IN POSSESSION — Steubenville's Daniel Aguilera looks to corral the ball against JM on Saturday. -- Kailin Hughes

MOUNDSVILLE — Goals were coming early and often Saturday morning at Monarch Stadium in Moundsville as visiting Steubenville Big Red flexed its muscles, and team speed, as they hopped on host John Marshall early and never let up.

Led by four goals from junior Cole Bowers, Big Red worked the ball around to create prime scoring opportunities and stretched John Marshall keeper Trip Bonds to his limits, forcing the Monarchs’ keeper to hustle and dive all across the box to do his best to keep shots out of the net.

Bonds finished with eight saves, including a few nice diving stops, but the onslaught seemed unending and the skilled Big Red team struck true more often than not.

“Steubenville is a physical team. They’ve been this way for 20 years,” JM head coach Josh Strope said after the 10-0 defeat. He was a member of the Weir High soccer team during his playing days. “I told them you have to be ready to push and fight back, and we just weren’t.

“They kind of bullied us at the beginning, and one goal became two, two became three, and so on and so on.”

It was a welcome site for Big Red head coach Greg Bowers.

Two days prior, Bowers’ team earned an 8-3 win against Brooke at Harding Stadium, but the performance early in that match was below what Bowers believes is the Big Red standard.

“We came out a lot more focused than we did on Thursday,” Bowers said as his team improved to 5-0-3 with a key OVAC 5A matchup with conference-leader Wheeling Park set for Tuesday. “We got on the guys hard after the Brooke game because we didn’t finish like we should nor move like we should.

“Our ball movement was crisp in the first half, it created opportunities and we were able to finish.”

Big Red certainly moved the ball well.

Of their 10 goals, all 10 were assisted on.

Senior Brady Dinovo assisted on three scores, with senior Hayden Hicks and freshman Landon Bowers helping on two apiece.

Hicks, Dinovo, Landon Bowers, Luke Dinovo, Daniel Aguilera and Ethan Llewellyn each tallied a goal, with James Devereaux, Luke Dinovo and Aguilera adding assists.

It was an uneventful match for keeper Robby Lucas, as he recorded the shutout without having to make a save.

Speed was a key factor in not only the goal disparity, but from keeping JM from getting a solid shot on net.

“Their speed works against us because we’re slow, especially on the back end,” Strope said. “We have to play our positions because we don’t have the speed that I’d like to have.

“A team like Steubenville is where we want to be.”

JM fell to 3-5, having its two-match win streak snapped in the process.

Big Red, meanwhile, is now prepping for its key matchup with the Patriots.

“Park is a different animal,” Bowers said. “They are really good. (Head coach) Mario (Julian) has a good group. He’s a great coach and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

The two teams met once last season, with Park claiming a 5-0 decision on Wheeling Island.