1987

Division II State Runner-up

2nd in Division II Region 7

7th ranked AP Poll

 

 

BR	1987 Saccoccia	OPP
34	Cleveland South	6
12	@ Warren G. Harding	21
18	Dover	14
35	Cleveland West Tech	24
30	Weirton Wva.	0
28	Wintersville (OT)	27
35	East Liverpool	0
42	Warrensville Heights	20
21	Steubenville Catholic Central	8
42	Youngstown East	0
35	Columbus St. Francis DeSales	17
27	N Columbus Bishop Watterson	20
28	N Kettering Archbishop Alter	10
14	N Akron Buchtel	26
401	12-2-0	193

Regional Semifinal, Saturday November 14th, 1987, Big Red (9-1) vs. Columbus DeSales Stallions (9-1) at Death Valley.

Missing that dominating 1st half that it has become accustomed to, the Steubenville Big Red football team had to find other resources to defeat Columbus St. Francis DeSales in their Ohio Division II playoff game at Harding Stadium Saturday evening. It found plenty...and squelched DeSales 35-17 to advance to the region finals in the post-season grid tournament.

Big Red fell behind 3-0 late in the 2nd quarter and while doing so, lost defensive tackle Hans Yetts to a personal foul and ejection from the game. Ironically, the penalty came on a play in which DeSales kicker Dan Sprout was wide right on a 30-yard field goal attempt. Getting a 1st down on the penalty, the Stallions had new life at the Big Red 7-yard line, eventually settling for a 20-yard field goal from Sprout with 6:07 left in the half. The drive covered 23 yards, but took 11 plays and 4:23 to get that far as Big Red's defense grudgingly gave up yardage all night. Needing to get through 6 minutes of football to maintain the lead at intermission, DeSales failed to get through 20 seconds. Dunyasha "Tubbo" Yetts took the ensuing kickoff and rambled 85 yards through the middle for a touchdown. Rusty Ranallo's conversion gave the hosts a 7-3 lead. The touchdown marked Steubenville's first kick return for 6 points this season. On DeSales next play from scrimmage, quarterback Jack Elgin could not get together with running back Joe Cua on the handoff, the ball bouncing off the runner's hip pad and onto the turf, where Big Red's Lou Schiappa covered it at the Stallions' 21-yard line. Fullback Dunrick Yetts carried 5 of the 7 plays it took to reach the endzone, crashing across the goal line on a 1-yard run with 2:30 left in the half.

The conversion gave Big Red a 14-3 lead at the intermission. Dunrick Yetts lost a fumble near midfield on Big Red's first offensive play of the 3rd quarter, but the defense held and forced a punt from the Steubenville 34. Punter Steve Sacco shanked the punt into the stands, the 2-yard boot giving Big Red possession at its 32. Eight plays and 68 yards later, Big Red had a 21-3 lead. Dunyasha Yetts-who had 108 yards on 14 carries to crack the 1000 yard mark for the year-went over from 17 yards out. Big plays in the drive included Jimmy Kelley running 6 yards on a 3rd and 5 and Chuck Hython grabbing a 33-yard pass from quarterback James Creech on a 2nd and 14, bringing the ball to the Stallions' 25-yard line. Big Red's defense-spearheaded by the consistent penetration of end Greg Bell, linebacker Dan Keenan, tackle Rob Rea, and linebacker Robert Bryan-continually halted the DeSales offense in the first 3 periods, limiting the Stallions to 96 net yards during that time. Big Red executed a 13 play, 79-yard drive late in the 3rd quarter and into the 4th. Kelley got the score on a 4-yard run and Dunyasha Yetts had runs of 18 and 10 yards to highlight the march. With 8:29 left, Big Red had a 28-3 lead and when Keenan intercepted an Elgin pass over the middle and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown with 6:51 left, the lead reached 35-3 against a team that came into the game winners in 33 of its previous 34 contests covering 3 seasons.

Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia filtered in some reserves from there and Elgin picked up a couple of touchdown passes to make the final score closer than it actually was. Brief drives of 70 and 82 yards were completed with scoring tosses of 9 yards to Dan Daugherty and 25 yards to Steve Borghese, the last score coming with just 1:55 on the clock. Elgin, throwing courageously under almost constant pressure, completed 13 of 31 passes for 176 yards. Creech only had to throw the ball 4 times all evening, his only attempt of the 2nd half being the 33-yarder to Hython. Penalties and scuffle marred the game to some degree. Big Red was flagged 15 times for 162 yards, including numerous major penalties. DeSales was hit for 83 yards on 8 penalties. The benches emptied during a brief skirmish in the 4th quarter, but order was restored without major incident. Jared Van Guilder, DeSales' 1000 yard rusher, was held to 31 yards on 13 carries. Including sacks, the Stallions managed just 36 net yards on 29 attempts. DeSales ends its season at 9-2. The crowd was estimated at 7,000.

