1985

Division II State Semi Finalist

2nd in Division II Region 7

15th in AP Poll

 

 

BR	1985 Saccoccia	OPP
7	Youngstown Rayen	14
27	East Liverpool	7
32	Columbus Marion Franklin	0
24	Dover	0
17	Niles McKinley	7
55	@ Cambridge	20
14	Wintersville	0
10	@ Bellaire	11
13	Youngstown East	12
14	Steubenville Catholic Central	0
21	Wintersville (OT)	14
26	N Canton Catholic Central	19
16	N Youngstown Cardinal Mooney	18
276	10-3-0	122

Regional Semifinal, Friday November 8th, 1985, Big Red (8-2) vs. Wintersville Golden Warriors (8-2) at Death Valley.

Steubenville Big Red and Wintersville both entered the game with 8-2 records, with Big Red winning the regular season matchup 14-0 a few weeks earlier. It the game were a boxing match, Big Red was knocked flat on the canvas early in the final round, its sole chance of victory harbored in the hopes of landing a wild punch to floor its opponent. The wild punch came in the form of Julius Shackleford. His 48-yard touchdown reception in the waning seconds of regulation time knotted the contest and Steve Nodianos' 1-yard run in overtime handed Big Red a 21-14 victory over Wintersville in an Ohio Division II playoff game Friday night in Harding Stadium. Wintersville has a brilliant season ended at 8-3.

When the win is described as come-from-behind, it is almost an understatement. When Golden Warrior tailback Kevin Wesley broke free for a 73-yard touchdown scamper in the 4th quarter-out running Big Red's Mike West to the endzone-Wintersville had a 14-0 lead with only 7:25 remaining in the contest. Until that point, both teams relied on the running game, each meeting some moderate success. In that final 7 minutes, however, Nodianos would throw the football 15 times in rallying Big Red from near-certain elimination. The first touchdown march covered 66 yards in 15 plays. Three consectutive 3rd down passes were completed, as was one 4th down play. On 3rd and 10 from the Big Red 34-yard line, Shackleford wiggled free for a 21-yard reception. On 3rd and 10 from Wintersville's 45, James Creech got loose for an 18-yard connection. On 3rd and 10 from the Warrior 27, Marcus McGhee caught a pass for a 6-yard gain, held short of the 1st down by a jarring hit by Wesley. Wesley hit McGhee low, sending him spinning over backwards at the 27-yard line. Both players were shaken up, yet both stayed in the game. Senior Brian Young got free over the middle for a clutch 6-yard reception on 4th down. Big Red then went to the ground game, Nodianos crashing over from the 2-yard line a few plays later with 3:45 left. Rusty Ranallo's conversion closed the Warrior lead to 14-7. Wintersville was held on downs and punted, Big Red gaining possession at its own 35-yard line with 1:37 remaining. Nodianos scrambled out of bounds for a 13-yard gain near midfield. McGhee caught a 12-yard pass, but a clipping penalty moved the ball back to the Warrior 48-yard line. Then, undoubtedly, the play of the game. Nodianos found Shackleford over the middle, the senior receiver catching the ball near the 30-yard line. As the Warrior defender was blocked to the turf, Shackleford had an avenue open toward the right corner of the endzone. He outran the pack to the goal line, touching off pandemonium on the Big Red side of the stadium with 42 seconds left on the clock. After a penalty nullified Ranallo's first conversion, the second was perfect and the game headed for overtime.

