Big Red simply wore down Morgantown
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MORGANTOWN -- Steubenville came away with a 28-6 victory Friday night, but it's safe to say that the first half was not the start Big Red was looking for.
Three turnovers and six penalties limited Steubenville to just a six-point lead over the Morgantown Mohigans after 24 minutes of football and left Morgantown feeling very much in the game against heavily favored Big Red. Steubenville recording 12 first downs to Morgantown's one in the first half and outgained the Mohigans 227-to-9 in total offense.
It did not take long in the second half, however, to see that things were going to be quite different. Big Red (2-0) came out of the locker room and marched down the field on a 15-play (all runs), 65-yard drive that took 6:20 off the clock. Big Red did not commit another turnover the rest of the game and imposed its will on Morgantown (0-2) the entire second half.
"I don't even want to talk about cleaning things up or anything negative because our kids kept fighting, and that's the key to building a team," Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia said. "No matter how bad it gets you keep fighting. No excuses, no finger pointing. Good things happen when you keep fighting and we did.
"I know our kids will give us everything they have every game and they did that (Friday). It's twice as hard to give everything you have when you're not doing very well. It's easy to give everything you have when you are doing well."
Big Red rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns in the second half, compiling a game total of 349 between eight different ball carriers, led by a 110-yard effort from senior Jamal Petteway on 19 carries.
"I thought that our offensive line really played well." Saccoccia said, giving credit to both the backs and line credit for the success on the ground.
A quartet of juniors did a bulk of the damage on the ground for Big Red. Caleb Mitchell rushed for 87 yards on 16 carries, Jeziah Blackwell put up 47 yards and a touchdown on five second half carries, and Taveon Montgomery racked up 39 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.
"They had three, four, five different guys they could turn and hand the ball off to and just pound you," Morgantown coach Matt Lacy said. "They're a big, physical football team and have all the fundamentals. They are very well-coached, and I give coach Saccoccia all the credit for what they put those guys through to get them ready to play."
It took it's toll on the Mohigans as the game went on.
"We just ran out of gas," Lacy said. "You look across at (Steubenville's) offensive line and it's really good. We knew what they were going to try do; we just couldn't stop it. The first half, our guys played a great half of football. They just wear on you and wear on you and wear on you, and they're a really good football team."
After a fumble ended Big Red's first possesion of the game, Steubenville recovered to open the scoring late in the first quarter when senior quarterback Javon Davis, who completed 10-of-18 passes on the night, connected with senior reciever Gino Pierro from 21-yards out, making it a 6-0 game.
Another fumble and a Davis interception ended promising Big Red drives in the second quarter. Steubenville turned the ball over on downs deep in Morgantown territory with 24 seconds left in the first half to halt another scoring threat.
Morgantown's defense kept the Mohigans in the game, but their offense did not come close taking advantage.
The long drive to open the second half was capped by a 1-yard run from senior Jonathon Blackmon, which turned out to be all Steubenville needed. Davis found Pierro on an out-route just inside the goal line for a two-point conversion, and Big Red was up 14-0.
After Morgantown failed to get anything going on its first second half possession, Montgomery capped another long drive with a 6-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0 Steubenville with 3:12 left in the third quarter.
The lone blemish on the Big Red defense came on Morgantown's ensuing possession when junior quaterback Aaron Alvarez dumped the ball off on a short pass to senior runningback Javohn Moore, and he broke free for a 49-yard catch and run into the end zone to make it 21-6.
Blackwell put the game away with 6:17 to go in the fourth quarter, shaking free of Morgantown defenders for a 24-yard touchdown run to cap off a 62-yard drive and make it 28-6 Big Red to close out the scoring.
Big Red finished with 433 yards of total offense, while holding the Mohigans to just 108. Steubenville ended the night with 24 first downs, while Morgantown had just four. Morgantown also hurt its efforts with 12 penalties for 88 yards.
"Our defense played outstanding," Saccoccia said. "We just have to do a better job protecting the football, but we will. We will get better. If you are willing to fight and you are willing to work, you will get better."
Big Red 28, Morgantown 6
Big Red 6-0-15-7 -- 28
Morgantown 0-0-6-0 -- 6
BIG RED: Pierro 21 pass from Davis (kick failed)
BIG RED: Blackmon 1 run (Pierro pass from Davis
BIG RED: Montgomery 6 run (Phillips kick)
MORGANTOWN: Moore 49 pass from Alvarez (kick failed)
BIG RED: Blackwell 24 run (Phillips kick)
RUSHING: Big Red 72-349-3 (Mitchell 16-87; Petteway 19-110; Blackmon 9-25-1; Davis 1-7; Brown 4-36; Blackwell 5-47-1; Montgomery 9-39-1; Criss 1 – (-2)); Morgantown 21-39 (Alvarez 4- -3; Konchesky 4-14; Moore 7-23; Bukari 1- -1; Miline 3-6; Whetsell 2-0)
PASSING: 11-19-77-1-1 (Davis 10-18-74-1-1; Criss 1-1-3); Morgantown 4-15-69 (all Alvarez)
RECEIVING: Big Red 11-77-1 (Agresta 4-26; Pierro 2-30-1; Zane 2-5; Jones 1-9; Blackmon 1-4; Brown 1-3); Morgantown 4-69-1 (Moore 3-65; Bukari 1-4)
FIRST DOWNS: Big Red 24; Morgantown 4
PENALTIES-YARDS: Big Red 10-55; Morgantown 12-88
PUNTS: Big Red 2-31.5; Morgantown 8-32.8
FUMBLES-LOST: Big Red 2-2; Morgantown 0