Barnesville Will Make Home Debut On Senior Night As Bellaire Visits
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BARNESVILLE - After a pair of road victories to start the 2026 season, Barnesville will make its home debut Friday night at Shamrock Stadium when Bellaire visits for a 7 o'clock kickoff on Senior Night.
"We're excited. It's our Senior Night. It's become a tradition for us. It's a fun way to start the year," Barnesville head coach Blake Allen said.
The Shamrocks (2-0) have defeated John Glenn (34-19) and Meadowbrook (47-14). The Big Reds, on the other hand, prevailed in their opener over Buckeye Local (43-13) before losing to Monroe Central (29-14). Both contests were at Nelson Field.
"In week one we gave up so many big plays on defense that we allowed John Glenn back in the game," Allen added. "We turned the ball over. I thought we learned a lot from that game.
"Last week it was kind of the opposite. We turned the ball over early and spotted Meadowbrook a touchdown, but we responded really well and controlled the second half," he continued. "We've got a lot of new starters so the kids are stepping up and getting more comfortable in their roles."
Bellaire played without starting quarterback Michael Dippel who sat out due to disciplinary reasons. However, his return this week isn't official, according to Big Reds head coach Mark Bonar.
"It depends. He has to meet some criteria ... I call him questionable," Bonar said.
"We expect Dippel to be back. We are well aware of what (Raekwon) Pettigrew can do, as well," Allen said. "They've got some really good running backs in the (Trevor) Dowery kid. They always seem to have athletes that can take it to the house at any point."
When talking about Barnesville, Trey Toliver is the first name that pops up. The senior tailback has had a career against Bellaire, running for 248 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman and taking the first play of last year's contest 65 yards to the house.
"He's pretty special," Allen said of the Shamrocks all-time leading rusher.
When starting quarterback Colt Carpenter went down with an upper body injury in the John Glenn game and the Muskies made it close, Allen went to some trickery.
"We snapped it to Trey some in the opener when things got a little tight," he said.
So far this season, Toliver has run for 367 yards and eight touchdowns on 46 carries. He is averaging 7.9 yards a carry.
Carpenter's injury is the first serious one to a skilled player in recent memory.
"We lost Colt midway through the opener. He'll be back at some point," Allen noted "It's just a matter of him rehabbing for a few weeks. Evan Wells has played for us before, so it's not like we're throwing someone new in there. He was rehabbing from surgery over the summer, so we're speeding his recovery up a little."
Wells, who has speed to burn, has 171 yards rushing on 20 carries. He has reached the end zone twice. He has completed 66 percent of his passes (12-18) for 82 yards.
"Injuries are a part of the game," Allen stressed. "We had a potential starting offensive tackle go down in August and another one go down in week one, too. Kevin Phillips, who we are excited about, stepped in last week and did well.
"We've been pretty blessed with players staying healthy. Our conditioning and work in the weight room can be attributed to that. It's the next-man-up mentality."
Phoenix Graham is Barnesville's leading receiver with six receptions for 63 yards. Evan Carpenter has four catches for 53 stripes.
Allen said the Barnesville defense must be disciplined and locked in.
"That is what our defense has to do this week. We'll play well for three or four plays, then we get out of position," Allen said. "We have to fly to the ball and put a helmet on them.
"When you lose players like Hines Ford and Logan Craker who started 20 games at middle linebacker, the kids stepping in there just need the experience. I did, however, see a lot of improvements last week from week one. Meadowbrook had a lot of talent and we held them to under 150 yards of offense."
Despite playing with a freshman quarterback in Gavin Hibbitts, Bonar is pleased with what he has seen.
"I liked the way we battled. When things went bad the kids went by themselves after practice and worked on them," Bonar said. "I really appreciate that. I was really proud of them for the way they came together.
"We made some really foolish mistakes against a good team that played a really nice game.
"Hibbitts - what a job he did for only having one day of practice before starting on Friday. Tough kid ... a real competitor. He didn't know everything, but he has had a full week of practice, so we'll see what happens."
Hibbitts was 3-for-8 for minus-6 yards and three interceptions against a suffocating Seminoles defense. In Dippel's lone outing, he completed 4 of 5 passes for 47 yards and two touchdowns.
Another surprise has been the emergence of Trevor Dowery. He has gained 183 yards on 20 carries and had a 57-yard TD run.
"He's a really nice runner. He was an offensive tackle last year," Bonar said. "He had some really good runs against Monroe Central."
As for Barnesville, "They've got some big guys and they are well-coached," Bonar said. "Toliver is a great back."
Barnesville leads the all-time series 4-3 and has won the past two meetings, including 40-0 last year at Nelson Field.