The Warrior won the coin flip and gave first possession to Big Red. Starting at the 20-yard line, Young carried twice for 5 tough yards, McGhee for 4 more on 3rd down. On 4th and 1, Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia opted to let Young carry for the 1st down. The senior fullback picked up 3 yards in doing so. On 1st down from the 8 yard line, Joe Johnson carried for 2 yards, then 5, and Nodianos snuck into the endzone behind center Ted Gorman and Ranallo's kick gave Big Red its first lead at 21-14. On Wintersville's possession, Darrell Jackson carried for 2 yards to the Big Red 18-yard line. Two incomplete passes, intended for Mike Orbovich, followed. On 4th down, Curtis Herring intercepted a pass intended for the endzone. Just like that, Big Red had seemingly accomplished the impossible. Just like that, for the Warriors it was over. Wintersville had dominated on its first possession of the game, going 67 yards in 15 plays and eating the first 7:28 off the clock. Three 3rd downs were converted during the drive-Wesley caught a 9-yard pass on 3rd and 6 for what would be Wintersville's lone completion of the night. Dean Ferguson scrambled for 14 yards on 3rd and 14, and Jackson carried for 2 yards on 3rd and one from Big Red's 3-yard line. Ferguson scored on a quarterback sneak and his kick gave Wintersville a 7-0 lead. An opportunity to increase the lead was missed by Wintersville early in the 2nd quarter. Facing 4th and 1 from the Big Red 20-yard line, Wintersville coach Sam Fornsaglio opted for the field goal attempt. Ferguson's 37-yard effort had the distance, but barly missed to the right. Big Red had the football for only 1:37 of the opening quarter. Steubenville had it for nearly all of the 2nd. A 20 play, 75-yard march that consumed 9:22 of the 2nd quarter ended with no points. Big Red took the ball to Wintersville's 6-yard line and had a first down. McGhee carried for no gain, Young for a yard, and Nodianos threw slightly behind Shackleford in the endzone. On 4th down, Steubenville went for it. Throwing the halfback option pass, McGhee overthrew Charles Haire in the endzone. Neither team threatned in the 3rd quarter. When Jackson recovered a McGhee fumble and Wesley broke through Big Red's defense for his 73-yard run 3 plays after that recovery-and Ferguson added another conversion-Wintersville's side began to celebrate. Albeit, a little too early. Nodianos would complete 11 of 28 passes for 161 yards and Wesley carried 14 times for 112 stripes. Statistically, they were the standouts. Realistically, there was not a player on the field who was not a star in the eyes of the coaching staffs and the 9,619 fans who witnessed the proceedings. The attendance is an Ohio Division II playoff record. The performances on both sides never made an attendance record more fitting.

 

Regional Final, Friday November 15th, 1985, Big Red (9-2) vs. Canton Central Catholic Crusaders (9-2) at Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

With its top rusher still nursing a leg injury, Steubenville Big Red turned to its big fullback in Friday's Division II, Region 7 championship game, and that back was up to the challenge. Joe Johnson rushed for 192 yards and scored 2 touchdowns to lead Big Red to a 26-19 win over Canton Central Catholic in front of 8,163 fans in soggy Paul Brown Tiger Stadium at Massillon. That victory advances Big Red into next weekend's Division II semifinal round.

"We sucked it up and came back and got it," a tired Joe Johnson said in the Big Red locker room after the game. "This was a real team effort. The offensive line did a heck of a job and I took advantage of it." Johnson, who had entered the game with just 117 yards rushing this season, not only took advantage of the holes his offensive line opened up, he also completed a pass off an option play that set up a Big Red score. He even came up with a quarterback sack to cut off a Crusader scoring drive in the 3rd quarter. Big Red tailback Dan Wise, who is the team's leading rusher with 701 yards, gained just 1 yard on 1 carry in the game. Wise has been sidelined with an ankle injury. "It's about time he did something," Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia said of the 215 pound Johnson. "I'm happy for him but you have to remember that this was a team effort." While Johnson was leading the Big Red ground game to 210 yards, the Big Red defense was shutting down what had been a potent offense. The Crusaders, who finish at 9-3, managed just 93 yards rushing. Chris Marmon's 62 yards led the CCC attack. The secret to the Crusader ground game this year had been its offensive line, led by 6'3'', 270 pound center Roger Duffy and his twin brother, 6'2'', 270 pound right tackle Pat Duffy. Not only was the Big Red defensive line able to control the line of scrimmage when Canton Central Catholic had the ball, the offensive line was able to control the line when Big Red had the ball, in spite of the Duffys. "We had a little trouble against them," admitted John Downard, who earlier in the week had been named the Eastern District class AA Lineman of the Year by the Associated Press. "When we played away from them, though, we were able to neutralize them. I also think they got a little tired in the 4th quarter. Joe played a great game," Downard added. "That is what we have been waiting to see from him all year."

