Big Red clinches playoff spot
STEUBENVILLE -- Having been in tough, hard-fought games through the first seven weeks, Big Red had not had many opportunities to get some of its young players varsity playing time.
Thanks to the starters coming out firing on all cylinders in all three facets, that changed Friday night.
The starting line up put up 36 first-quarter points, including scores on offense, defense and special teams, allowing veteran head coach Reno Saccoccia to get several different players on the field in the final three quarters of a 36-0 blanking of Pittsburgh Taylor Allderdice at Harding Stadium.
"We had seven tough games in which we had to physically go a full 48 minutes ... it was great to be able to get a lot of players into the game (Friday)," Saccoccia said. "It was just a great night. It was great to get a fast start because that helped us get different guys into the game, that was something we needed to do. We have a lot of guys that work hard every single day but haven't been able to get in the games. They got in the game (Friday) and did a really good job.
"The thing I'm happiest about is not just the win, but the way the players that came out of the game got behind the players that went into the game. I loved that. I loved the way the guys that played at the start of the game got behind the guys that we in the game at the end."
The victory is Big Red's seventh-straight and lifts Saccoccia's charges to 7-1 on the campaign. Joe Eitel's unofficial rankings had Steubenville still holding down the No. 2 spot in Division IV, Region 15 after the win and having already clinched a 23rd-straight trip to the playoffs.
Senior QB Aydan Manning went 6 of 6 for 83 yards and a TD and Ca'Juan Bryant rushed for 55 yards and two scores, both doing their damage before the first quarter was over. Sabron Felton started the scoring-onslaught with a 90-yard return touchdown on the game's opening kick.
The defensive score came from Peyton Gorby on a 20-yard interception return for a TD, and a bad snap into the end zone on an Allderdice punt gave the special teams unit a safety, and Lee-Anthony Sewell hauled in a 40-yard touchdown pass, all before the end of the first quarter.
Big Red racked up 135 of its 220 total yards in the opening 12 minutes. The defense, in addition to the Gorby score, held the Dragons (1-6) to just 3 yards in the opening half and 37 in the game. Gorby's pick was one of three in the game for the Steubenville defense.
Big Red used three different quarterbacks, as Lucas McAllister went 1 of 1 for 40 yards passing and rushed for another 11 yards in the second quarter, and Trevon Wiggins also completed a pass for 22 yards in the second half, which was played with eight-minute quarters in addition to the OHSAA running clock procedures.
UP NEXT
Allderdice: Returns home to host Pittsburgh USO in a Thursday night contest.
Big Red: Hosts Huntington Valley University School for its final home game of the regular season next Friday. The Preppers were 5-2 entering the week and scheduled to play their Week 8 game on Saturday.