ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Through the first eight weeks of the season, the St. Clairsville football team has already experienced quite a bit of success and has built a laundry list of accomplishments.

The Red Devils are 8-0, have sewn up a playoff berth, appear to be headed toward an opening-round playoff game at Red Devil Stadium, are Buckeye 8 champions and own a commanding lead in the OVAC Class 4A title race.

St. Clairsville coach Brett McLean acknowledges all of that and is tickled pink with it, too. However, he also takes a little more in-depth look at things and knows there are still two more regular season games to go.

“We can’t get caught looking ahead or at any accomplishments we’ve already achieved,” McLean said. “We’ve done a really good job of taking it one game at a time all season and this wouldn’t be the time to deviate from that.”

On top of the team accomplishments, a win vaults McLean past the legendary George Strager as the all-time leader in victories at St. Clairsville with 135.

“I’ve honestly not given any though to that number,” McLean said. “Probably sometime this winter, if it happens, I’ll sit down and reflect a bit. But, really, the focus is all about getting another win.”

McLean is spot on because the Red Devils are venturing into hostile territory this weekend. Making their final road trip of the regular season, St. C. is preparing to take on a South Range club, which owns a deceiving 4-4 record, at 7 p.m. in Canfield on Friday.

“I honestly believe this is the toughest team we’ve played to date,” McLean said. “We can compare them to some teams we’ve seen. They’re a little bit like Creek, a little bit of Bellaire where they’re good up front and they play physical.”

South Range’s losses have come to New Middletown Springfield, Alliance Marlington, Garfield Heights and Louisville. Those teams are a combined 27-5.

This game completes a two-year home-and-home between the schools. South Range came to Belmont County last year and prevailed by a 46-28 score and went on to compete in the Division V state semifinals, losing to Pemberville Eastwood.

Several key pieces of the 2017 South Range squad collected their diplomas, but McLean has been impressed with what he’s seen from the new faces, too.

“They had a Division I quarterback and a manchild at running back (last year) and they’ve replaced them with kids who look the same,” McLean said.

Junior Isaac Allegretto has taken over at quarterback, while Trent Harrold is the chief option at tailback. The Raiders are a balanced club between run and pass. Allegretto spreads the ball around, too. Jacob Gehring and Trey Pancake are solid options.

St. Clairsville, meanwhile, has featured its ground game, but achieved more balance each of the last two weeks. However, the Red Devils may be forced to make additional offensive adjustments. The status of senior Justin Heatherington, who left early last Friday after sustaining a knee injury, remains unclear moving forward. He wears a lot of hats for the Devils as their second-leading rusher, second-leading receiver, defensive back, punter, kick returner and punt returner.

Though they’re liable to be without Heatherington for a stretch of time, St. Clairsville still has plenty of firepower. Senior Brady Kolb is the leading rusher with 1,087 yards on 170 carries. He’s scored 16 touchdowns. Aaron Jordan will take on a bigger role. He rushed for more than 100 yards in last week’s victory against Union Local.

Senior quarterback Dustin Carrothers has thrown the ball effectively the last couple of weeks. He’s completed 38 of 73 passes for 800 yards and eight touchdowns. His top target is rangy senior Craig Bober, who has 15 receptions for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns.