The Indian Valley express keeps on running. 

The Braves continued their winning streak Friday night with a 48-14 win over Circleville in a Region 15 semifinal at Brotherhood HVAC Stadium in Gnadenhutten. 

The second-seeded Braves will host No. 3 Jonathan Alder in a Region 15 semifinal. Alder advanced with a 42-21 win over Johnstown. 

Indian Valley is now 10-0. The Braves have now won 26 straight games, including seven straight playoff games. 

“I was proud of the kids because we overcame some big holes to not have to punt,” said head coach Matt Lancaster. 

The Braves were in control of this one from the start. 

After shutting down the Tigers on their first possession, Indian Valley needed just two plays to get on the board. A Ryker Williams run picked up a couple yards and Grady Kinsey took a pitch, raced to the left sideline and outran the field for a 71-yard touchdown. 

It was the first of four touchdowns on the night for Kinsey, who finished with 183 yards on the ground. He had just two carries in the second half. 

The first long touchdown run opened the scoring and Kinsey added a 47-yard run later in the quarter. 

Colt James caught a 19-yard scoring pass from Ryker Williams and Kinsey had another touchdown run that made the score 28-0 before the Tigers reached the end zone. 

It wasn’t a perfect game by Indian Valley, but every miscue seemed to be followed by a big play that kept the chains moving. 

A couple of the big plays came on screen passes. Junior tight end Kellen Couts had one for a key first down in the first quarter and Kinsey caught another in the third quarter that went for a 52-yard score. 

“We haven’t had to run too many screens this year because we haven’t been behind the chains that much,” Lancaster said. “But we’ve been practicing them all year long just for the moments we need them. So for the kids to come out and execute, that was big. 

“We’ve been practicing those plays since August. Being able to execute those plays in big moments is going to be important down the road.”

“Brogan O’Connor did a really good job of not releasing his guy, he really made that play start,” Kinsey said when discussing the third-quarter score. “That’s how we draw it up and our line did a great job with it.” 

James had another touchdown catch in the second half. He had the two touchdowns, converted six of seven point-after kicks and had a big takeaway on defense. 

Williams had a big game as well. He passed for 176 yards with three touchdowns and had a number of big tackles on defense. 

“I think we showed tonight that we have more weapons than just Grady,” Lancaster said. “Our tight end had two big catches and Colt James is having a breakout year and so is Reese St. Claire.” 

St. Clair, who was named the Klar’s Excel Screen Printing Player of the Game, ran for a 65-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. He also had a fumble recovery and a nice punt return to go with a strong defensive game. 

“We’ve really focused on defense this year,” St. Clair said. “We’ve really focused on stopping people and getting takeaways. Now, we’re getting ready to play Jonathan Alder.” 

The Tigers had just 128 yards rushing in the game, but weren’t able to get much done with the clock running through much of the second half. 

“They’re a strong running team,” Lancaster said of the Tigers. “We were outsized, but we were able to control their running game and get them behind the chains. Our mantra all week has been to shut down their running game.”