Photo by Nick Henthorn Bellaire’s Drew White rushes against the East Liverpool Potters last Saturday. White ran for 119 yards and three touchdowns in the win, and his Big Reds will travel to face Union Local on Friday.

WHEELING — The Bellaire Big Reds (4-4) and Union Local Jets (5-3) are set for a late-season clash Friday, in a game which Union Local head coach Bernie Thompson promises will be a hard-nosed affair.

“It’s your typical week nine game where it’s going to be a slugfest,” Thompson said. “Both teams are going to run the ball, it’s going to be on a grass field, going to be muddy. It’s the way football is supposed to be played– cold, muddy, running between the trenches. In my opinion the toughest team is going to win Friday night.”

The Big Reds, coming off a 31-14 win against East Liverpool, can certainly play their role in such a contest, with a run-centric attack which was on full display last Saturday against the Potters, when senior running back Drew White led the way with 119 yards and three touchdowns.

Quarterback Luke Heatherington also threw for two touchdowns against East Liverpool.

Bellaire took the win last season when the two teams met, the Big Reds coming out on top of an 8-7 game.

“We did play them last year so we know what we did last year against them,” Bellaire head coach Mark Bonar said. “It was a great game last year, we won at the end, so we kind of know what we’re doing and they know what we do. We don’t hide what we do, we just do it.”

“It’s a good Belmont county rivalry.”

Union Local is coming off a loss to St. Clairsville, 39-6, where the Red Devils had success on the ground against them. Going into Friday, the Jets’ game against Bellaire, Union Local is already in a playoff mindset.

“We’re sitting at 5-3 right now,” Thompson said. “We’ve played a tough schedule, and I’m proud of how we’ve handled the back-half of this schedule. The back half is not easy by any means, but we won the first two of that back-half. Had to go to St. Clairsville, which is never easy, but I was proud of the way we played against St. Clairsville. Anytime you go into St. Clairsville against that type of team, man it’s tough.

“But we didn’t quit, we didn’t give up, really the score didn’t indicate how close it was. We were able to move the ball on them, just couldn’t score in the red zone. We’re in a good place right now. Physically, we’re healthy, we realize these next two games are big for us, and it starts Friday against Bellaire. We’ve got to be zoned-in and for me, it’s playoffs week one in our world. We’ve got to show up and play hard.”

Thompson said the first things that comes to mind about the Big Reds is their toughness.

“They’re tough, they’re physical, they’re well-coached. Any time you play Bellaire it’s going to be a hard-nosed, physical game. They like to run the ball, they’re big up-front, so we’re going to have to do a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage and not allow big plays.”

“They also have the ability to not only ground-and-pound– they have some athletes on the outside who are able to score anytime they have the ball in their hands. It’s going to be a challenge physically and mentally against these guys.”

In a rematch of a game with 15 combined points, the trenches should be important Friday, with the Jets prioritizing their play at the line of scrimmage..

“Everything for us starts up-front. Johnny Sabinski, Alex Beaver, Evan White, Danny Goodson, Mason Porter, those guys are our anchors and if they do their job everybody else can get rolling. They’re the guys, their name might not be in the paper, but we love them because they’re the reason we’re going to win or lose on Friday nights. I’m really pleased with how they’ve played thus far.”

Behind the line on offense is freshman running back Brody Perzanowski and sophomore quarterback Colby Carpenter, filling in for the injured Isaiah Tomolonis, who went down in week six.

“Colby is very impressive,” Thompson said. “To be a sophomore and step into the quarterback role, it isn’t easy to do. He played week one, came in and won us that game, and then had to come in week six in the fourth quarter behind against a 4-0 Weir team, and he was calm, cool and collected.

“This past week he made some mistakes, he kind of showed his age a little bit, but I know he’s going to bounce back. He’s had a tremendous week of practice, a hard worker, a natural leader, and the guys respect the heck out of him.”

With a youth movement in the backfield, Perzanowski rushed for 80 yards and a score last week, bringing his season totals to 895 yards and seven rushing touchdowns, while Colby Carpenter passed for 167 yards against the Red Devils.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Jets Field.