What Big Red was not waiting to see, however, was Canton Central Catholic jumping out to a 12-0 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. Tom Reicosky capped a 64-yard drive with a 1-yard run on the Crusaders' first possession and then Tony Adams grabbed a 20-yard touchdown pass from Tom McBride near the end of the quarter. Both conversion attempts failed and the Crusaders took a 12-0 lead into the 2nd quarter. The big play on the first drive was a shuttle pass to Reicosky that the 5'10'', 180 pound senior carried for 47 yards. The team traded possessions after that first score before Reicosky, who was also CCC's punter, hit a coffin corner kick at the Big Red 1 yard line. A clipping penalty brought the ball back to just in front of the Big Red goal line. Big Red punted 4 plays later and the Crusaders needed just 3 plays to drive 34 yards to paydirt. Even with his team trailing 12-0 early, Saccoccia said he was never really worried. "I never gave up this week," the veteran mentor explained. "What happened in the early going was that they caught us with that shuttle pass. Then they only had to drive 34 to their 2nd score. I didn't think that they could really drive the ball against us." From that point, Big Red quarterback Steve Nodianos just handed the ball to Johnson. Johnson gained all but 1 yard as Big Red used 10 plays to drive 67 yards to its first score. Johnson got the touchdown on a 1-yard run and Rusty Ranallo's kick cut the CCC lead to 12-7. The Crusaders failed to move the ball on their next possession and the Big Red offense went right back to work, using 9 plays to drive 56 yards to its second touchdown. Once again the workhorse was Johnson, who rushed for 17 yards on that drive and completed a 12-yard pass to Charles Haire on an option play that moved the ball from the Crusaders' 19 to the 7. Johnson bullied his way to the 5 before Nodianos found Haire with a 5-yard touchdown pass that gave Steubenville the lead for good. A pass for the conversion failed, but Big Red still took a 13-12 lead into intermission.

The Big Red defense stopped two Crusader drives in the 3rd quarter. Brian Young intercepted a pass at the Big Red 23 to stop the first Crusader drive of the quarter and Johnson sacked McBride on a 4th and 6 play at the Steubenville 29. The Crusaders drove to the Steubenville 28 on their next possession only to see the drive end when Young made his 2nd interception of the night. That gave Big Red a 1st down at it's own 25. Johnson raced 61 yards on the 1st play from scrimmage to move the ball to the CCC 14, and collected the touchdown 5 plays later on a 2-yard run. The kick for conversion failed and Big Red held a 19-12 lead with 8:47 to play in the game. Maurice Lytle recovered a fumble at the Canton Central Catholic 35 on the following kickoff and Big Red needed just 5 plays to drive the 35 yards to the clinching score. Julius "Juke" Shackleford hauled in an 18-yard scoring pass from Nodianos for the touchdown and Ranallo's kick gave the Big Red a 26-12 lead with 6:11 left in the game. Canton Central Catholic drove 50 yards in 4 plays to a touchdown with 2:30 left in the game. McBride hit Marmon with a 30-yard pass for the score and Steve Udeck kicked the extra point, but it was too little, too late for the Crusaders. The win was Big Red's 5th straight in playoff action. Big Red was presented with the regional championship trophy after the game by OHSAA Commissioner Richard Armstrong.

 

State Semifinal, Friday November 22nd, 1985, Big Red (10-2) vs. Youngstown Cardinal Mooney Cardinals (10-1) at Akron Rubber Bowl.

Steubenville Big Red's dream of making a return trip to Columbus to defend its Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II championship came to an end Friday evening in the Akron Rubber Bowl when it suffered an 18-16 loss to Youngstown Cardinal Mooney. Mooney scored the winning points on a 19-yard field goal by Pat Nelson with 45 seconds left in the Division II semifinal contest. That field goal, which came at the end of a 78-yard, 16 play drive, secured the win for the Cardinals who will play Galion for the Division II championship a week from Saturday in Ohio Stadium. Galion raised its record to 13-0 with a 14-10 win over Cincinnati Greenhills in the other Division II semifinal played Friday night.

