STEUBENVILLE - Before Big Red's season-opening game Thursday, coach Reno Saccoccia asked his team to play fast, physical and smart and in that particular sequence.

After the game, Saccoccia was wishing he would have chosen his words more carefully.

"I told our kids I wanted them to play fast, physical and smart and I told them to do it in that order," he said. "I guess I should have said to play fast, physical and smart all at the same time, because we didn't play too smart tonight."

Steubenville opened up 2009 with a 43-20 victory over Indian Creek at Harding Stadium.

That gave the veteran coach something to celebrate. But in the win, Big Red ended up with 121 penalty yards after being flagged 17 times. That gave Saccoccia something to criticize.

"Penalties are part of the game. They happen, but they happened too much tonight. And it's the personal fouls that upset me," Saccoccia continued. "Personal fouls are exactly what they are. They're personal. They're not for the team. When you're on the field everything has to be about the team, not yourself or letting your emotions get the best of you."

Aside from the penalty yards and a few first-game miscues, Saccoccia was pleased with the win - his team's 61st-straight in the regular season.

"Honest to God, I'm happy with the way everybody played. I was happy with Everything except the penalties. Dropped passes happen. Missed blocks happen," Saccoccia said. "I was happy with the effort our kids gave."

Big Red jumped on the Redskins early - as early as possible to be exact. On Steubenville's first play from scrimmage, junior Jesse Birden took a handoff and raced 73 yards for a score.

Four minutes later, Shaq Petteway scored on a 4-yard run.

The eight-play, 66-yard drive was highlighted by a 23-yard pass from quarterback Dwight Macon to Sage Cutri. Fullback LeShawn Luke also broke lose for a 9-yard run on the possession.

Birden would strike for the second time in the opening quarter when he returned an interception 11 yards for a touchdown.

Anthony Pierro split the uprights on all three PATs. He would do the same on the next two.

On Steubenville's fourth possession, Big Red tried and failed to convert a fourth-and-4 on its own 43, giving the Redskins excellent field position which they capitalized on at 8:32 of the second quarter.

Indian Creek's nine-play scoring drive began with a 20-yard pass play from quarterback Adam Young to Gavin Smith. Runs of 3, 4, and 1 yards followed and the Redskins found themselves in a fourth-and-short situation.

Like Big Red, they went for it. Unlike Big Red, they got it.

Young hit Doren Thomas with a quick slant. Big Red defensive back Jordon Meyer dropped Thomas immediately, but after a measurement, Indian Creek was awarded the first down at the 13.

Thomas picked up 3 more yards and an unsportsmanlike call against Big Red moved the ball half the distance to the 5. Thomas finished the drive runs of 4 and 1. The kick after was blocked.

Not bad for a team who found itself down a quick 21-0.

"We have a 10-game schedule and we want to play every game hard and we want to play every game to the best of our ability. I think we did that tonight and I'm proud of the kids for it," Indian Creek coach Andrew Connor said. "We just want to play hard, play physical and play to the whistle. I thought we did that in the second half and it is something that we can continue to build upon."

The Redskins entered the second half down, 35-6. Big Red had scored two more touchdowns before the bands took the field. Cutri hauled down an 11-yard TD pass from Macon at 3:55 in the second quarter. Pierro caught a scoring reception with 25 seconds left in the half.

The next two touchdowns, however, would belong to the Redskins. Young, facing fourth-and-4, found Smith in the end zone on a 33-yard pass with 2:50 remaining in the third.

A Big Red fumble, recovered by Indian Creek freshman Shane Winland on the Big Red 45, set up the Redskins' second score. Ty Yocum eventually capped off the drive with a 1-yard run with 6:29 left in the game.

Brandon Mathieu came through on both extra-point kicks.

Steubenville would wrap up the scoring when Alvin Taylor broke lose on a 45-yard scoring run with 3:20 on the clock and Marcus Prather ran in for two.

Taylor finished with 48 yards on the ground and Lucas McClurg ran for 67. Birden was the game's big rusher. He registered 127 yards on six carries. As a team, Steubenville racked up 300 yards on the ground.

Macon finished 5-of-11 for 110 yards. Pierro led with 76 yards receiving.

Indian Creek was led by Young who was 7-of-15 for 117 yards. Backup David Kemp added 29 more passing yards. Smith paced Creek's wideouts with 53 yards. The Redskins finished with 112 yards rushing. Mark Ludewig had a team-high 39 yards on the ground.

