The Western Reserve Blue Devils will head out to take on the East Palestine Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. East Palestine took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Western Reserve, who comes in off a win.
Western Reserve's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They took their contest with ease, bagging a 33-0 win over Jackson-Milton. The Blue Devils have beaten the Bluejays the last three times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Bluejays has come to flipping the script.
Dominic Krut
| 10/24/25 @ Jackson-Milton | 47 |
| 10/17/25 vs Mineral Ridge | -3 |
| 10/09/25 vs Waterloo | 11 |
| 10/03/25 @ Springfield | 1 |
| 09/26/25 vs Memorial | 8 |
| + 3 more games |
Dominic Krut and Timmy Serensky were among the main playmakers for Western Reserve as the former rushed for 47 yards and two touchdowns and the latter rushed for 119 yards and a pair of scores. That's the most rushing yards Krut has posted since back in August.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Western Reserve was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 209 rushing yards. They are 3-1 when they've run for more than 200 yards.
Despite a strong season so far, East Palestine has seen their luck take a bit of a downturn recently. They were a single point away from ending the streak, but they lost a 55-54 heartbreaker at the hands of Valley Christian.
Western Reserve will need to focus on slowing down Clark Rutledge, one of several East Palestine players who made an impact when they last played. He threw for 221 yards and a pair of TDs, and also rushed for 66 yards and one touchdown on only eight carries. Rutledge's passing game has become a key predictor of East Palestine's success: the team is 6-1 when his passer rating is 100 or higher, but only 1-2 otherwise. Anthony Ottaviani helped out on the ground, rushing for 93 yards and three rushing touchdowns.
East Palestine didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Braydon Plum and Rj May.
East Palestine's defeat dropped their record down to 7-3. As for Western Reserve, they picked up their first road victory, bumping their record up to 4-6.
Friday's matchup might be decided on the ground. Western Reserve has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 192.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like East Palestine struggles in that department as they've been averaging 203.3 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's game turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Everything came up roses for Western Reserve against East Palestine in their previous meeting back in September of 2019, as the squad secured a 51-0 win. Will the Blue Devils repeat their success, or do the Bulldogs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
