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Big Red looking to get back on top

DETERMINATION — Emanual Ware and Steubenville Big Red host Cardinal O’Hara on Friday. (Photo by Joe Catullo)

STEUBENVILLE — Big Red’s quest for an 18th consecutive trip to the Ohio football playoffs continues Friday when Cardinal O’Hara visits Harding Stadium.

After dropping its opener to still unbeaten Penn Hills, Steubenville, which is ranked fourth in this week’s Ohio AP Division IV poll and stands second in the Region 13 computer standings, has won seven straight. The Hawks, who hail from Tonawanda, N.Y., stand at 4-3 following last week’s loss to the Gilman School from Baltimore.

The kick for the ninth all-time meeting between the schools (Big Red leads the series 8-0) is set for 7 p.m.

“They are a lot better than they were last year,” Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia said of the Hawks. “They have more experience and a little more depth. They have played a really good schedule, and coach Shaq (Dudley) is doing a really good job with his team. We’re looking forward to playing them Friday.

“We’ve been playing them for quite a while. Hopefully, the game can stay clean and both teams will emerge healthy. I’m also hoping both teams can play to the best of their ability.”

Senior C.J. Masters directs the O’Hara attack. He suffered a shoulder injury during Week 6 last year and missed considerable playing time. Masters has completed 85 passes for 1,153 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Jamall Lewis Jr. and Brandon Broadnax paced Dudley’s running attack. Lewis has run for 542 yards, while Broadnax has 414. Jermaine Haynes Jr. has grabbed 33 passes from Masters for 543 yards. Broadnax has 19 catches and Justin Hemphill 13.

“They are balanced between the run and pass, but they also are balanced when it comes to who runs the ball, and that is even more important,” Saccoccia said. “They have a lot better size than they’ve had the last couple of years, and their size moves much better than it has.”

Dudley, who’s in his third year as the O’Hara coach, agreed with Saccoccia’s comments about balance.

“We have a well-balanced attack offensively between the run and the pass,” he said. “Defensively, we like to bring pressure. We lost our last game to the Gilman School, and they were a very large team with a strong rushing attack. We had some explosive plays on offense but couldn’t capitalize in the red zone.

“We did clinch the No. 1 seed for the Monsignor Martin Class B playoffs two weeks ago when we defeated Bishop Timon St. Jude at New Era Field, home off the Buffalo Bills”

Dudley’s crew will face another strong rushing attack when it lines up against Big Red. Through eight games, Steubenville is averaging 374 yards of offense per game (262 coming on the ground) and 32 points.

Thanks to his 260-yard effort against Erie, junior tailback Tayveon Crawford has gone over 1,000 yards this season. He leads the Herald Star/Daily Times coverage area with 1,072 yards.

Caleb Mitchell, who has missed the last two games, has 460 yards, and Jaziah Blackwell has compiled 200.

Quarterback Clayton Criss has thrown for 789 yards and seven touchdowns. Six of his scoring tosses have gone to Erik Lulla, who has 11 total receptions. Ethan Duggan leads Big Red with 15 catches. Ryan Rauch also has 11 grabs

Defensively, Big Red allows an average of 239 yards and 18 points per game.

“Big Red is always consistent,” Dudley said. “They develop and keep on rolling. We’re expecting them to be physical up front and have multiple skill players who can step in and contribute. We plan to compete until the very end.

“This game is always a measuring stick for us. Big Red runs like a well-oiled machine and doesn’t make mistakes. It’s going to take tremendous toughness from us, and we hope this game will help propel us to winning our championship in western New York. I have a lot of respect for coach Reno and admire the consistency he has developed in his program.”

For Big Red, Saccoccia said the “focus this week is on what we want to improve on, and that’s everything.”

“We need to improve on what we do well and what we aren’t doing well,” he said. “We need to clean up our penalties, clean up the good and clean up the bad. You know the old adage — if you’re not improving, you’re getting worse.”

As his team prepares for Week 9, Saccoccia admitted the season flew by.

“When you get to games 9 and 10, you start thinking about the playoffs really for scouting purposes,” he said. “You look at some of your possibilities and maybe try to get an early scout on them. Then again, the way things are in football anyone can beat anyone on any given night, so you’re really just making an educated guess.”

After the Cardinal O’Hara game, Big Red will close its regular season with a home against University School from the Cleveland area.

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