1984

OHSAA Div. IIState Champions

2nd in Division II Region 7

2nd Ranked AP Poll

 

 

BR	1984 Saccoccia	OPP
27	Youngstown Rayen	0
24	@ East Liverpool	0
34	Columbus Marion Franklin	0
27	@ Dover	16
26	Toledo Devilbiss	0
27	Cambridge	0
28	Wintersville	26
25	Bellaire	0
31	Youngstown East	0
12	Steubenville Catholic Central	7
8	@ Youngstown Ursuline	0
26	N Westlake	6
12	N Columbus Whitehall-Yearling (OT)	9
307	13-0-0	64

Regional Final, Friday November 9th, 1984, Big Red (10-0) vs. Youngstown Ursuline Irish (9-1) at Youngstown State University's Stambaugh Stadium.

There will be plays that fans of the Steubenville Big Red football team will remember for a long time. With time running out in Friday's Division II Region 7 playoff game, Todd Kelley took a pitch from quarterback Steve Nodianos, took 2 steps to his left and then steamed into the endzone for a 1-yard run (see picture above) for what would prove to be the winning touchdown and Joe Johnson ran for the conversion to give Big Red an 8-0 win over Youngstown Ursuline in a soggy Stambaugh Stadium at Youngstown State University. Kelley's run, which capped an 11 play, 75 yard drive and came with just 4:49 left in the game, lifted Big Red to its win and, more importantly, its first win in four post season appearances. That means that Big Red will probably match up with Westlake this Friday in the Division II semifinals. Westlake upped its record to 9-1-1 Friday night when it defeated Cleveland Benedictine 10-7 in overtime.

A large contingent of fans from Steubenville made the drive despite heavy rains that started late Friday afternoon and continued throughout the game. They watched as Big Red recorded a win that will go down as one of the biggest in the school's history. The victory was doubly sweet for coach Reno Saccoccia and Big Red because it enabled the team to avenge a 13-0 loss suffered at the hands of the Fighting Irish in the opening game of the 1983 Division II playoffs at Harding Stadium. Youngstown Cardinal Mooney had defeated Big Red 49-0 in Steubenville's first trip to the playoffs in 1981 and took a 13-2 win from Steubenville in 1982. "I'm very happy," Saccoccia said. "This win made all of the waiting worthwhile. The kids are happy too. They had to play the best football game of their lives to win and they did just that." Ursuline, which concludes its season at 9-2, had entered the game not only as the top team in Region 7, but as the Division II team having the greatest number of points in the Ohio High School Athletic Association's computer rating system. Big Red was 2nd in the region and 2nd in Division II in computer points. Kelley's scoring run was set up by the hard running of Big Red tailback Steve Lucas and fullback Brian Young. After an Ursuline punt had given Steubenville the ball on its own 25, the 5'8'', 165 pound Lucas broke loose on a 32-yard run and then added 8 yards on the next play. From there, the 5'11'', 184 pound Young took over, carrying the ball 7 times and moving Big Red from the Ursuline 35 to inside the 1. Young was stacked up at the goal line on a 1st and goal play and then Kelley motored for the winning score. Lucas finished the night as the game's leading rusher with 96 yards on 19 carries while Young added 47 yards on 12 carries and Kelley 36 yards on 7 carries. The Big Red offense, which was playing its first ever game on artificial turf, rolled to 173 yards on the ground. While the offense would not let the poor weather get in its way, the Big Red "Ghostbuster" defense made things rough on the Irish all evening while on its way to its 8th shutout of the season. The Steubenville defense intimidated the Ursuline all evening, limiting it to 63 yards rushing. Unable to move the football on the ground, Ursuline was forced to go to the air, a strategy that played right into Big Red's hands. Steubenville defenders sacked Ursuline quarterback George Beck 6 times for a total loss of 32 yards. Jim Barren finished the night with 3 sacks, while Ted Gorman, Charlie Keenan and Joe Jones each had 1 shot at the quarterback. John Downard had the interception and Keenan the fumble recovery. Only the fact that Stambaugh Stadium is equipped with artificial turf kept the field conditions from becoming totally unplayable. The rain, plus a strong wind that blew from the southern end of the stadium to the northern end all evening, made things tough on both quarterbacks and kickers. Nodianos would complete only 3 of 10 passes for 13 yards while Irish quarterback Beck was able to complete 3 of 7 passes for 59 yards. The punters from both teams had problems with the wind and rain, but both made up for them by getting astroturf bounces. Big Red's Brian Young had a punt roll 60 yards while Ursuline's Pat Narduzzi had a punt roll 58 yards on the slick plastic. The Irish would only threaten to score once in the game and that came on their first possession when they moved from their own 20 to a 1st down at the Big Red 14. Carlisle Reynolds, who would finish as his team's leading rusher with 47 yards, fumbled on the next carry, though, and Keenan came up with his recovery to kill the drive. The only to lose the ball on downs.

closest the Big Red defense would allow Ursuline to get to the endzone after that was when the Irish moved to the Steubenville 43 late in the 4th quarter. Big Red missed two scoring chances early. Steubenville moved to the Ursuline 20 on its first possession of the night and to the Irish 22 on its second possession only to lose the ball on downs.

