NEW MANCHESTER — Two teams coming off season-opening victories will square off Friday in New Manchester when St. Marys heads north to take on Oak Glen.

The Red Riders are coming off a 32-14 victory on the road against rival Weir.

Passing once again is not Oak Glen’s forte. However, when senior running back Logan Murray is rumbling at nearly 15 yards per carry, it’s not hard to see why the Bears stick to a ground based attach.

In fairness, Oak Glen QB Maddox Bowen was only asked to throw seven times vs. the Riders, completing one for seven yards with one interception.

Murray isn’t going it alone as Oak Glen divvies up the remainder of the carries between Josh Maher, Cayden Ritchie, and Jacob Everett. The trio all averaged more than four yards per carry, with the freshman Everett adding a touchdown n on seven carries (28 yards).

In Game 1, Murray toted the ball 17 times for 238 yards and two touchdowns, including a 67-yard jaunt.

Defensively, defensive end Kam Hebrock led the charge with eight tackles, including four stops behind the line of scrimmage. Oak Glen finished with eight tackles for a loss as a team, showing an ability to get off the ball quickly and cause havoc in the Weir backfield.

Three of Hebrock’s TFLs were sacks, while Maher added two.

The Bears host a team that didn’t put up a ton of offensive numbers in a Week 1 showdown against Ravenswood. But the Blue Devils’ defense showed up in full force, holding the Red Devils scoreless in a 13-0 win.

Like Oak Glen, St. Marys didn’t do a whole lot of passing

The Blue Devils managed to churn out 214 yards on 42 plays. Junior quarterback Jeremiah Demoss threw 53 yards on 3-of-9 passing, his longest a 42-yard completion to senior running back Eli Cox.

Demoss, a dual-threat style of quarterback, led St. Marys in rushing with 86 yard son 15 carries, an average of 5.7 yards per tote.

Cox was second in rushing with 31 yards and a touchdown, with Eli Wilson adding the other score in finishing with 22 yards on eight carries.

Defensively, the Blue Devils finished with a trio of double-digit tacklers, with promising sophomore Elijah Kimball and Demoss leading the way with 12 apiece while Wilson added 10, including two for a loss.

The defense held Ravenswood to 116 rushing yards and 72 passing yards, keeping the team totals under 200.

Last season, the Blue Devils pitched a shutout at home in a 28-0 win against Oak Glen in Week 2. If St. Marys hopes to do that again, it will have to find a way to corral Murray and the Bears’ punishing ground game.

Friday’s matchup marks a three-game homestand for Oak Glen, with games against Belpre and Toronto to follow before a road meeting with Buckeye Local to close out the month.