Photo by Kristin Mazgaj Linsly will cross the river to play St. Clairsville for the second year in a row Friday night. Before renewing the series last year, the teams had not played since 1982.

ST. CLAISRVILLE — A season ago, St. Clairsville and Linsly had about 30 hours notice that the two schools were going to renew their football series, which had been dormant since 1982.

Both schools found themselves in a state of flux last season after their scheduled opponents called off their respective games due to COVID-19 concerns. It only made sense to play each other, so the deal was struck quickly. The Red Devils went on to win, 35-14.

The two schools decided to continue the series again this season and they’ll clash at Red Devil Stadium Friday night at 7:30.

“We were very excited to play St. Clairsville, which is such a well-respected program, last year and the same can be said for this year,” Linsly head coach B.J. Depew said. “St. Clairsville is a great place to play a game, but a hard place to win a game. It’ll be a fun night for our whole school.”

The Cadets are coming off a hard-earned 28-14 victory against Youngstown Cardinal Mooney in their only true home game of the season.

“That (Mooney) game really showed our kids that even when we’re not playing our best or we’re down, we have the ability to play with a spark and catch fire,” Depew said of the game in which his team rallied in the second half. “We needed something to spark us and we got it on a fourth-down play in that game. We’d been a little inconsistent offensively dating back to the Fairmont Senior game, but that win over Mooney really does a lot for our confidence.”

Speaking of confidence, the Red Devils are riding a surge of confidence as well. St. Clairsville has won two straight since falling at Wheeling Park in week two. The Red Devils have toppled Columbus Independence and last week pulled away for a 54-18 win over Martins Ferry.

“We’re still trying to find out some things about ourselves,” St. Clairsville head coach Brett McLean said. “We’ve had an injury that’s changed us a little bit, but other guys are stepping in. It’s testing our depth and maturity early, but our kids are recognizing that they have to win a job every single week and then not just hold the job, but make plays when they’re on the field.”

The Cadets and Red Devils use slightly different approaches on offense. Linsly has been relying on its passing game with junior quarterback Atley Cowan, while the Red Devils have leaned more on the ground game with the likes of quarterback Andrew Vera and tailback Jacob Walker.

Cowan has thrown for 714 yards and 11 touchdowns thus season. He spreads the ball around to the likes of Nate Coleman, Jyliek Johnson, Collin Paul and Luca DiLorenzo. When the Cadets do run, Alex Taylor sees the bulk of the carries.

“Linsly has a very balanced attack and when we played them last year they were kind of (missing) a true quarterback and now with (Cowan) you can see how much diversity it’s created because DiLorenzo can play like three different positions,” McLean noted. “They have all kinds of speed, good back and the quarterback is a really good passer with tons of height on the outside (at receiver).”

The Red Devils, meanwhile, have developed quite the one-two ground punch with Vera and Walker. The former has rushed for 400 yards and six touchdowns, while averaging almost nine a carry. The latter averages almost seven a rush and has gained 350 yards and scored three touchdowns.

Though Vera has only averaged just over 10 pass attempts a game, the Red Devils have been effective. He’s thrown for 498 yards and six touchdowns.

“St. Clairsville has definitely shown a strong commitment to running the ball, but they also mix in a good bit of empty formation, too,” Depew said. “They really give you a lot to prepare for and while that’s a fun part of coaching, it’s also stressful, too.”

McLean believes the key for his team centers around being ready to play from the start.

“We have to show up ready to play, can’t afford to make mistakes and tackling in space will be the biggest keys for us,” McLean said. “We have to fend off blocks against their perimeter game and make tackles.”