Big Red next plays Woodland Hills in the Wheeling Hospital Rally in the Valley. The game will be played at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 5 at Wheeling Island Stadium.

"We have to play smarter than we did tonight next week," Saccoccia said. "We have to play as fast, as physical and as smart as we can every down and every snap."

Indian Creek returns to the field Sept. 4 opposite Cleveland John Hay at Kettlewell Stadium.

WINTERSVILLE - Indian Creek football coach Andrew Connor said he was rather pleased with the week of practice coming off the loss to Steubenville and it didn't take long for his Redskins to prove their coach correct.

Junior Niko Otto hauled in a 52-yard scoring strike from Adam Young on Creek's second play from scrimmage and went on to pitch a shutout over Cleveland John Hay, 23-0, Friday night at Kettlewell Stadium.

"I couldn't ask for anything better," said Connor. "To score that quickly and get out in front that way is an emotional boost for your team.

"Our kids concentrated all week in practice and their spirits were well after the opening game. I thought the kids were determined to have a good week of practice and they bounced back and practiced that way.

"They came out tonight and were focused. They wanted to get back on the field. They were happy to get back on the field and showed it by the way they started the game."

The Redskins did not stop there.

Doren Thomas scored on a 47-yard run and Justin Wilson hauled in a 25-yard scoring pass from Young for a 23-0 advantage late in the second quarter.

"Then we get an interception with four seconds to go, run the field goal unit out there and Brandon Mathieu makes it from 38 yards out," said Connor. "In that change of possession it was great to see we were organized enough to get the kids out there in the right frame of mind. All three phases were good tonight - offense, defense and special teams.

"Michael Wayt made the interception, but somehow Niko came away with it."

Connor said it is great having a weapon like Mathieu.

"He is a three year kicker for us," he said. "Anything inside 45 yards we can give it a shot."

The defense then held on for a shutout.

"John Hay has speed and they were disciplined," said Connor. "So, getting a shutout is a big deal. When the younger kids went in they held the shutout as well."

WINTERSVILLE - Not that everything is perfect in the Indian Creek football camp, but it sure is better.

"I think we have great senior leadership," said Redskins coach Andrew Connor. "I think the kids have bought in to what we're doing. Each kids every week to get a little bit better and I think as long as you're doing that, you'll improve as a team."

Indian Creek made a fourth-and-goal defensive stop at the end of the first half, then caused a turnover to begin the second half and turned a 13-0 lead into a 32-6 victory over Oak Glen at Kettlewell Stadium Friday.

"That stop was big," said Connor. "It changes the whole halftime. We went in with a two-score lead instead of a one-score lead. I thought our kids did a great job standing up there.

"Oak Glen is a very good football team and we didn't want them to get any life right before half. We knew they would keep playing hard all the way to the end and they did. They kept playing hard, kept coming after us and our defense was able to make big plays for us."

"I think we played very poorly tonight and actually coached poorly," said Golden Bears coach Tony Filberto. "I don't think we were prepared for some things.

"We didn't play very well. We moved the ball at times. We had trouble in the red zone, which we've had trouble with a few times so far this year.

"When you have trouble in the red zone, it's probably a coaching thing. It's something we'll be doing a little better at.

"We moved the ball well, we just didn't put points on the board and that has to be a coaching thing. We have to coach a little bit better."

Oak Glen scored in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard slant pass from Seth Barnhart to Tyler Reed, who finished the evening with three catches for 74 yards.

That made it 25-6.

Indian Creek scored first on an 8-yard pass from Adam Young to Dalton Anderson. Doren Thomas found paydirt from the 4 to make it 13-0 before the late-half defensive stand.

The Redskins' Niko Otto sacked Barnhart from his blind side on Oak Glen's first possession of the third quarter and made the senior cough up the ball.

Indian Creek took advantage and scored on Michael Wayt's 40-yard run on a reverse.

The Redskins later made it 25-0 on an 8-yard pass from Young to Gavin Smith.

As good as everything was, Connor said a couple of things stood out - one on the negative side.

"The one thing I'm not real happy about tonight is that we had too many penalties," said Connor. "We have to cut back on our penalties. That's something we hadn't been doing the first two games. We had a lot of penalties tonight."

The Redskins totaled 99 yards on 11 flags.

"We have to be sound on what we're trying to do," said Connor. "We have to know the down-and-distance.

"Other than that I thought our kids played hard. They cheered for each other. Each guy picks up another guy. I am very, very happy for our kids and our coaches."

On the positive, Young finished the evening with a school record 278 passing yards. It eclipsed the old mark of 222 yards set by Mike Pickford in 1999. Young was 18-for-22 and found eight receivers.

Connor smiled when he heard those numbers.

"Our offense has been a big-play offense so far and we made some big plays and made some big first downs," he said. "As long as we can keep that balance on offense, it makes things a lot better for us."

Barnhart was 15-for-25 for 160 yards, two interceptions and the score. Chance Rowland accounted for 84 yards on 16 carries. Shane Koper had four catches for 42 yards.

Thomas finished with 92 yards on 20 carries and the two scores. Wayt caught four balls for 63 yards, Anderson four for 92 and a score and Smith three for 44 and a touchdown.

"We need to take advantage of our opportunities when we have them," said Filberto.

MORRISTOWN - No one needed to remind or inform Indian Creek's coaches or players who their opponent was this week.

The last two times the Redskins met Union Local the results were quite unkind to the Redskins.

The Jets had won the last two meetings by scores of 39-15 in 2007 and last year scored 33 unanswered in the 33-21 victory at Kettlewell Memorial Stadium.

For 365 days we had to live with that loss last year, an elated Andrew Connor said. That loss snowballed into a season, which got away from us and the kids had this date circled and this is the game we wanted to prove that we were back.

The point is proven.

Indian Creek proved to be the ultimate party crashers at the Union Local 50th birthday celebration, sneaking back to Jefferson County with a cherished 34-32 win after a 24-yard Brandon Mathieu field goal snuck inside the right upright.

For a team to never quit like we did tonight just says so much about these kids, Connor continued. Our defense came up with a big stop; the offense moved us into field goal range and our special teams converted. Just a total team effort in all three phases of the game.

While the Redskins players celebrated wildly on the Union Local field, the Jets were left with the same feeling they were on the opposite side of a week ago after they rallied for what appeared to be an improbable win at St. Clairsville.

Indian Creek made the big play when we needed to and played outstanding, said an exasperated UL head coach Mark Cisar. Tight games come down to one or two plays and (Creek) made those plays. I can't fault my players efforts because I thought we played great, but (Creek) won the game and deserve all of the credit.

For the second consecutive week it appeared as if the Jets were going to escape with another Buckeye 8 verdict and improve to 4-0 on the season.

The Jets (3-1) took the ball after forcing a three-and-out with 3:50 to go in the contest. Three straight completions from junior Kyle Copeland to Bernie Thompson covered 12, 34 and 14 yards the final coming for six points to make it 32-31. The Jets - who opted to try nary a conventional PAT kick - failed to convert the two-point play with 2:57 to go.

We definitely need to find a field goal kicker, Cisar said. We made a decision during the week that we were going to go for two-point conversions this week and we had some chances, but it came back to haunt us again.

Indian Creek put together a drive, moving the chains twice, but junior quarterback Adam Young was picked off by Union Local's Luke Tacosik deep in Jets' territory.

With just 1:42 to go and Creek (3-1) holding a pair of timeouts, the Jets went to the seldom-used ground game.

Copeland rushed for 3 yards and following one of the timeouts, Darby Waller failed to gain a yard. Creek spent its final timeout and on the ensuing play, Waller lost two yards, but most importantly he was forced out of bounds, in essence giving the Redskins a free timeout.

You can always second guess yourself, Cisar said. If we execute the play maybe we put the game away, but we didn't. It was a bad play call on my part, and I'll take the blame on that. If we run the ball up the middle, we run at least 25 more seconds off the clock and then punt the ball away, but we didn't.

The Redskins took over on their own 46 with 69 seconds showing.

Executing the two-minute drill like a seasoned veteran, Young directed the Redskins right down the field. He found senior Tyler Wolpert - who had caught a 70 yard touchdown earlier in the fourth quarter - for 15 yards and a first down. He then found senior running back Cullen DeSantis across the middle for 20 yards and another first down.

