photo by: Kim North

St. Clairsville’s Ollie Muhly (11) follows the blocking of Niko Jacob (20) and Wyatt Tipton (64) during Friday night’s Ohio Division V, Region 17 playoff encounter with Pymatuning Valley at Red Devil Stadium. Muhly ran for 100-plus yards and two touchdowns while catching a 17-yard TD strike in a 35-13 victory.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – St. Clairsville used a ball control offense and a suffocating defense in advancing in the Ohio Division V, Region 17 playoffs Friday night.

The No. 5 Red Devils (8-3) piled up 280 yards of offense and held visiting No. 12 Pymatuning Valley (7-4) to under 200 in a 35-13 victory on the artificial surface at chilly Red Devil Stadium. With the wire-to-wire win, St. Clairsville advances to the second round where it will visit No. 4 Garrettsfield Garfield (8-2) at JAG Stadium next Friday at 7 p.m.

“I thought we played well. We had a lot of kids step up tonight,” veteran St. Clairsville head coach Brett McLean said. “I can’t be more proud of the seniors as they got a playoff win at home. I hope we have a good week of practice and get ready to go on the road a long distance, so we’ve got to get our minds right for that.”

St. Clairsville quarterback Sam McLean overcame an early fumble to throw for three touchdowns in leading the offense.

McLean connected with Ollie Muhly from 17 yards; Jaxon Starks from 29 and Niko Jacob from 39 as he completed 11 of 15 attempts for 163 yards. He completed at least one pass to five different receivers, with Jacob (3-61) and Kaden Clifford (3-24) leading the way.

“Sam is doing an outstanding job,” Coach McLean said of his oldest son. “We had a fatherly talk after the fumble and he responded.”

Muhly also enjoyed a standout night in his last home game as he ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. He had TD runs of 2 and 3 yards.

On the Red Devils’ second offensive possession, they drove 74 yards on 12 plays, using just over 4 minutes as Muhly scored off the right side of the line behind the blocking of Colton Florence and Koleton Ferguson. Parker Galloway booted the first of his five PATs and it was 7-0 at the 6-minute mark.

Following another three-and-out by the defense, St. Clairsville marched 55 yards on 10 plays as McLean connected with Muhly on a perfect wheel route in the left corner of the end zone. McLean dropped the ball in a bucket as Muhly hauled it in.

After Muhly returned a punt 36 yards to set the Red Devils up, they drove 36 yards on six plays as Muhly reaped the benefits again – this time from 3 yards out over the left side behind Mason Wilt and Wyatt Tipton. Galloway made it 21-0 with 6:36 left in the half.

“I think the entire team kind of settled in after a slow start. When you need some plays, you have to make them. That’s what you have to do at this point of the season,” the coach continued.

The Lakers, aided by several St. Clairsville penalties, drove 78 yards on seven plays as Justin Britton found Sean Croston on a short pass to the left. Croston somehow eluded several would-be tacklers and rumbled into the end zone to complete a 10-yard scoring play and make it 21-7 at the half.

A couple of halftime adjustments led to a pair of McLean touchdown passes in the third quarter as the margin grew to 35-7. He teamed with Starks on a beautiful 29-yard strike and then found Jacob in the left flat before the tight end showed his speed in reaching the end zone to complete a 39-yard connection.

“We did some really good things there in the third quarter that we worked on during halftime,” the coach noted. “The stuff was new, so if they can pick up stuff like that on the fly, that’s good.”

Colton Florence and younger brother, Hudson, helped bottle the Lakers’ running attack up from their defensive end slots. They managed a meager 25 yards on 15 carries. Elijah Hill intercepted a pass and Dalton Neff recovered a fumble.

In addition to his five placements, Galloway, who was named the Eastern District Division IV Soccer Player of the Year earlier on Friday, had a touchback on a kickoff and bombed a 50-yard punt that pinned Pymatuning Valley deep in its own end.

“Parker has got a live leg. He’s a blessing to have,” Coach McLean said. “We’ve actually got three kickers on the team and they’re patiently waiting for their turns.

One area that St. Clairsville will have to clean up is penalties. It was flagged nine times for 80 yards.

“You can’t have those things,” Coach McLean said. “They will bite you.”

St. Clairsville is now 27-20 all-time in playoff action.