By MIKE HUGHES
Staff Writer
It's safe to say Martins Ferry has shaken off the effects of a season-opening loss to Buckeye Local.
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Martins Ferry’s Brandon Leonard intercepts a pass for a touchdown during’s Friday’s 60-18 rout against Union Local. The Purple Riders have ripped off four straight victories.
Since that 21-14 defeat on Aug. 22 at World War II Memorial Stadium, the Purple Riders have ripped off four straight victories, including Friday 60-18 rout of previously unbeaten Union Local.
The most telling stat of that game is not that Ferry scored 60 points, but how Coach Dave Bruney's club was able to contain the Jets' Jordan Barbina and limit an offense that came in averaging nearly 42 points per game, to 18. Barbina himself was averaging nearly 400 yards of total offense.
But against the Riders' stanch defense, Barbina was limited to season lows in passing attempts (19), yards (173) and rushing yards (29). His previous low in passing yards was 246 against Shenandoah.
Just how was Ferry able to do it?
''We tried to keep him in the pocket and pressure him with (Jordan) Burress, (Matt) Shreve and (Steve) Woodford from the inside,'' Bruney said.
Burress accounted for three sacks, Dalton Leach and Marquis Bass had two and the team speed of the Riders' defense resulted in nine sacks total.
When Barbina wasn't getting dragged down, he was running for his life, resulting in the senior to make decisions much faster than he was accustomed to doing. He threw two interceptions in the process. Kyle Copeland, who came in later in the game under center, didn't fare much better, also throwing a pick.
One of those three interceptions was returned for a touchdown by Brandon Leonard.
It has been Leonard's return, along with a healthy Matt Shreve, that has fueled Ferry's return to defensive dominance.
''There's no question about it,'' said Bruney of the importance of having a healthy Leonard in his team's secondary. ''Leonard is an All-Valley safety type player and having him and Shreve back has been big.
''Matt is an All-Ohio type player and the combination of those two back in the lineup has boosted our confidence.
Leonard suffered a season-ending knee injury during the UL game in 2007 and the road to recovery was a long process.
Shreve missed the first couple of games this season and has just recently returned.
With Shreve, along with Woodford anchoring the second-level of the Riders defense, and Leonard lurking in the secondary, it has allowed Ferry to be more liberal with its defensive play calls.
''Brandon covers a lot of ground back there,'' Bruney said. ''He's an intelligent player and a real fine tackler and it allows us to do a lot more (defensively) when he's back there.''
Ferry finished the '07 season with a 6-4 record as no less than seven two-way starters missed at least five games.
The plus side of that was a number of underclassmen got the opportunity for live, game experience.
The negative of that was the Riders missed the postseason, but the positive, as evident by this season's performances, have spoke for themselves.
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A big key for Wheeling Park during its 4-0 start to the 2008 season has been the play of its defense. It's not an overly large unit, but the Patriots have plenty of speed and they utilized that against Brooke to the tune of 12 sacks.
Richard Hall, R.J. Vargo, Derek Stahl, Brady McConnell, Sean Lake and Zach Kimmins each posted two sacks. Hall leads the team through four games with five.
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