After spiking the ball, Young ran, but got out of bounds. He then found hard-nosed junior Niko Otto for 10 yards and a first down at the Jets' 12.

Adam has a calm and cool about him that you either have or don't have, Connor noted. Our offensive line has made the switch to pass blocking and our receivers run good routes and catch the ball.

Another spike was followed by a 5-yard pickup to the Jets' 7 and again Young was able to get out of bounds to stop the clock with 8.7 seconds showing.

Connor called upon Mathieu without hesitation despite watching two earlier PAT kicks get blocked.

Cisar called a timeout to ice the kicker, but when play resumed Mathieu - who was playing with a bad back from a soccer game earlier in the week - converted the aforementioned field goal.

Our offense did everything we had to on the last drive, Connor said. Brandon came out and drilled one. He's just like everyone else on this football team, when called upon they respond. He really sucked it up tonight.

Young was an effective 16-of-31 for 228 yards through the air. He threw two scores to Wolpert.

Indian Creek received a brilliant game in spot duty from DeSantis who stepped in for senior tailback Doren Thomas who was knicked up earlier in the week and couldn't go. All DeSantis did was run 23 times for 199 yards and post three scores, covering 9, 15 and 75 yards.

All told, the Redskins finished with 437 yards of total offense.

Union Local, meanwhile, received another gutsy effort from Copeland who didnt have Brandon Nicholes at his disposal due to injury. He complated 22-of-42 passes for 310 yards, two scores and a like number of picks.

Senior Darby Waller caught 10 balls for 144 yards and a score. Thompson made nine receptions for 112. David Fisher caught two passes for 43 yards.

Both teams remain in Buckeye 8 play next week. Martins Ferry and Union Local will match 3-1 records, while Indian Creek hosts unblemished Buckeye Local.

WINTERSVILLE - All those people who were feeling sorry for the Indian Creek gridders after last season can quit feeling sorry for the Redskins now and start feeling sorry for their opponents.

Racking up over 250 total yards of offense in the first half and getting some key defensive stops in each quarter, Indian Creek pulled off a big win with a hard-fought 23-20 decision over previously-unbeaten Buckeye Local at Kettlewell Stadium Friday night.

Coming off a last-second win over another unbeaten (Union Local) last week, coach Andrew Conner's Redskins notched their fourth win of the season and boosted their mark to 4-1.

Creek also pushed its all-time mark to 9-7 over the Panthers and grabbed the lead in the tough Buckeye 8 race. Conner's crew gets no conference rest as they travel to St. Clairsville Friday to face the Red Devils.

Coach Ron Pobolish's seasoned Panthers suffered their first loss of the season after opening the campaign with four wins. Buckeye, who travels to Moundsville Friday to face John Marshall, rallied from 22 points last week at Oak Glen before winning, 34-28, but the magic ran out this week.

Indian Creek had built a 23-6 lead in the first half with its high-powered offense, but needed every bit of its defense to stop the Panthers in the second half.

Fumbles on back-to-back Panthers possessions were costly setbacks as the second half opened. Mike Furda and Matt Cowser grabbed the loose balls for the hosts with the second coming at the Buckeye 23.

Creek picked up 2 yards in the air on a Adam Young to Cullen DeSantis pass, 8 yards on a run by Justin Wilson and 12 by DeSantis to push the winners to the Panther 1. A Creek fumble was recovered in the end zone and Buckeye was able to set in motion a scoring drive from the 20.

With sophomore Josten Dear and seniors Brandon Bartrug and Bobby Spence carrying the load, the Panthers were able to piece together a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive that was capped off by Dear's 7-yard run with 1:35 on the third quarter clock.

On the first play in the final frame, Buckeye Local QB/defensive end Joe Rine picked up a Redskin fumble and carried it 30 yards to the 10. Three plays later, Bartrug scored from the 3 with 10:33 on the clock. Spence converted the two-pointer to pull to within 23-20.

As bad luck would have it, Creek's Young was injured on the fumble and would not return. In his place sophomore David Kemp performed like a veteran, converting on a key 21-yard pass to DeSantis down the stretch and working an offense that failed to score yet burned a lot of clock.

In the end, it was the Creek defense that came through with Bryan Rupert and Tyler Wolpert stepping up in the secondary to thwart the Panther attack. Buckeye did have one last ditch effort that fell short. With a four tries from the Creek 19, the Panthers were unable to convert four straight passes in the final seconds.

