our O-line coach (Kevin) Sacco recognized some things we could take advantage of and Coach (Eric) Gay is always on the sidelines sending stuff in. I was excited from what I saw from our young guys too. Coach Kropka and I mutually agreed to get them all out there and play and that was huge experience for both teams.”
St. Clairsville 54, Martins Ferry 18
MF 12 6 0 0 — 18
StC 20 14 14 6 — 54
S — Walker 9 run (Meager kick), 10:06
S — Thoburn 53 punt return (Meager kick), 7:52
M — Hores 36 pass from Ludolph (pass failed), 6:38
M — Hores 21 pass from Ludolph (run failed), 4:37
S — Vera 28 run (kick failed), 3:01
M — Hores 13 pass from Ludolph (pass failed), 8:55
S — Walker 31 run (Meager kick), 6:23
S — Zebbs 25 pass from Vera (Meager kick), 1:42
S — Zebbs 1 run (Meager kick), 7:31
S — Thoburn 18 pass from Vera (Meager kick), 4:45
S — Schafer 1 run (kick failed), 9:45
Rushing: Martins Ferry 39-106 (Ludolph 19-65, Williams 2-0, Hulsey 3-(-1), Karte 1-47, Turner 5-0, Shane 5-0, Mahoney 1-(-3), Team 3-(-2)). St. Clairsville 30-344-5TD (Zebbs 4-13-td, Walker 11-107-2td, Vera 6-157-td, Schoolcraft 2-10, Thoburn 1-0, Wood 2-27, Schafer 3-32-td, Muhly 1-(-2)).
Passing: Martins Ferry 8-15-133-3td-x (Ludolph 8-14-133-3td-x, Shane 0-1-0). St. Clairsville 5-6-77-2td-x (all by Vera).
Receiving: Martins Ferry 8-133-3td (Hores 3-70-3td, Ward 1-32, Fox 1-9, Probst 2-18, Reese 1-24). St. Clairsville 5-77-2td (Westlake 1-30, Walker 1-8, Jozwiak 1-(-4), Zebbs 1-25-td, Thoburn 1-18-td).
First Downs: Martins Ferry 12. St. Clairsville 19.
Penalties-Yards: Martins Ferry 2-17. St. Clairsville 3-45.
Fumbles-Lost: Martins Ferry 3-1. St. Clairsville 1-1.