 

Regional Final, Friday November 20th, 1987, Big Red (10-1) vs. Columbus Watterson Eagles (9-2) at Zanesville's Sulsberger Stadium.

He giveth and he taketh away. Leon Sawyer, Steubenville Big Red defensive back, was victimized by a 92-yard touchdown pass from Waterson quarterback Matt Callahan to flanker Tony Dupler in the 4th period of the Ohio Division II, region 7 championship game at Sulsberger Stadium in Zanesville. Watterson's conversion attempt-which would have tied the game-was foiled when the snap was fumbled by the holder and his desperation pass fell harmlessly into the endzone with 7:33 left in the game. On Watterson's next possession, Sawyer intercepted a 4th down Callahan pass and returned the ball 47 yards to the Eagle 25-yard line, setting up the final touchdown of Big Red's 27-20 victory.

The final score came on a 1-yard touchdown run by Dunyasha "Tubbo" Yetts with just 25 seconds left to play. Yetts had 108 yards on 26 carries for Big Red to lead a ground attack that chewed up 218 yards on the night. Actually it appeared Big Red would wrap the game up in the first half. Steubenville, in fact, had 3 touchdowns on the board before Watterson could get off its 7th offensive play of the game. Big Red took the opening kickoff and cruised 76 yards in 13 plays, the touchdown coming on a 3rd and 6 from the Eagle 25-yard line. Quarterback James Creech stepped back and found receiver Chuck Hython open on a crossing pattern. Hython split defenders Grey Snapp and Jason Radtke en route to the endzone. Key plays in the drive included a 12-yard completion to John Haynes on 3rd and 9 for Steubenville's initial 1st down of the game and then an 8-yard run by Jimmy Kelley. The drive stayed alive when Creech's snap count drew Watterson lineman Darren Higgins offsides on 4th and 4 from the Eagles' 34. After the TD Big Red got the ball back 2 plays later when a Callahan pass deflected off receiver Mike Grom's hands and into the arms of Rob Bryan, who returned it 27 yards to the Watterson 1-yard line. Fullback Dunrick Yetts plowed in from there. Two plays later it looked like Big Red would get another score when Dan Keenan intercepted a lame duck pass, returning it to the Watterson 40. Hans Yetts was largely to blame for Callahan's poorly thrown pass as the Big Red defender drilled him before he could get anything on the ball. A defensive holding call, however, nullified the interception. Late in the 1st period and into the 2nd, Big Red drove 67 yards on 9 plays, Creech scoring on an option run from 13 yards out. Yetts had runs of 13 and 16 yards to key that march. Leading 21-0 and with plenty of momentum, Big Red suddenly saw its lead shrink. Watterson marched 55 yards on 8 plays just before the half, Tim Tortorello catching a 20-yard pass from Callahan for the score. The conversion pass failed and Big Red had a 21-6 lead at intermission. Watterson never managed to run consistently on Big Red, ending the game with just 44 yards net rushing. Gregg Bell, Dan Keenan, Lou Schiappa, Todd Christian and other recognizable names again succeeded in penatrating the line of scrimmage. Still, the Eagles scrapped back.

