Photo by Kristin Mazgaj Union Local’s Jaksan Price (4) fends off a St. Clairsville defender during the Red Devils’ thrilling 20-13 victory Friday night.

MORRISTOWN — Fifteen plays, 57 yards and almost seven minutes of game time. A drive that will be forever etched in the memories of both St. Clairsville and Union Local.

The Red Devils put together that march and finished it off with a 1-yard plunge by senior quarterback Andrew Vera to pull out a thrilling 20-13 victory against the Jets Friday night.

“Just a classic high school football game,” a relieved St. Clairsville head coach Brett McLean said. “Coaches, parents, fans and everyone who was here should be proud of both of these teams because they laid it on the line to win. It was a beautiful stage to play on at this point in the season.”

St. Clairsville (6-2) had just watched Union Local put together an impressive, 8-play drive of its own which was capped by senior quarterback Carter Blake scampering into the end zone from 8 yards out. He then added the PAT to make it a 13-12 game in favor of the hosts.

Undaunted and unfazed, the Red Devils, who trailed 6-0 at halftime, went to work.

Working behind an experienced and physical offensive line, the Red Devils’ game-winning drive consisted of 14 rushes and only one play — another run — of more than 7 yards and it was a 10-yard by Vera.

“I had all of the confidence in the world in our defense after we took the lead back,” a disappointed Bernie Thompson said. “We had all the trust in the world, but we just couldn’t get off the field in crucial situations. Kudos to St. Clairsville. This was a classic matchup of two great teams going head-to-head in a rivalry game and it’s a shame anyone had to lose.”

Vera, who threw a touchdown to Cole Thoburn to get St. C. on the board early in the third quarter, had his own number called on nine plays prior to the touchdown run.

He found Thoburn for 7 yards on a pass and senior tailback Jacob Walker, who scored St. C.’s other touchdown in the game, carried three times for 9 yards.

“I have to give all of the credit in the world to our offensive and defensive lines and the guys who coach them because at the end it came down to the guys up front and we were able to execute a drive,” McLean said. “We had our backs to the wall and we have some guys who are going to be sore (on Saturday). I am just so proud of how much moxie we showed.”

The Red Devils scored with 24 seconds to go and for good measure added the 2-point conversion when Vera found junior Marcus Bush just inside the pylon, making it a 7-point game.

“I give (Union Local) credit because they were keeping the ball from us by managing the clock from the first snap of this game,” McLean said. “I never dreamed we’d possess the ball that long. We actually got (to the 25 yard line) and looked at the clock and there was like a minute, 40 left and I am wondering where all the time went. Honestly, we were calling some plays to just try to set up a field goal, but then we got close enough where it was like, ‘let’s go for it.'”

The Jets still had hope, however, after the squib kick was returned to the 36 and they were the beneficiaries of a 15-yard penalty, which advanced the ball to St. C. territory.

The thing working against the Jets was the fact that had to operate without a time out and had only completed one pass for 14 yards prior to the final drive.

Blake found senior running back Jaksan Price in the flat for a 17 yard gain and he got out of bounds. They then ran the same play to the opposite side for 7 yards, but Price was tackled in bounds and the clock expired, setting off a celebration on the Red Devils’ sideline.

“I am so proud of our guys because they played really, really hard,” Thompson said. “We set ourselves up to win against a really good team. We’ll learn a lot from this game and we still have a lot of season left, but we’ll need to regroup and get ready for (Bellaire).

In the first half, a defensive battle broke out. Neither team accumulated 100 yards of offense and the only touchdown came when Blake scored from 2 yards out. His PAT was off the mark.

That scoring drive was set up when St. Clairsville botched a punt that saw junior punter Jacob Meager do all he could to get the punt off left footed, avoiding a massive loss. Unfortunately, Meager came up lame on the play and didn’t return, which affected St. Clairsville’s kicking game.

Union Local appeared to be ready to take control after Blake picked off a Vera pass. St. Clairsville’s defense stiffened and forced a punt. Blake was later picked off himself by Grant Swider.

St. Clairsville missed on a field goal try in the first half, too.

“We talked at halftime about the goals and the kids really believe,” McLean said. “Our coaching staff does a great job of making adjustments. We funneled down a lot of different ideas and did a great job of putting the kids in a position to make some plays.”

The Jets actually appeared to have answered Thoburn’s touchdown reception on their ensuing possession on a 17-yard touchdown run by Blake. However, a holding penalty nulified the touchdown. Union Local proceeded to go backward from there and punted from midfield.

“Having that touchdown called back was frustrating,” Thompson said. ”

The Red Devils took their first lead with one second to go in the third quarter on Walker’s touchdown.

Price, who is the leading rusher in the area by a significant margin, had another solid day with 146 yards on 22 carries. Blake added 44 on 12.

St. Clairsville received 86 yards on 16 carries from Walker. Vera rushed for 51 and threw for 128. He found Thoburn, who was also again impressive in the return game, four times for 55 yards.

St. Clairsville 20,

Union Local 13

St. Clairsville 0 0 12 8 – 20

Union Local 6 0 0 7 – 13

UL — Blake 2 run (kick failed).

StC — Thoburn 25 pass from Vera (kick blocked).

StC — Walker 13 run (kick failed).

UL — Blake 8 run (Blake kick).

StC — Vera 1 run (Bush pass from Vera).

RUSHING: St. Clairsville, 41-149-2td (Vera, 19-51-td; Walker, 16-86-td; Schoolcraft, 5-10; Thoburn, 1-2). Union Local, 35-195-2td (Price, 22-146; Blake, 12-44-2td; Tomolonis, 1-5).

PASSING: St. Clairsville, 7-16-128-1td-1x (all by Vera). Union Local, 3-6-38-1x (all by Blake).

RECEIVING: St. Clairsville, 7-128-td (Thoburn, 4-55-td; Walker, 2-29; Jozwiak, 1-44). Union Local, 3-38 (all by Price).

First Downs: St. Clairsville, 16; Union Local, 11.

Fumbles: St. Clairsville, 0-0; Union Local, 1-0.

Penalties: St. Clairsville, 5-35; Union Local, 5-30.