"In the second half, it was one side picking up the other side, but we still moved the ball real well," a relieved Connor said afterwards. "We knew Buckeye was going to make a run at us. They are a very good football team and they made their run. We saw it happen last week."

"They played big," the Creek mentor added. "Each kid did what they had to do. We had good pass rush, the secondary played well."

Conner pointed out that back-up QB David Kemp played well in relief of starter Adam Young.

"He stepped up, completed a big pass for us, he ran the clock well, just what we ask our kids to do," he pointed out. "When you try to build your program back up again, you need your backups to step up to do the job."

"We didnt want to overdo it (with Doren Thomas). He just got cleared this week and we didn't want to kill him out there, " Connor said about Thomas' limited playing time. "When he gets back we will have a dynamic duo with him and Cullen (DeSantis) in there."

"Our kids made big plays and that's what you ask them to do. Buckeye is a very good team and it's a shame somebody has to lose, but we were able to make one more big play," Conner said.

In the opening frame, Creek got on the board quick passing and running to convert a 93-yard drive into a 9-yard scoring run by Niko Otto with 9:51 left in the first. Brandon Mathieu converted on his first of three PATs.

Creek's defensive continued to keep the Panthers offense bottled up while keeping their offense on the field.

Early in the second frame, Indian Creek added a second score as Young threw a pass over the middle to Jordan Spence for the score with 10:38 left in the second. The score was set up by a pass interception by Michael Wayt.

Buckeye bounced back with score minutes later as Bobby Spence ran 38 yards with 8:14 on the board to cut the mark to 14-6.

Creek added two more points with 4:49 left in the half as Mike Furda sacked Rine in the end zone for a safety.

With the ensuing kickoff, the Redskins put together an impressive 55-yard drive that culminated in an five yard scoring run by DeSantis with 2:41 on the board.

"We had a terrible first half, but once again we showed we have fight," a Pobolish said . "That was a lot to overcome. We didn't give up. We gave it a shot at the end.

"Josten Dear ran really hard down the stretch and the kids played very hard down the stretch. But the first half we had a terrible half. They beat us off the ball and we didnt look like we knew what we were doing.

"We just can't keep fighting back all the time. We had a lot of missed tackles. We had a lot of mental mistakes. I'll have to check the film, but I didn't think we filled the gaps defensively like we should. They had a lot of room to run a lot of times. We seemed to bury our heads and they got the extra yards."

ST. CLAIRSVILLE - Indian Creek and St. Clairsville authored the latest chapter in the Buckeye 8 Friday night at the Belmont County's soggy Fairgrounds.

Not that Andrew Connor's Redskins ever appeared capable of making it happen.

Ignited by a game-opening 69-yard scoring bomb, St. Clairsville skyrocketed to an early lead. The Red Devils eventually threatened to win going away, mounting a 21-0 lead.

But Creek gamely fought back, using an incredible game-tying drive engineered by a back-up sophomore quarterback.

Involved in a 21-21 lockup with 69 ticks to play, St. Clairsville coach Brett McLean ordered an attack mode from his own 31-yard line.

"With our spread offense and the fact we had successfully executed some plays, I had confidence in the kids," McLean said.

Junior quarterback Zac Kinnick directed the Devils on an eight-play drive which reached Creek's 6-yard line with nine seconds to play.

Senior Logan Cook's ensuing 23-yard field goal pulled out a 24-21 victory.

"No kid deserves it more than Logan. You couldn't count the hours he's devoted to kicking," McLean gleamed. "I gave him a high-five. You could tell by the look in his eye Logan was going to nail it.

"I just wanted to be in the right mental frame of mind but keep my adrenaline going," said Cook.

Cook's game-winner broke the hearts of Connor and the 'Skins who managed to get off the deck and recover from a terrible start.

"We challenged them a little at halftime," Connor confirmed. "(Put our poor start) on the coach if you want, but our kids showed great character - the same kind that has made them winners this season."

The teams came out of the Week 6 scrap with identical 4-2 report cards.

"That's one thing about this Buckeye 8 - no breathers," McLean related.

Kinnick went deep to savvy freshman Dan Monterosso on the game's first play, a play covering some 69 yards.

A Tavin Stevenson interception early in the second quarter jump-started the hosts on a 69-yard march which Kinnick capped on a 1-yard sneak.

Another three-and-out by Creek soon had the Jefferson County crew staring at a 21-0 deficit when Stevenson crashed over from the 1.

Connor's club, however, would show signs of life. Led by junior quarterback Adam Young, whose four completions were good for 44 yards, the Redskins made it 21-7 when senior Justin Wilson blasted home from the 3.

Senior Brandon Mathieu was good on the first of three PATs.

A scoreless third quarter set up a frenetic comeback. Young and senior Dalton Anderson teamed on a 30-yard scoring hookup with 6:11 to play.

Redkins sophomore David Kemp came in for Young and delivered one clutch completion after another.

Kemp's 12-yard slant to Michael Wayt and Mathieu's ensuing extra point had the Redskins 1:09 from potential overtime before the Red Devils responded.

A 41-yard connection from Kinnik to senior Seth Callarik proved a killer for Creek. The same duo struck again for 13 more yards just ahead of Cook's game-winner with the clock at 0:04

WINTERSVILLE - The Indian Creek Redskins have changed their offensive approach this season and have become more of a passing team.

The Martins Ferry Purple Riders' defensive approach hasn't changed at all.

And that proved to pay dividends Saturday evening at Kettlewell Memorial Stadium.

The Purple Riders had a pair of 'pick-sixes' in the first half in building a 21-0 upperhand and never looked back en route to a 27-0 victory.

"We probably played our best game to date against the best team we've played to date," said Martins Ferry head coach Dave Bruney who watched his team improve to 6-1 entering this week's showdown with St. Clairsville at the former Belmont County Fairgrounds. "This is a tough place to play and Indian Creek is a much-improved team and we feel fortunate to get this win."

In the first half, the Purple Riders' defense bent, but didn't break.

The Redskins had something going midway through the second quarter when they drove into Riders' territory, but senior defensive back Marco Ricchetti stepped in front of an Adam Young aerial and went 37 yards the other way.

That same combination hooked up again and again it spelled disaster for the Redskins.

After marching down the field, Young's pass was picked off 2 yards deep in the end zone by Ricchetti who weaved his way through traffic all the way back for six more points. Richie Padyjasek was again perfect on a PAT kick, making it 21-0.

"That was a huge play obviously," said Indian Creek head coach Andrew Connor. "If we can punch it in there and make it 14-7, it's obviously a different ball game, but those are the breaks and give Ferry credit for making that kind of play."

Creek advanced the ball to the Riders' 7 yard line before the interception, which was the Redskins' deepest penetration of the contest.

On yet another lengthy, 13-play drive, the Purple Riders cashed in thanks to the legs of Ricchetti.

Facing a fourth-and-goal at the 2-yard line, Ricchetti bought himself some time criss-crossing the field before finding an open lane for the final score.

The Purple Riders' offense put together a typical drive to begin the contest, marching 80 yards in 14 plays before rugged senior fullback Pat Allen went into the end zone from 13-yards out on the initial possession of the contest.

Martins Ferry's defensive line put constant pressure on Young, who finished 5-of-15 for 53 yards and the two interceptions.

The Purple Riders' defense was led by Dalton Leach and Bobby Dayton who each had a pair of sacks. Jordan Burress was also a standout defensively.

"I really feel that our defensive line with Jordan and Dalton was the difference," Bruney explained. "Those guys caused so much havoc."

The Redskins accumulated 147 yards of offense. Cullen DeSantis led the Redskins on the ground with 13 rushes for 49 yards.

"I feel really bad for our seniors at this point," Connor said. "Those kids have done everything we've asked of them and helped turn this program around. Hopefully, we can finish the season strong."

The Martins Ferry offense churned out 297 yards of offense and 242 of those came on the ground. Allen finished with 92 yards on 17 rushes. Senior Devon Parson added nine totes for 50 yards.

"I felt our backs ran as hard as they have all season tonight," Bruney said.

Ricchetti was just 5-of-15 through the air for 55 yards. Cody McGee caught two passes.

Martins Ferry led 22-8 in first downs and overcame six penalties for 50 yards. Indian Creek had 15 yards marched off on one flag.

CADIZ - Harrison Central's goal entering the 2009 season was the same as most football teams across the Buckeye State, to make the playoffs and see what happens after that.