Taking the 2nd half kickoff, they drove 71 yards in 9 plays, going to the air. Dupler caught a 17-yard pass, Paul Adams got loose for a 25-yard run and Dupler took a 13-yard pass and got by John Lytle into the endzone. Callahan's conversion cut the gap to 21-14 with 8:00 still left in the 3rd quarter. While Big Red's attack stalled most of the 2nd half-generating just 5 first downs-the "Nightmare" defense held on. Sawyer intercepted a pass to kill one Watterson possession and a Keenan sack apparently put the Eagles out of scoring range at their own 8-yard line. That is when Callahan, scrambling for his life, lofted a ball near midfield to Dupler along the right sideline. Sawyer went for the interception and missed, sailing out of bounds while Dupler pulled the pigskin in. There was nobody left to prevent him from scoring. The aforementioned conversion fumble occurred, however, Sawyer eventually redeemed himself, and Big Red had the victory. Kelley had 9 carries for 31 yards and Creech completed 5 of 9 passes for 62 yards and 2 interceptions. Both thefts were by Mike Durant. Callahan completed just 5 of 15 aerials for 149 yards and 3 interceptions. Adams had 14 carries for 56 yards with Callahan ending the game with minus 33 yards rushing. For the 2nd straight playoff game, personal fouls and other penalties plagued Big Red. Steubenville was flagged 17 times for 155 yards, but overcame the mistakes. Hans Yetts ran a fake punt 19 yards for a Big Red 1st down to keep a 4th quarter drive alive. Watterson ended its season at 9-3. Big Red reigned as Region 7 champions for the 3rd time in 4 years. The Big Red coaching staff was pleased with the Steubenville contingent that turned out to watch the contest despite the snowy conditions and hazardous roads. Big Red's fan support was approximately 3 times the amount of Watterson's.

 

State Semifinal, Friday November 27th, 1987, Big Red (11-1) vs. Kettering Alter Knights (9-3) at Ohio State University's Ohio Stadium.

Spending the bulk of the 1987 season jumping on opponents from the opening kickoff and putting games away by halftime, Steubenville Big Red tried a change of pace at Ohio Stadium Friday afternoon. Reno Saccoccia's squad lumbered through the first 2 quarters, then scored 3 touchdowns in the latter 2 to pull away from Kettering Alter 28-10, in an Ohio Division II semifinal playoff game.

The victory sends Big Red into its 2nd Division II title game in 4 years. Steubenville is looking to repeat its 1984 title campaign. Neither team got into scoring position until the turn of the 2nd quarter. Forcing Big Red to punt from inside its own 10-yard line, Alter started a drive from the Steubenville 46. Staying on the ground, the Knights drove to the 26, but Big Red held them there and Scott Zimmer was short on a 42-yard fieldgoal attempt. Later in the quarter, Big Red marched 80 yards on 13 plays, buoyed by an illegal substitution penalty against Alter during a punt that would have ended the series. Paris Settles watched his punt roll dead at the 2-yard line, but the 15-yard mark-off gave Big Red a 1st down at the Knight 43-yard line. Quarterback James Creech-who broke loose for an 18-yard run off the option earlier-got loose this time for 21 yards, taking the ball inside Alter's 20. Facing a 3rd and 7 from the 13-yard line, Creech dropped back and connected with Chuck Hython on a crossing pattern just across the goal line. Hython took the ball, beating defender Matt Riazzzi, and Rusty Ranallo's PAT gave Steubenville a 7-0 lead with 1:21 left in the half. The Knights quickly went 64 yards in 8 plays to get a fieldgoal, Zimmer kicking the ball through from 32-yards out on the last play of the half. Quarterback Matt Mercurio found Andy Buttram for a 12-yard completion, then tight-end Joe Metzger got loose in front of Leon Sawyer for a 23-yard reception before the fieldgoal.

The 1st half was incredibly even. Alter had 26 plays for 128 yards, Big Red 27 plays for 122. The 2nd half numbers, however, showed Big Red with 33 plays for 140 yards, Alter 19 plays for 58 stripes, including -13 yards rushing. Alter took the 2nd half kickoff, but lost the ball when Sawyer stepped in front of a pass intended for Metzger and returned it 14 yards to the Knight 30-yard line. On the next play, however, Jimmy Kelley fumbled and Tom Alig recovered the ball for Alter. Again, Mercurio went for Metzger. Again he was intercepted, this time by by Del Vinson, who brought the ball back 22 yards to the Knight 22-yard line. Creech got loose on the option for 22 yards and capped the 5 play drive with a 4-yard scoring run with 6:34 left in the 3rd quarter. Needing a big play, Alter got one. Todd Jones burst open on a slant and Mercurio hit him in stride. The speedy receiver out-ran the Big Red persuit to the endzone for a 52-yard scoring play. Zimmer's point capped a 6 play, 75-yard drive with 4:31 on the clock and it was 14-10. Alter's hopes of a comeback were short-lived. Creech completed his 2nd and only other pass of the game-a 24-yard toss to Hython-and Dunyasha "Tubbo" Yetts contributed to a time-consuming drive on Big Red's next possession. Dunrick Yetts plowed in from the 1-yard line with 11:42 left in the game, ending an 11 play, 63-yard drive. For the 3rd time Ranallo was true on his PAT. Picking up just 3 1st downs in the 2nd half, the Knights were forced to come up with another big play. They did, but for the wrong side. Lou Schiappa pressured Mercurio, forcing him to scramble toward the sideline. The quarterback threw off-balance as Schiappa hit him and Danny Keenan came down with Big Red's 3rd interception of the game. Starting at the Alter 20, Creech got Big Red into the endzone on 7 plays. Dunrick Yetts again did the honors on a 1-yard run, Ranallo kicked his 50th PAT in 52 attempts on the year, and the score reached 28-10 with just 3:04 to play. Fittingly, Alter did not move the sticks again. Mercurio was sacked 3 times in the 2nd half and Jerry August was the team's top rusher with 35 yards on 5 carries. For Big Red, Dunyasha Yetts had 94 yards on 23 carries, giving him over 300 yards in the playoffs and 1,265 yards for the year. Creech added 82 yards on 17 carries for one of his top performances of the campaign. Defensively, everyone got in the act for Big Red. Hans Yetts had a few tackles behind the line of scrimmage as did Keenan and Todd Christian. Of Alter's 12 rushes in the 2nd half, in fact, 8 went for negative yardage. Robert Rae, Gregg Bell, Rob Bryan....the list of contributors on the defensive side of the ball was endless. And the offensive line enabled Steubenville to churn through a big Alter line for 225 yards on the ground. Alter finished its season at 9-4.

