Photo by Kim North St. Clairsville quarterback Brady Schafer runs for yardage Friday night against West Holmes at Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium in New Philadelphia.

NEW PHILADELPHIA — Brady Schafer picked a good game to have the best of his career.

The St. Clairsville senior quarterback combined for 266 yards of total offense and four touchdowns as the No. 1 Red Devils (13-0) punched their ticket to the Ohio Division IV, Region 15 championship game with a wire-to-wire 35-21 win over No. 13 West Holmes (7-6) in a semifinal Friday night at damp Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium.

With the victory, St. Clairsville will meet No. 2 Indian Valley (13-0) next Friday at a site to be determined by the OHSAA. The Braves defeated No. 3 New Lexington, 42-14, at Stewart Field in Coshocton.

“Our team isn’t getting enough credit for what they’ve done,” veteran St. Clairsville head coach Brett McLean said. “Brady Schafer is probably the best Eastern Division quarterback there is in Division IV. He showed it tonight.

“We coach the kid to spread the ball around. Brady is a heckuva a runner, a heckuva passer,” McLean added. “He does more than 99 percent of the high school quarterbacks. My heart is about to explode. I’m so proud of him tonight. He could’ve been doing what he did tonight all season, but we were trying to protect him to get to where we are at.”

St. Clairsville went 69 yards on six plays the first time it had the ball. On third-and-7 from the Knights’ 48, Schafer rolled to his right before throwing back across the field to Gavin Schoolcraft on a screen. The senior speedster did the rest. Tyler Harris made it 7-0 after the PAT.

The Knights responded with a long drive of their own, but it stalled following back-to-back incompletions. A 32-yard field goal was wide right.

The Red Devils went right back to work as Schafer scampered around right end for 16 yards. He then found Brody Saunders for 12 before Schoolcraft kept the drive going with a 4-yard run on third-and-1.

Burk capped the 11-play possession with a 13-yard scoring run off the right side. He followed blocks by Mikey Balgo and Wyatt Toothman through a gaping hole. Harris made it 14-0 one play into the second quarter.

West Holmes had another promising series of downs wiped out when Ollie Muhly picked off a Morgan Smith pass at the Red Devils’ 27.

On the third play of the third quarter, Schafer connected with Tyson Pastor on a 49-yard scoring toss. Schafer rolled right and spotted Pastor well behind the West Holmes secondary. He delivered a strike in stride as the lead ballooned to 21-0 after the third placement by Harris.

St. Clairsville had a chance to deliver the dagger when Julian Kingery recovered a squib kick at the West Holmes’ 31. However, three straight runs inside the 10 failed to pick up a yard, turning the ball over on downs.

The Knights didn’t waste any time in scoring as Smith capped a 92-yard drive with an 8-yard run. Alex Pringle’s PAT made it 21-7.

St. Clairsville responded with the drive of the game. The Red Devils marched 79 yards on 14 plays – 11 runs and three passes – to take a 28-7 advantage. Along the way, they converted a pair of third downs and one fourth down. Schafer and Saunders hooked up for 13 yards on fourth-and-3 from the West Holmes 14. Schafer kept it the next play and Harris was good for the fourth time.

“They (West Holmes) had all the momentum in the world and we drove 79 yards on 14 plays at crunch time,” McLean recalled. “I’m so proud of them.”

West Holmes tried to make it close when it scored two TDs within a minute.

Smith found Brock Gallion from 3 yards and, after Braxton Blake recovered an onsides kick, he connected with Logan Zollars from 45 yards. Pringle was true both times as the margin was 28-21.

After recovering another onsides attempt, St. Clairsville sealed the deal with a 6-play, 46-yard drive. Schafer scrambled for 15 and Schoolcraft broke free for 18 on third-and-4. Schafer went off the right side of his line standing from 3 yards out.

“This was a big win for us. We had a big week of practice,” Schafer said. “We heard all the talk that we weren’t a typical No. 1 seed, but I think we showed tonight that we are. We came out like a ball of fire.”

Schafer ran 14 times for a career-high 103 yards and completed 10-of-16 passes for 163.

“This is the best game I’ve played in my career, but next week is another big one,” Schafer said. “My offensive line doesn’t get enough credit. They did an outstanding job tonight.”

Burk had 108 yards on 19 carries before injuring a knee in the second half. He watched the remainder of the game from the sidelines on crutches. Pastor had three receptions for 73 yards.

St. Clairsville converted 9 of 13 third downs. It moved the first-down sticks 22 times.

Smith passed for 275 yards and ran for 68 more.