 

State Semifinal, Friday November 16th, 1984, Big Red (11-0) vs. Westlake Demons (9-1-1) at Akron Rubber Bowl.

One hungry running back, one determined running back and a defense that shut down yet another offense that has had little trouble moving the ball this year-those are the ingredients the Steubenville Big Red football team put to use Friday night in the Akron Rubber Bowl. Todd Kelley rushed for 139 yards, Brian Young added 113 yards and the Big Red defense gave up just 17 yards rushing as Steubenville downed Westlake 26-6 in an Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II semifinal playoff game. As a result of that win, Big Red will be making its first trip to the Division II championship game this Friday at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Big Red's opponent will be Columbus Whitehall-Yearling, which earned its birth with a 21-7 win over Kettering Alter Friday night. Big Red and Whitehall will both carry 12-0 records into that contest and both will be making their first ever appearance in a championship game.

"I'll tell you what, we won the game, but that was one hell of a football team we played," an exhausted Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia said after the win. "They did what they had to do only we did what we had to do, and things went our way." Westlake, which finishes its season at 9-2-1, had taken a 3-0 lead when Wade Massad kicked a 41-yard field goal with just 2:26 gone in the game. From then on, it was all Big Red. Kelley scored on a 9-yard run midway through the 2nd quarter and then caught a pass from Steve Nodianos for the conversion. Joe Johnson scored on a 1-yard run right before the half to put Big Red up 14-3. After Massad kicked a 20-yard field goal midway through the 3rd period, Young scored on a 10-yard run and Charles Keenan raced 25 yards with an intercepted pass to complete the scoring for Big Red. Part of the reason that things went Big Red's way in Friday's game was the stifling play of its defense. Steubenville, which has recorded 8 shutouts this season, gave up just 73 total yards on the evening and shut down one of the state's top running backs, John Kolesar, in the process. Kolesar, who rushed for over 900 yards this season despite missing 4 games, could manage just 54 yards on 20 carries. The 6', 190 pound senior tailback is being sought by several major college football teams. Keenan, Big Red's 6'2'', 200 pound senior lineman, who had been named Eastern District class AA lineman of the year by the Associated Press, showed that he deserved the honor Friday night. He recorded 2 quarterback sacks and came away with his interception. Linebacker Jim Barren also had an outstanding evening, coming up with a fumble recovery and a sack. Joe Biasi, Curtis Herring, and Anthony Jackson each added interceptions for Big Red while Joe Johnson chipped in with a fumble recovery. "Our defense had played well all year, that's very true," Saccoccia said. "But we still have 1 game to go. The jury is still out." Big Red has yet to given up a touchdown in this years playoffs.