If Justin Kropka's Huskies (6-2) continue to play like they did in a workman-like 42-13 pounding of visiting Indian Creek Friday night in Cadiz, they will get that chance.

Harrison Central entered the contest six spots behind the No. 7 Redskins (4-4) in Division III, Region 11. Steubenville leads the field, while Buckeye Local was third.

"We've been getting better each week," Kropka said. "We had a really good practice this week, and usually our practices dictate how we play Friday night.

"The kids came out focused tonight. We try to focus one game at a time, but we do have goals," he continued. "One of them is to make the playoffs for the first time in school history, but we've got to continue to work hard."

Working hard in the off season has definitely helped Harrison Central's Ben Palmer. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound speedster ran for 215 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 25 carries, while also snagging a Kyle Blanchard screen pass and taking it 21 yards to paydirt.

"Ben is Ben," Kropka said with a smile. "I don't know what else you can say. He really worked hard over the summer and it is paying off."

Palmer, who missed the Huskies' opener, eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark last night with his 200-plus effort. He now has 1,037 yards on the season.

The hosts totalled 344 yards of offense to 193. They had 17 first downs to nine and ran for 294 stripes to a mere 47 (minus 2 in the second half).

"Our offensive and defensive lines really played well," Kropka offered. "They've worked hard, but they've had to wait their turns behind some pretty good linemen. Now it's their time to shine and they did tonight."

Indian Creek head coach Andrew Connor concurred.

"Harrison Central is a big, physical team," he said. "They are a very good football team, but we didn't play very well on either side of the ball. We didn't do a very good job of coaching either."

Paving the way for Palmer were center Jesse Friend, guards Jacob Howes and Cody Kaiser, and tackles Jake Mallernee and John Eckroth.

After Kaiser and Howes put the clamps on Indian Creek's Doren Thomas on a fourth-and-2 deep in Harrison Central territory, Palmer was stopped for no gain on the first down. However, on the next play, he took a handoff and headed off right tackle, cut back to his left and took off up the middle of the field. He split a pair of Redskins at the Indian Creek 40 and outran everyone as the hosts took a 6-0 lead. Versatile Alex Brooks scampered around right end for the 2-point conversion.

Indian Creek came right back as it drove 49 yards on seven plays to make it 8-7. Quarterback Adam Young found Thomas for a 25-yard strike over the middle, but Thomas was hit and coughed up the football. However, teammate Tyler Wolpert scooped up the ball and walked into the end zone. Brandon Mathieu's PAT was good.

Not to be outdone, Harrison Central promptly marched the ball 63 yards on eight plays after the kickoff. Palmer carried four times for 44 yards, including a 22-yard jaunt up the middle that flipped into the air and brough him down at the 1. Blanchard sneaked in on the next play.

Brooks, lined up in the Wildcat, took the snap on the 2-point conversion and started up the middle. He abruptly stopped and jump-passed to a wide-open Jared Davenport for a 16-7 lead with 8:35 left in the first half.

Indian Creek's next possession stalled near midfield and the Redskins lined up to punt. Instead of regular punter, Mathieu, Michael Wayt dropped back and took the snap. He rolled to his right and lofted the ball downfield where it was knocked away by the athletic Davenport.

It took the Huskies seven plays to go 55 yards as Blanchard and Brooks hooked up for 22 yards, but after another first down, the drive seemed to bog down as the hosts were facing a fourth-and-9 from the Creek 21.

Blanchard rolled to his right, stopped and lofted the ball back to Palmer who had a convoy of blockers in front of him. Not waiting for them to pick up a Redskins defender, he weaved his way through traffic and into the end zone. Brooks once again ran for the 2 points and the lead had ballooned to 24-7.

Palmer completed his evening with a 30-yard sprint for another touchdown, while sophomore Austin Schurr finally got a touchdown when he rambled 42 yards after picking up an Indian Creek fumble late in the fourth quarter. Jake Emery chipped in with a 3-yard scoring run.

It appeared as though Schurr had scored earlier in the third quarter when he went over top of a Redskin receiver to pickoff a pass. He returned it for a touchdown, but it was negated due to a pass interference call.

Indian Creek sandwiched a 48-yard scoring strike from Young to Thomas in between Harrison Central's final touchdowns.

Kaiser spear-headed the defensive effort with an interception and fumble recovery to go along with double-digit tackles.