"The kids played hard, they played really hard," said Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia. "We just caught the fever too late. We caught the fever in October, but it was just too late. We should have caught it in August. Once we caught that fever, we played like we knew we could play". Big Red had taken a 16-15 lead with just 6:39 left on the clock when it drove 80 yards in 15 plays. Joe Johnson capped that drive when he bulled his way into the endzone from the 9-yard line. Rusty Ranallo kicked the PAT and Big Red had its lead. The Cardinals, who stand at 11-1, came right back, however, using 16 plays to drive from their own 20 to the Big Red 2-yard line. Nelson calmly booted the winning field goal from the far right hash mark against a driving wind to give his team the win. "I had no qualms about calling on him," said Cardinal Mooney coach Don Bucci of Nelson. "I was hoping we could have gotten the ball into the endzone, but when we couldn't, I knew he could do the job." The Cardinals will be playing for their 4th state title next weekend. The Cardinals have been semifinalist before in 1976 and 1981. Mooney had driven to a 1st and goal inside the Big Red 10 yard line on its winning drive before the Steubenville defense stiffened. Tailback Devlin Culliver had 2 carries for 3 yards each and then quarterback Mark Pellini fought his way to the 2-yard line before Bucci called on Nelson, and the 5'11'', 170 pound junior calmly booted the winning field goal. Pellini finished as the game's leading rusher with 94 yards on 14 carries. His longest run of the evening came on a 3rd and 2 play from the Big Red 49 when he carried for 24 yards to the 25. Mooney scored the winning points 5 plays later. "Their quarterback was the key to their offense," Saccoccia said. "We just weren't able to stop him. I knew we had to stop their quarterback. I wasn't that worried about their tailback because I knew their quarterback was the man who made their offense go." Even after Mooney scored what would prove to be the winning points, Big Red still had life. After Julius Shackleford returned the kickoff to the Big Red 32, quarterback Steve Nodianos hit Curtis Herring with a 15-yard pass to move the ball to the Steubenville 47. Nodianos threw 2 incomplete passes leaving Big Red with a 3rd down and 10 to go with 10 seconds left in the game. Nodianos connected with Shackleford for an apparent 18-yard gain, but Steubenville was penilized for having an ineligible receiver down field. A 4th down pass with 5 seconds left in the game fell incomplete and the season had come to an end for last year's Division II champion.

Mooney finished with 195 yards rushing while Big Red had 117 yards rushing. Joe Johnson, who had rushed for 192 yards in Big Red's 26-19 win over Canton Central Catholic in last week's Region 7 championship game, paced Steubenville with 79 yards rushing on 19 carries. Even when he wasn't carrying the ball, Johnson was making his presence felt Friday night. The 215 pound senior returned a blocked punt 37 yards for a touchdown late in the 2nd quarter that gave Big Red a 9-7 lead at halftime. Brian Young had come clean from the outside on that play to block the kick. Young, who had anchored the Big Red defense for the last two seasons, suffered a knee injury on that play and was helped off the field. He was able to play in the 2nd half, but was obviously injured. Big Red had taken a 3-0 lead when Rusty Ranallo kicked a 38-yard field goal with 3:35 to play in the first quarter. That kick capped a 9 play, 44-yard drive and came against a driving wind at the open end of the stadium. Ranallo's kick appeared to have enough distance when it left his foot, but the wind pushed the ball and it just fell over the crossbar for the score. Big Red tailback Dan Wise, who had missed the past few weeks with an ankle injury, gained 15 yards on 4 carries on that drive. Wise finished with 31 yards on 8 carries. The rest of the yardage on that drive belonged to Big Red quarterback Steve Nodianos. Nodianos completed an 11-yard pass to Charles Haire and a 15-yard pass to Niles Herring and added 3 yards rushing on that drive. Nodianos completed 7 of 13 passes for 77 yards on the evening. Mooney drove 78 yards in 14 plays to its first touchdown with 4:42 left in the half. The Cardinals converted two 3rd downs and two 4th downs on the drive, which ended when Culliver scored from the 3-yard line off an option play. Nelson's kick gave Mooney a 7-3 lead. Pellini was the big man on that drive, which started at the Cardinal Mooney 22, coming up with long runs to convert two 3rd downs and connecting with Culliver on a 16-yard screen pass to convert a 4th down. His biggest play on that drive, however, came on the very first play. Pellini fumbled a snap from center and picked the ball up on his own 12. He avoided a charging Joe Johnson, rolled to his left and completed a pass to Dan Dascenzo at the Mooney 21. After the teams traded possessions, Mooney mounted a drive that stalled when it was faced with a 4th and 6 at its own 48. Big Red jumped offsides on Mooney's first punt, giving the Cardinals an extra 5 yards. Faced with a 4th and 1, Bucci elected to go for a 1st down. Pellini was unable to get a play off before being hit with a delay of game penalty, however, moving the ball back to the original line of scrimmage. Walt Sweeney dropped back to punt again, only this time Young came from the right side of the line untouched to block the kick. Johnson scooped up the loose ball at the 37 and rambled in for the score. "We had added that play this week," Saccoccia said. "We had seen from the films that they appeared to be weak on special teams and we felt we could take advantage of that." A pass for the 2-point conversion, on a fake kick, failed and Big Red tooke a 9-7 lead into the half.

