RAVENSWOOD — The sight of a 240-pound lineman running the football is usually reserved for trick plays or goal-line situations.

Not on Saturday in the Ohio River town of Ravenswood.

A big player by the name of Chad Small, wearing No. 60, took the ball into his own hands, running 13 times for 53 yards on his 18th birthday as his Ravenswood Red Devils outslugged the James Monroe Mavericks 24-14 to move out of the first round of the Class AA playoffs.

The Red Devils (9-2) forced the Mavericks (8-3) to abandon their usual running game and made halftime adjustments, limiting John Ballengee to one completion in seven tries after the break.

Other than that, the teams were evenly matched. Even the mistakes. Both teams had three interceptions in the first half and traded a couple of big plays.

James Monroe coach Don Jackson said, “They’ve got a good football team. They’re a little bit quicker than we were, and their line was really good. ... We played pretty well. We just made some critical mistakes that we couldn’t overcome.”

Ravenswood coach Dick Sturm, said, “We kind of mixed it up a little bit on them and capitalized on some opportunities — and missed some opportunities. That’s part of the game, you know.”

Both of the Mavericks’ first two drives ended in interceptions, which the home squad converted into a 14-0 lead with 13 minutes gone off the clock.

Luke Corley, who led all rushers with 66 yards on the day, got most of the carries for the Red Devils early, but then Small got his big chance and made the most of it.

The junior dragged defenders with him on a 13-yard rumble to paydirt for the game’s second touchdown.

“He’s a big boy,” Jackson said.

On the next James Monroe possession, Ballengee hit a 36-yard completion to Jordan McKinney, then three plays later he rolled left to buy time and found Tanner Beasley wide open in the end zone for a six-yard scoring pass.

After the teams exchanged interceptions, Ravenswood got the ball back with 1:43 left in the half and quarterback Cole Starcher tossed a pass into the flat, which Ballengee intercepted and ran back 14 yards untouched. Juan Calix-Herrera tied the game 14-14, but that would end the Mavericks’ scoring.

Ravenswood got the ball to start the third quarter, but was bottled up inside its 10 by a muffed kick-return try. From his own 2, the Red Devils’ Starcher found wideout Bobby Rymer loose in a seam in the defense, and he outraced the Mavs for the go-ahead score.

The Mavericks had to punt on their next two offensive series, allowing Ravenswood to drive for a 38-yard field goal by Tanner Hunter.

With the run stopped, the James Monroe passing game was ultimately held in check as well.

Jackson said, “They changed their defense there a little bit and put a little bit more rush on us. ... We usually don’t throw the ball real well. Today we did pretty well, in the first half. We couldn’t run it like we usually do, so I had to go to the pass. That’s why you’ve got to be able to do both.”

Ballengee finished his last game at quarterback throwing for 163 yards, completing 13 of 25 passes. Starcher, who had hurt his foot last week against county rival Ripley, was 7-for-13 for 161 yards.

— E-mail: tbone@

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Ravenswood 24, James Monroe 14

JM (8-3) 0 14 0 0 — 14

R (9-2) 7 7 10 0 — 24

First Quarter

R: Luke Corley 12 run (Tanner Hunter kick), 6:44

Second Quarter

R:Chad Small 13 run (Hunter kick), 11:06

JM: Tanner Beasley 6 pass from John Ballengee (Juan Calix-Herrera kick), 9:05

JM: Ballengee 14 interception return (J. Calix-Herrera kick), 1:28

Third Quarter

R: Bobby Rymer 98 pass from Cole Starcher (Hunter kick), 10:13

R: Hunter 38 FG, 1:36

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — JM: Braxton Thompson 11-37, John Ballengee 10-24, Jackson Mohler 5-21. R: Luke Corley 23-66, Chad Small, 13-53, Cole Starcher 3-15, Jeremy Lawrence 1-12, Dustin Derito 2-5, Luke Murray 1-0. .

PASSING — JM: Ballengee 13-25-3, 163-1 R: Starcher 7-13-2, 161-1, Small 0-1-1, 0.

RECEIVING — JM: Jordan McKinney 4-58, Braxton Thompson 2-26, Caleb Ballard 2-24, Josh Evans 1-23, Jackson Mohler 2-10, Tanner Beasley 1-6, Blayke Carr 1-4. R: Bobby Rymer 3-101, Luke Murray 4-60, Jeremy Lawrence 1-3, Jonas Jelich 1-(-2).