Andrew Grimm FOLLOWING THE BLOCK — Big Red’s Savier Faulks runs behind a block from teammate Javin Harper during Friday night’s Division IV, Region 15 second round playoff game against Licking Valley at Harding Stadium. Big Red won, 50-26, to advance to the regional semifinals.

STEUBENVILLE — After giving up a couple of early scores, Big Red’s defense stepped up, and the offense rolled from start to finish on the way to earning a trip to Week 13.

Top-seeded Steubenville racked up 516 yards of offense, found the end zone seven times and pulled away from No. 9 Licking Valley for a 50-26 second-round victory at Harding Stadium.

“I’m happy for our players, I’m happy for our seniors getting a win in their last game at Harding Stadium,” Big Red head coach Reno Saccoccia said. “Our coaches had a great game plan, and our players executed it to perfection.”

Big Red and the Panthers traded scores in a back-and-forth opening quarter before the Steubenville defense got a couple of key stops, allowing the offense to put Saccoccia’s charges in control.

“Defense is everything,” Saccoccia said. “You can’t cover guys without a pass rush. I thought we played beautifully (overall), we just let their quarterback (Hayden Rodgers) run the show in the first quarter. We had to control him; all their big plays came from him eluding our players.

“We kept working at it, it wasn’t effort, our kids were working like heck to get in there after him.

“After those first two scores, we did a great job. I was really happy with the way we responded — and our offense was on it. We just played a good football game overall.”

Big Red’s offensive attack was nearly perfectly balanced with 254 yards on the ground and 262 through the air. Savier Faulks racked up 190 yards on the ground on 21 carries, finding the end zone twice, while Aydan Manning went 12 of 17 for 250 yards passing and three scores, half of those completions and yards going to Isaac Hill.

Big Red (11-1) took the opening kick and opened the scoring with a seven-play, 80-yard drive. That march was capped by Manning’s first scoring strike, a 40-yard catch-and-run by Sabron Felton. He caught the ball and powered through a couple defenders at the goal line to make it 7-0.

After Licking Valley answered with a 41-yard Jacob Wheeler TD catch-and-run, Big Red went on a long, 12-play march that covered 80-yards to retake the lead, capped by a Faulks 3-yard plunge on what was a fourth down for a 14-7 lead.

The Panthers (8-4) answered again with a big play, this time a 41-yard Trent Markus run, but the extra point missed leaving Steubenville on top 14-13 at the end of one quarter.

Big Red then scored the next 21 points to take control. On the next drive, after Felton returned the kick 60 yards into the Licking Valley end, Faulks busted a 24-yard run and a face mask call for half the distance added 12 more, setting up a 8-yard Manning to Hill strike.

After the defense forced a punt for the first time, Manning fired a deep ball to Hill, who made an acrobatic catch along the sideline and raced to the 1, where, with no defenders pursuing closely, he turned and handed the ball to fellow senior Jace Kernahan to allow him to do the scoring honors on what was a 60-yard play which made it 28-13.

That stood as the halftime score after the Big Red defense got a turnover on downs.

After the defense forced a three-and-out on the opening drive of the second half, the Steubenville offense added to the lead with a 1-yard Eljiah Mullins plunge set up by a 47-yard Manning to Lee Sewell connection.

After the Panthers scored to cut into the deficit and make it 35-19, they recovered a surprise onside kick, but Je’Mier Faulks came down with an interception on the next play to put Big Red back in business. Mullins capped the next drive with another 1-yard scoring run, this time jumping over the pile and across the goal line after Faulks had broken a 53-yarder to set it up.

After a stop by the defense and a bad snap on the ensuing punt set Big Red up deep in the Panthers end, Faulks went 15-yards to score on the next snap, a Jalen Minniefield two-point run making it 50-19 and starting the running clock.

A fourth-quarter score after Big Red had subbed stopped the running clock, but victory and a trip to the third round was long since at hand for Saccoccia and company.

Big Red, now winners of 11-straight, advances to face Indian Valley in next week’s Division IV, Region 15 semifinals. The No. 13 seed Braves (9-3) upset No. 5 Bishop Ready on the road on Friday night. That game will be played at a neutral site to be announced on Sunday.

OHSAA Playoffs

Division IV, Region 15 Quarterfinals

at Harding Stadium

No. 1 Steubenville 50, No. 9 Licking Valley 26

Licking Valley 13-0-6-7 – 26

Steubenville 14-14-22-0 – 50

SCORING

FIRST QUARTER

S: Felton 40 pass from Manning (Bowers kick)

LV: Wheeler 41 pass from Rodgers (Wheeler kick)

S: Faulks 3 run (Bowers kick)

LV: Markus 41 run (kick failed)

SECOND QUARTER

S: Hill 8 pass from Manning (Bowers kick)

S: Kernahan 1, Hill 59 pass from Manning (Bowers kick)

THIRD QUARTER

S: Mullins 1 run (Bowers kick)

LV: Wheeler 44 pass from Rodgers (pass failed)

S: Mullins 1 run (Minniefield run)

S: Faulks 15 run (Bowers kick)

FOURTH

LV: Markus 3 run (Wheeler kick)

RUSHING: Licking Valley 29-156-2TD (Markus 16-114-2TD; Lohr 2-10; Rodgers 9-45; Walker 1-(-2); Wheeler 1-(1-11); Steubenville 35-254-4TD (Faulks 21-190-2TD; Hill 1-8; Minniefield 2-28; Mullins 2-2-2TD; Manning 1-2; McAllister 4-21; Simmons 4-17)

PASSING: Licking Valley 13-22-205-2TD-INT (all by Rodgers); Steubenville 13-20-262-3TD (Manning 12-17-250-3TD; Felton 0-1; McAllister 1-2-12)

RECEIVING: Licking Valley 13-205-2TD (Wheeler 5-139-2TD; Priest 6-49; Clark 1-2; Lohr 1-4); Steubenville 13-262-3TD (Hill 6-125-TD; Mullins 1-3; Felton 1-40-TD; Sewell 3-62; Kernahan 1-21-TD; Muntz 1-12)

FIRST DOWNS: Licking Valley 14; Steubenville 19

FUMBLES-LOST: Licking Valley 1-0; Steubenville 1-0

PENALTIES-YARDS: Licking Valley 4-47; Steubenville 2-30

PUNTS-AVG: Licking Valley 3-37.3; Steubenville 1-32