Mooney's Greg Snyder recovered a fumble on the 4th play of the 3rd quarter and the Cardinals marched 40 yards on 10 plays for the go-ahead touchdown. Pat Delahunty got that score on a 1-yard run and Culliver ran for the conversion that put the Cardinals up 15-9. After the teams traded possessions, Big Red put together on of its most impressive drives of the season to take the lead once again. Big Red converted four 3rd downs on that drive before Johnson finally fought his way into the endzone. Ranallo's kick gave Big Red a 16-15 lead. "When we had to pull together and score, we were able to score," Saccoccia said. "We just weren't able to come up with the big play on defense. Mooney is to be congratulated. They won the game and they deserved to win it. Every player did a great job, though. I just can't say enough about the way these kids played." Mooney, however, would not be denied and marched to its winning field goal. "It took a championship team to put together a drive like that," Bucci said. "When they had put together that long drive just before that, you could see the momentum had shifted to them. But we were able to come back. Steubenville played a great game. Coach Saccoccia had them well prepared."

This is the 3rd meeting between the schools in the playoffs. Mooney had taken a 49-0 win when the teams played in 1981 and a 13-2 win when they met in 1982. Even though his team's season came to an end Friday night, Saccoccia is already looking ahead to next season. "We will be back next year," he said. "We will start the season in the first week on January. We have things to accomplish, things to do. I think I have to make a couple of changes. I think if I prepared as hard as the players, we could have won this game. The players played as hard as they knew how. I wish to thank all the fans who gave us all the support we had this season," Saccoccia added. "I also want to thank the parents for all of the late hours they put in and the coaches for all the loyalty, hard work, and dedication they showed this season. Most of all, though, I want to thank the players for their 4 years of dedication and hard work."

 

 

 

1985~
Julius "Jukie" Shackleford wr
Joe Johnson rb
Dan Wise db
Steve Nodianos qb
James Creech wr
Curtis Herring db
Mike West db
Rusty Ranallo k
Robert Bryan lb
Marcus McGhee tb
Joe Biasi wr
Joe Jones lb
Jim Kelley lb
Jerome Peterson wr
Maurice Isler tb
John Haynes wr
Ed Jackson wr
Dunrick Yetts fb
Travis Jackson wr
Paul Shepherd db
Tom Doyle db
Lance Bickerstaff wr
Brian Palmer wr
Brian Young lb
Charles Haire te
Matt Prayso lb
John Lytle wr
Scott Boulson wr
Lamar Kelley db
Tyrone Cooper rb
Paul Pyle t
Henry Taglione t
Ted Gorman c
Mike Anderson c
Jeff Yeaman t
Ron Millanti c
Jeff Hargrove t
Dan Keenan lb
Doug Charland t
Gerry Morrison g
Perry Jeter g
Nate Dorsey t
John Downard g
Greg Mamula g
Shawn McCullough t
Tim Crossley g
Sean Nation g
Jason Rinaldo c
Mike Zimmerman g
Louis Schaippa lb
Jim Strachan t
Costa Mastros g
Don Moore te
Ed Smith t
Mike Cole t
Nick Mamula t
Micky Travick t
Todd Christian te
Del Vinson lb
Mark Wilson wr
Maurice Lytle te
Anthony McGhee te
Sam Pagley wr
Craig Kerr te
Chris Terry rb
Niles Herring wr
Jim Gardner t