Bellaire lost against Union Local back in October of 2023, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Saturday. The Bellaire Big Reds had to suffer through a 50-18 loss at the hands of the Union Local Jets. While losing is never fun, the Big Reds can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio football rankings (they are ranked 484th, while the Jets are ranked 200th).
Despite the defeat, Bellaire saw an underclassman step up: Raekwon Pettigrew picked up 172 receiving yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 34 yards. That's the most rushing yards Pettigrew has posted since back in August. Another player making a difference was Michael Dippel, who threw for 229 yards and three touchdowns.
Bellaire wouldn't let Union Local keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Bellaire can thank Kole Swierkos and Alex Ney for forcing both of them.
Bellaire now has a losing record at 4-5. As for Union Local, they pushed their record up to 8-1 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Bellaire will head out to face off against Martins Ferry at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Martins Ferry has five straight wins, Bellaire has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field. As for Union Local, they will venture away from home to challenge Barnesville at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Barnesville's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points every time they've taken the field this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