The weather was considerably drier but just a little colder than last Friday. That didn't stop a very large contigent of Big Red fans from making the 2 hour drive to see the game. It was estimated that as many as 7,000 Big Red fans were on hand for the game. Those fans certainly got their money's worth. The 5'11'', 177 pound Kelley returned to his tailback position after missing parts of several games after suffering a shoulder injury late in the season and worked with Young to tear the Westlake defense to shreds. Young, Big Red's 5'11'', 184 pound junior fullback complimented Kelley well, finishing with his best game of the year. The most yardage Young had gotten in a game this year prior to Friday night was 57. "What more can I say?," Saccoccia said. "Young is a determined back and Kelley is hungry. Todd missed several games this year and he would have run for 1,000 yards if he had been healthy." Those two lead a Steubenville ground game that would rush for 257 yards, pass for 54, and roll to 15 first downs. Westlake, by comparison, would finish with just 9 first downs. Big Red got off to a shaky start, fumbling the football away on its 2nd play. The Demons gained zero yards on 3 plays before Massad gave them a 3-0 lead with his 41-yard field goal. The closest Big Red would get to scoring in the 1st quarter was when it moved the ball to the Demons' 17 only to have Westlake's Louie Lutzko strip the ball from Young after he carried it to the 6. Big Red finally got on the scoreboard in the 2nd quarter when it used 4:05 to march 41 yards on 7 plays. Kelley picked up the score on a 9-yard run and then hauled in a pass from Nodianos for the conversion. Nodianos would only complete 3 passes on the evening, but all 3 couldn't have come at better times. His first completion covered 14 yards to Julius "Juke" Shackleford and came on a 3rd and 8 play to keep that scoring drive alive. Johnson recovered a fumble on the Demons' next play on offense and Big Red used 7 plays and 3:14 to march to its second score of the quarter. That touchdown belonged to Johnson and came when he dove across the goal line from the 1. Again, a Nodianos completion kept the drive alive. This one went to John Murray and covered 23 yards on a 4th and 19 play from the Westlake 28. A pass for the attempted conversion failed ad Big Red led 14-3 at the half. Johnson's score was also the game's most controversial play. Westlake knocked the ball from his hands as he dove across the goal line and recovered the apparent fumble. The officials ruled that Johnson had broken the plane of the goal line before the fumble, however, and called the play a touchdown. The Demons drove from their own 43 to the Big Red 3 to open the 2nd half, but the drive stalled and the had to settle for Massad's 20-yard field goal. That cut the Big Red lead to 14-6 with 5:25 left in the 3rd quarter. After that score, Kelley and Young took matters in to their own hands, leading Big Red on a 73-yard, 10 play march. Kelley carried 5 times for 29 yards while Young carried 5 times for 44 yards on that drive. His last 10 yards were on the scoring run that gave Big Red a 20-6 lead. Keenan closed out the scoring when he intercepted a pass in a crowd at the Westlake 25 and motored in for the touchdown that made the final 26-6. "We are not going to be happy just going to Columbus," Saccoccia said. "We are not going to be happy unless we can go there, play to the best of our ability and win a state championship."

 

State Championship, Friday November 23rd, 1984, Big Red (12-0) vs. Columbus Whitehall-Yearling Rams (12-0) at Ohio State University's Ohio Stadium.

Steubenville Big Red (12-0) battles Whitehall (12-0) on a crisp November afternoon that no Big Red fan will ever forget. In the end, the Steubenville Big Red football team would not be denied. In the end, Big Red did what it has done all season-it used its high powered running game to move 20 yards on just 6 plays, the last few inches coming when Joe Johnson stuck his head down and burrowed through the line to give Big Red the winning touchdown in its 12-9 overtime win over Columbus Whitehall-Yearling Friday afternoon at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

That run gave Steubenville something it-or no other team from the Ohio Valley-had never gotten before. That run allowed Big Red to win the Ohio Division II football championship, the first state title ever won by an area Ohio football team in a game that was decided on the playing field. "This is the best feeling i the world," an exhausted Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia said after the game. "This is something that the kids have worked for since they started to play football. This is one of the greatest things that could happen for this team, the school, and the community." The victory, which allowed Big Red to finish the season unbeaten, did not come easily. After a scoreless 1st half, Big Red broke on top early in the 3rd quarter when Joe Johnson recovered a blocked punt in the endzone. Big Red's John Downard pushed his way through the Whitehall-Yearling line to block the punt at the Rams' 25 and Johnson followed the bouncing ball into the endzone before falling on it. Johnson not only scored all of Big Red's points in the win, but he also tied two Division II records in the process. His two touchdowns ties the individual record for touchdowns scored and his 12 points tie the record for points scored by an individual. The kick for conversion failed, but those 6 points, which came with 1:56 gone in the 3rd quarter, held up until late in the 4th quarter when the Rams put together a 14 play scoring drive that chewed 5:40 off the clock. Jim Soma made an acrobatic catch of a 6-yard Brian Jones pass with just 21 seconds left in regulation play for the tying score. The Rams, who finish at 12-1, appeared to be ready to take the lead in the contest when good fortune smiled on Steubenville. All that stood between Whitehall and its first state championship was an extra point. And the person doing the kicking, Jim Carter, was one of the best kickers in the central part of the state. He had consistently hit 45-yard fieldgoals during the pregame drills. But he would never get the chance to kick the football. The snap from center was bobbled and holder Mark Stewart was forced to run with the football. Stewart could get no closer than the 2 yard line and the game remained tied at 6. That set up overtime. The Rams moved the ball from the Steubenville 20 to the 5 before settling for Carter's 19-yard fieldgoal to go up 9-6. That kick meant Steubenville's entire season came down to a 20 yard drive. "We went into the overtime knowing that they were trying to settle for a fieldgoal and that we were going to score a touchdown," Saccoccia said. "Both teams accomplished their goals in the overtime. We just set our sights a little higher, that's all. They are a hell of a football team, make no doubt about that. Our kids just wanted it a little more than theirs did. After they kicked that fieldgoal, I told our kids not to worry. All they had to worry about was moving the ball 20 yards against 11 people. There was only 1 person who could stop us-and that was the man upstairs." Big Red would not be denied. The Steubenville offensive line, which had had a rough time against the Rams defense all afternoon, started to open up gaping holes for fullback Todd Kelley to take advantage of. The 5'11'', 177 pound Kelley had 2 carries of 4 yards and a carry of 8 yards to move the ball to the Whitehall-Yearling 4. Brian Young plowed through the Rams' defense to the 1 and, after Nodianos was stopped on a quarterback sneak, Johnson took a handoff, put his head down, and snaked through the defenders and into the endzone for the winning score. It was somehow fitting that Johnson, Kelley and Young would each have a hand in that winning drive. In addition to his 2 touchdowns, Johnson added 13 yards rushing on 3 carries. The 5'11'', 215 pound junior also finished with 8 tackles. Kelley, meanwhile, finished as his teams leading rusher with 62 yards on 18 carries, while Young added 47 yards on 12 carries.

