Martins Ferry Welcomes Bellaire In 123rd All-Time Gridiron Game
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MARTINS FERRY - When week 10 of the high school football season rolls around in Belmont County, eastern Ohio or the entire Buckeye State, it means SPARKY week.
Although the first game was played in 1905 and has been annually contested since 1916, since 1964, Bellaire and Martins Ferry have met for the coveted trophy which stands for Sportsmanship. Participation. Achievement. Rivalry. Knowledge. and Youth. The Big Reds (6-3) hold a razor-thin 59-56 all-time advantage, with seven games ending in a tie. However, the Purple Riders (8-1) have won two straight in the series and nine of the last 14.
The rivalry ranks as the fifth or sixth most-played high school football rivalry in the state of Ohio and is among the top 100 oldest in the United States. Both storied programs are historical powerhouses, each ranking in the top 10 in the Buckeye State for all-time football victories with more than 720 wins apiece.
Both squads will enter the battle already assured of an Ohio Division V, Region 17 playoff spot, with the final positioning to be determined by the final outcome Friday and various other results. Martins Ferry is ranked No. 8 with 14.3434 points, while Bellaire is right behind at 14.2929. The top 12 teams in each region qualify, with the top 4 receiving byes and . 5-8 hosting first-round contests.
But, in talking with both head coaches earlier in the week, none of that matters come Friday night at Purple Rider Stadium inside the Dave Bruney Football Complex when the two Ohio 7 rivals clash for the 123rd time. Kickoff is set for 7 o'clock.
"It's the same as always for us. Every week we play our schedule and we know there's going to be a challenge every week," Bellaire head coach Mark Bonar said. "We like that. This week it just happens to be Martins Ferry and that adds to the excitement.
"For us it's a short week because we played on Saturday," Bonar said in referring to the Big Reds' 22-21 victory in overtime over Union Local at Nelson Field. "There are so many distractions this week with the pep assemblies, bonfires and such, but I'm sure they go through it as well. We just need to make sure we are super-focused in practice to make sure we're ready to go on Friday night."
Martins Ferry head coach Justin Kropka is a fourth generation of the rivalry. He knows what it is all about and how important it is to both communities.
"I always say at Martins Ferry there are three seasons. There is the regular season that counts for the first nine games. The Bellaire game which is a season in just itself ... it's its own entity, really. Then there's the postseason," Kropka noted. "We've had a successful regular season at 8-1. Now we need to have a successful Bellaire game before moving onto whatever comes after that."
Kropka doesn't think both teams having already qualified for another game has any bearing on Friday night.
"I wouldn't care if we were both undefeated or if we were both 0-9, this game is important for many reasons to many people in both towns," he said. "My son is the fifth generation to play in it. This game is all that matters this week. This is something that we focus on as a program and I think we've done a good job of doing just that."
"I don't think, as a coach, you're ever where you should be. You see what you could be and you see what you are. Sometimes, even when what you are is really good, you're trying to get to that could be. That's the way it's going to be until they tell you you can't play anymore."
After a 1-2 start that ended with a 33-0 shutout at Barnesville, Bellaire righted its ship down the stretch to win five of its last six games for their playoff push.
"I know we have good players at a lot of different positions," Bonar said. "The kids started gaining confidence in themselves and we, as coaches, also have grown confident in what they can do. We've got a really good running back in Trevor Dowery; a good quarterback in Michael Dippel that stands in the pocket and finds guys; a very smart tight end in Alex Padgett; a wide receiver in Kole Gonglik that continues to make big plays; an offensive line that is young, under-sized and don't move a lot of people around, but they've done their jobs; and then we have Kwon, aka senior Raekwon Pettigrew."
Dowery, who played on the offensive line last season, has enjoyed the move to tailback with 969 yards and 16 touchdowns. He has five 100-yard-plus games. Dippel has completed 48 of 86 passes for 1,033 yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions. Gonglik has caught 17 passes for 450 yards and half-a-dozen TDs, while Pettigrew has done just about everything with more than 1,000 all-purpose yards.
Martins Ferry answers with a stable of talent, as well. Junior tailback Walkquem Cox has rushed for 1,594 yards and 24 touchdowns, while senior quarterback Colby Kropka has thrown for 1,389 yards on 70 of 103. He has 16 touchdowns and two interceptions. Junior Elijah Roby (28-584-7tds) is the leading receiver, while sophomore speedster Jakori Cox (18-367-5) and sure-handed Christian Shutler (8-144-1) are also options.
EXTRA POINTS
- In the prior 122 contests, Bellaire has scored 1,789 points to Martins Ferry's 1,726.
- According to Fourseasonsfootball.com, Bellaire has accumulated 729 all-time victories. Martins Ferry has 756.
- As far as oldest rivalries go in Ohio, Cincinnati Hughes-Cincinnati Woodward (1878) tops the list, followed by Massillon Washington-Canton McKinley (1894); Sandusky-Fremont Ross (1895); Troy-Piqua (1899) and Salem-East Liverpool (1904). Dover-New Philadelphia will also meet for the 123rd time on Friday.