 

State Championship, Friday December 4th, 1987, Big Red (12-1) vs. Akron Buchtel Griffins (12-1) at Ohio State University's Ohio Stadium.

"Two stinks, but its better than three." Those were the words emerging from Steubenville Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia as he tried to find some consolation after his team's 26-14 defeat by Akron Buchtel early Friday evening in the Ohio Division II championship game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

"We played hard in every game this year," Saccoccia declared. "That wasn't the question tonight. They were the better team than we were on this night. They beat us. We didn't beat ourselves." Big Red managed a 7-6 lead at intermission-taking advantage of a Buchtel fumble inside its own 20-yard line-but was thoroughly bottled up in the 2nd half. By the time Steubenville picked up its initial 1st down of the 2nd half, the Griffins had tacked 3 more touchdowns on the board and had control of the game with a 26-7 lead. Overall, Big Red managed just 126 yards net offense for the game, including a meager 49 stripes in the 2nd half. Both figures marked season lows. Neither team scored in the 1st period, Big Red advancing the ball just past midfield twice before being forced to punt. The Griffins did make their move toward the game's first score before the 1st quarter expired, however. Using the straight-ahead running of sophomore tailback Ricky Powers-who had 165 yards on 25 carries for the afternoon-Buchtel ate up time and yardage. Quarterback Ron Shannon, apparently trapped in his backfield on 3rd and 9 from his own 18-yard line early in the march, broke clear and scrambled 13 yards for a 1st down. Powers had three 8-yard runs, a 7-yard burst and a 4-yard run as the Griffins drove inside the Big Red's 20-yard line. It was there that Shannon faked to his runningback, then connected with wingback Marcus Jennings on a quick slant. Jennings worked himself open between Leon Sawyer, Danny Keenan, and Del Vinson, took the pass in stride, and scampered untouched into the endzone for a 17-yard touchdown reception. Holder Eric Haskins fumbled the snap on the PAT and was force out of bounds as Buchtel had a 6-0 lead. The 15 play, 83 yard march consumed 6:47 off the clock. The next time Buchtel received the football, Big Red received a break. Shannon mishandled the snap at his own 16-yard line, Big Red's Rob Bryan covering the loose pigskin at the 17-yard line. Steubenville ground out one 1st down, then was held to a 3rd and goal from the 7-yard line. Tailback Dunyasha "Tubbo" Yetts took a pitch from quarterback James Creech, headed for the left sideline, then darted through the middle, going against the grain and scooted into the endzone. Rusty Ranallo's PAT was true and Big Red had a 7-6 lead with 3:53 left in the half. Yetts gave Big Red another scoring chance when he stepped in front of a deep pass intended for Lester Carney, intercepting and returning the ball 27 yards to the Buchtel 44. Three plays later, Paris Settles had to punt, deadening the ball at the Griffin 1-yard line. From there, Buchtel let the final 22 seconds expire in the half, Steubenville maintaining its 1 point lead.