Official attendance figures for the game were not supplied by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, but a crowd estimated at 9,000 people looked on as Big Red claimed its first state title. Of that number, estimates show that about two-thirds were cheering for Big Red. When the official figures are announced, it will, in all probability, make Friday's attendance one of the 5 largest crowds ever to see a playoff session. Those figures will include fans who had watched Newark Catholic claim the Division V title with a 14-6 win over Middletown Fenwick. The fans had much to cheer about. In addition to the overtime heroics, the Big Red defense, which had recorded 8 shutouts this season, came up with 4 quarterback sacks and 2 fumble recoveries. Matt Morrison, Brian Young, Joe Jones, and Charlie Keenan had quarterback sacks, while Young and, you guessed it, Johnson each had fumble recoveries for Big Red. Many of those fans gathered at Harding Stadium late Friday night for a welcoming ceremony. "That crowd was incredible, wasn't it?" Saccoccia asked. "Those fans wanted it as bad as we did. We sensed that we were a little down after that Whitehall scoring pass, but when they missed that extra point, the crowd got going again. We needed this win," Saccoccia said. "This victory will be a key part of our program. We'll celebrate for a few days but next year we will have to start all over again. The key to any continued success we have will be in our juniors," Saccoccia continued. "I hope that this year's juniors will be just as good next year when they are the leaders as they were this year when they were followers." The win was very special for Saccoccia for several reasons. First, it gave him a state championship. Second, it allowed him to raise his record in two years as Big Red's head coach to 23-1-0. And third, it was accomplished by many of the players he had coached while he was head coach at Harding Junior High. "You know, at least 5,000 coaches have won a state championship," Saccoccia said. "And they went through the same things that I did. When I started at Harding, there was this group of kids that were in the 6th grade. I coached them when they came to Harding and I have coached them now. This is a very special moment for them. You have to remember where you have come from and not let yourself get too far away from that. I learned a lot about coaching while I was at Harding. One of the things I learned was perseverance. This group played with perserverance and intensity. I thank God for this," continued Saccoccia. "I am a believer in God. When I was younger, I used to wear number 84, so I figured that 1984 was our year. Now I don't believe in the stars, but I do believe in the person who makes the stars."

 

 

1984~
Fred Wise w
James Barren end
John Murray wr
Todd Kelly rb
Anthony Jackson rb
Mike Corsi k
Steve Lucas rb
Rick Anderson wr
Mark Tomeucci c
Charles Keenan t
Bob Andreen g
John Sandonas t
Albert Dawson te
Terry Minto wr
Matt Morrison end
Dave Kromalic end
Charles Lytle end
Julius Shackleford wr
Dan Wise db
Steve Nodianos qb
Marcus McGhee db
Joe Biasi db
Joe Jones lb
Sheldon Purdy fb
Ed Jackson wr
Joe Johnson lb
Brian Young lb
Charles Haire end
Ted Gorman c
Mike Anderson c
George Morates g
Matt Prayso g
Jim Dugan end
John Downard g
Greg Mamula g
Ed Acconey t
Jim Strachan t
Don Moore end
Mike Cole t
Mickey Travick t
Myron Walker end
Nick Mamula te
Maurice Lytle end
Curtis Herring db
Mike West db
Paul Shepherd db
Jerome Peterson wr
Maurice Isler rb
John Edwards wr
Tyrone Cooper rb
Henry Taglione c
Ron Milanti c
Gerry Morrison g
Perry Jeter g
Tim Crossley g
Paul Pyle t
Ron Turner c
Robert Ewing g
Nate Simmons g
Tony McGhee end