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BELLAIRE -- Andrew Connor and the Indian Creek football team are preparing for a new experience this week against Bellaire.
Indian Creek and its Buckeye 8 rival both won last week on the road, setting the stage for the Redskins and Big Reds to meet at 7 p.m. Friday night down at Nelson Field.
"It will be the first time ever for me," Connor said about playing at Bellaire on a Friday night. "They have put in lights. We played down there two years ago, but we played a Saturday afternoon game. Going back to win I played high school football in 1984, I have always played on Saturday afternoon. It is going to be very different for me playing on Friday night."
Indian Creek (3-2) enters this week's game coming off a 15-6 victory in a slugfest against Buckeye 8 North Division rival Brooke last Friday night on the road on Paul "Bud" Billiard Field inside Brooke Memorial Stadium.
"It was a rivalry game," Indian Creek (3-2) head coach Andrew Connor said. "It was hard fought. We just made a few more plays than they did. Frank (Sisinni) and his staff did a great job."
The Big Red also enter this week's matchup with a record of 3-2.
"They have played a good schedule," Connor said. "They have played well. They do a lot of things offensively. Their quarterback (Michael) Dippel can move around. They have a very, very talented receiver in (Raekwon) Pettigrew, and they have his brother – Ray'Shawn Pettigrew on the other side. No. 25 (Kole Gonglik) is a good receiver, and No. 44 (Trevor Dowery) runs the football. They have a lot of weapons on offense. They have a lot of guys they can get the ball to on the offensive side."
Bellaire defeated winless Cambridge, 42-21, last Friday night on the road.
"He (Mark Bonar) is a good coach," Connor said. "They do what you give them. If you try and stop the pass, they will run the football. If you try to stop the run, they will pass the football. If you try and stop one, they will do the other. Bellaire puts a lot of pressure on your defense."
The Big Reds have won their last two games. Bellaire opened the season by defeating Buckeye Local, 43-13, at home before falling to Monroe Central, 29-14, at home and Barnesville, 33-0, on the road. The boys from Belmont County got back on track thanks to a 40-37 victory against John Marshall in Week 4 at home.
"They play very sound defensively," Connor said. "They are fundamentally sound. They get to the football. They do a good job of tackling. They are physical. They like to hit. One thing that has really stood out about them is they tackle very well."
Raekwon Pettigrew is one of the top athletes on the gridiron in the valley this season, and he is not only dangerous as a wide receiver but also as a return man.
"He makes you really think when you punt it deep or kick it deep," Connor said about Raekwon Pettigrew. "He is one play away from taking it to the house. We cannot let him get going. Anytime they need a change of energy or they need a change of adrenaline, he can provide it. We are going to have to be strong on special teams. We are going to have to work so we don't let that happen. We don't want him to take one back."
The Redskins won its last two games to get back over .500 on the season. A big part of that success has been Indian Creek's ability to run the football.
"We have to be more physical on offense," Connor said. "We are going to have to establish or running game. Our running game feeds our passing game. At times, we have not been able to get our running game going. We have been able to run the football the last two weeks, and that has helped. We need our running game to be sound. We need to do a good job with our substitutions and our formations. We don't want to be predictable.
"Defensively, we are going to have to stop the big plays. Bellaire has been able to create a lot of big plays this season. We can't let them make big plays."
Coming into this week's game, Indian Creek finds itself in 16th place in the Ohio Division IV, Region 15 playoff rankings.
"Like everyone, we have had some positives and some negatives," Connor said asked how things are going for his team at the midpoint of the season. "One big thing is our kids have played hard. They play hard, and they have responded to adversity. They are resilient. We have won the last two weeks, and we are coming together as a football team. We are looking to build off that."
Indian Creek defeated Bellaire, 52-32, last season at home at Kettlewell Stadium. The Redskins defeated the Big Reds, 40-26, two years ago on the road.