The 2nd half, however, belonged totally to Buchtel. Big Red had the football for just 6:48 of the final 24 minutes and could not do much with it during that time. Midway through the 3rd period-after the teams exchanged punts-Powers took a handoff off of left tackle. A Big Red tackler got a hand on him, but could not hold him. The speedy sophomore split Dunyasha Yetts and Sawyer, out-running the both of them to paydirt. Shannon's conversion pass to Carney could not connect, but Buchtel had a 12-7 lead with 6:58 to play in the quarter. Powers' run came on a 3rd and 1 play and easily set an Ohio Division II championship game record for longest touchdown run. The previous mark was 45 yards. "We were in a 6-2 on that play," Saccoccia recalled. "We gambled and we lost. We missed him at the line of scrimmage and that was it. That was the turning point of the game, in my opinion." On Big Red's next play from scrimmage, Creech was hit by tackle Brian Jordan, fumbled and linebacker Kelvin King recovered for Buchtel at the Steubenville 42-yard line. The Griffs drove to Big Red's 5-yard line, but on 4th and 1, Powers was submarined by Dunyasha Yetts for a 2-yard loss and Big Red remained in the game. Settles eventually had to punt from his endzone, however, and Jennings returned the boot 12 yards to the Big Red 23. Jennings ran for 10 yards on 3rd and 6 from the 19, setting up Shannon for a 4-yard scoring run on the option with 2 seconds left in the quarter. Shannon ran for 2 and the lead was 20-7. Big Red needed the football in the 4th quarter and simply could not obtain it. Following another Steubenville punt-Settles ahd 7 for a season high in that category-Buchtel took possession at its own 24-yard line with 10:01 to play. The Griffins salted the game away, grinding out 76 yards on 12 plays and eating 6:04 of the remaining time. Carney got behind Lamar Kelley in the endzone and Shannon found him for a 14-yard touchdown pass with 3:57 to play. The PAT was blocked, but the lead was 26-7. Big Red picked up its first of 2 first downs in the half when Creech found Chuck Hython for a 12-yard gain. The second 1st down of the half was a touchdown, Creech finding Sawyer by himself along the right sideline. Sawyer took the pass and out-raced the pursuit to the endzone, diving across to complete a 34-yard scoring play with 2:50 left to play. Ranallo added another PAT-his 52nd in 54 tries this year-and the score was 26-14. Big Red's onsides kick try failed and when Yetts fumbled the eventual Buchtel punt with 1:11, the Griffins were able to run out the clock in obtaining their 1st ever state football crown. Big Red's dominant ground game was limited to 80 yards on the day, while Buchtel rambled for 270 yards. Yetts paced Big Red with 59 yards on 18 carries. Fullback Dunrick Yetts carried just 4 times, none in the 2nd half. Buchtel ended the campaign at 12-1 and with the championship hardware. Big Red took home the Ohio Division II runner-up trophy. Number 2 may stink in Saccoccia's eyes compared to number 1....but 2 out of 144 Division II teams in Ohio ain't that bad at all.

 

 

 

1987~
Gregg Bell qb
James Creech qb
Leon Sawyer db
Niles Herring wr
Aric White qb
Cody Pyle wr
Rusty Ranallo k
David "Pokey" Lalich db
Dunyasha "Tubbo" Yetts tb
Russell Gory lb
Jim Kelley lb
Ryan Terry tb
Larry Rose tb
Chris Terry fb
Richard Lytle wr
Jason Drazic fb
Dunrick Yetts fb
Robert Mitchell tb
Chuck Hython wr
John Lytle wr
Lance Bickerstaff db
Terrance Christian db
Brock Otis fb
Robert Bryan lb
Hans Yetts dt
Maurice Pearson lb
Don Gilliam te
Nate Freeman wr
Lamar Kelley db
Dave Whitehouse g
Jason Rinaldo c
Lou Schiappa lb
Steve Gorman g
Todd Christian g
Darren Monroe wr
Dan Keenan g
Mike Loggie c
Kelly Keenan c
Mike Loggie c
Calvin Platt lb
Ron Lucas g
Robert Bowman t
Chez Jennings g
Al Coffman c
Craig Solomon g
Chuck Groves t
Sam Mitchell t
Robert Rae t
Bill Coleman t
Paul Kokos t
Doug Charland t
Chris Stanko t
Eric Suder t
Duke Malbasa te
Tom Kenefick c
Del Vinson lb
Greir Montgomery wr
Paris Settles te
Kerry Fletcher wr
Jon Sherrell te
Matt Kromalic te
John Haynes wr
Bill Miller wr
Richard Bowers wr