1999

3rd in Division III Region 11

12th ranked AP Poll

 

 

BR	1999 Saccoccia	OPP
42	Youngstown Rayen	15
41	Chardon	7
52	@ Chillicothe	26
41	Washington Woodrow Wilson DC	8
12	@ Youngstown Boardman	21
27	Edison	7
21	Zanesville	14
54	Steubenville Catholic Central	12
34	East Liverpool	0
18	@ Niles McKinley	22
49	Beaver Local	7
21	N Millersburg West Holmes	10
21	N Poland Seminary	23
433	10-3-0	172

Regional Quarterfinal, Friday November 5th, 1999, Big Red (8-2) vs. Lisbon Beaver Local Beavers (7-3) at Death Valley.

All year, Big Red won games with its feet. In the 1st round of the Ohio Division III playoffs at Harding Stadium, it may have won a game with an arm. Matt Vein's arm. Vein completed a 50-yard pass to Jesse Turner to set up his own 1-yard plunge, he hit DeMare Mayo on a 69-yard scoring pass and Turner on a 16-yard strike in the 1st half as Big Red built a 21-0 lead and cruised to a 49-7 victory over Beaver Local. It was Big Red's first playoff win in its first playoff appearance since 1994.

"He's a good kid," said Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia of Vein, who enjoyed perhaps his best game of the season. "The receivers are good kids and good things happen when you work hard. Tonight was Matt's 'day in the sun'. All season, Big Red's offense has revolved around Vinnie West and Brian Benton and an offensive line adept at blowing holes in the defense. The backfield duo combined for almost 2,600 yards, while Vein threw for just 738. But Beaver Local (7-4) came out determined to stop West and Benton and it did-until Big Red unleashed Vein. "That's why they are Big Red," said Beaver Local coach Rich Wright. "That's why they are a good football team. We came close to stopping a couple of those passes, but we didn't and they beat us." West struggled running the ball early against an agressive Fighting Beaver defense. Saccoccia knew the passing game would have to come through. It did. "They were playing 8 guys up front and folding over," Saccoccia said. "We had to pass in the 1st half or our running backs would have gotten killed." The passing game opened up the run in the 2nd half. Vein was 5-of-7 in the 1st half for 151 yards and 2 big scores. He didn't throw a pass in the 2nd half as Big Red rolled up 345 yards rushing in the game. Beaver Local did make things a little interesting to start the 2nd half, driving 60 yards in 9 plays after the kickoff to close the gap to 21-7. But Big Red responded with a long drive of its own, capped by a 15-yard touchdown run by Todd Filtz. "When you get to the playoffs, teams are good and they are going to have a drive on you," Saccoccia said. "But it was one drive, we came back and answered and scored right back. Instead of saying 'Oh, man', after their score, we said, 'Oh, man!' That's the mark of a championship team." After West extended the lead on a 21-yard run, things got a little wacky. Beaver Local quarterback Jamin Pastore tried to pitch the ball to tailback Dave Drumm, but the pitch was behind him and Big Red defensive tackle Justin Knight scooped up the ball at the 31 and appeared headed for a touchdown. But Knight, who haunted the Beaver Local offense all night, fumbled the ball into the endzone where Filtz jumped on it for the score. The score made it 42-7 and left little doubt who would advance to play Millersburg West Holmes next week. West Holmes beat McConnelsville Morgan 63-20 tonight. West added some good measure with a 55-yard run in the 4th. It was West's 10th straight 100-yard game.

"With as many yards as our backs have been getting, they were frustrated early," Saccoccia said. "But they stuck with it and our offensive line stuck with it." For Beaver Local, the loss put the end to a season that started out poorly, but finished with a bang before the loss to Big Red. The Fighting Beavers lost their first 3 games before winning 7 straight before the playoff debacle. "Like I told Rich after the game, we lost our 1st playoff game 49-0," Saccoccia said. "He'll have them back." For Big Red the win was officially the 599th in school history because the school doesn't count a win by forfeit in 1953. "Our kids work hard and our coaches work hard preparing them," Saccoccia said. "I've been blessed with tough kids and coaches that work hard."

 

Regional Semifinal, Friday November 12th, 1999, Big Red (9-2) vs. Millersburg West Holmes Knights (11-0) at Canton Central Catholic Stadium.

Steubenville Big Red, in it's 100th official season, and in coach Reno Saccoccia's 200th game, joined 4 other teams in Ohio's elite "600 win club."
The others are Massillon Washington, Canton McKinley, Fostoria Sr., and Sandusky.

The victory, much like the other 10 Big Red has posted this season, came on the ground. Big Red rushed for 354 yards on the ground on 59 carries. Sure, Vinnie West and Brian Benton got their yards, combining for 265, but a quiet member of that potent backfield made some noise. Todd Filtz. The Big Red fullback scored on runs of 31, 3, and 2 yards as Big Red built a 21-3 lead with 1 minute left in the half on the way to the victory. "We played hard, especially under the adversity that was presented to us sometimes by ourselves. We created a lot of adversity for ourselves, but I think that makes you a tougher team." Big Red was flagged for 9 penalties for a total of 105 yards and had a touchdown called back because of a flag. Big Red also fumbled the ball inside the West Holmes 20 to end another scoring threat. West Holmes (11-1) also had its chances, but the Big Red defense was staunch when it counted the most. "The defense bent, it bent like hell," Saccoccia said. "I think there's a crease in there, but it sure didn't break." Dan Morganti was able to hit Rod Taylor on a 15 yard scoring pass late in the first half, but it wasn't enough as Big Red controlled the ball and the clock in the 2nd half with its running game. "In playoff games, the games go quick," said West Holmes coach Bob Maltarich. "You don't get many chances. We were down there and made a couple of mistakes and it cost us. The key in the 2nd half was Steubenville's depth. They've got 2 flights of backs running that stretch play, and I think that took a lot out of us." West had 155 yards on 20 carries and Benton added 110 on 18 carries. Filtz got his most carries of the season with 13 for 79 yards and the 3 scores. "They hit us quick," Maltrich said. "I think it was to slow us down. That was good planning, because it did slow us down."

Big Red will now battle Poland Seminary in the Division III region 11 finals next Friday night. Poland defeated Thornville Sheridan 17-6 tonight. Saccoccia did not put much relevance in the schedule his team and West Holmes played during the regular season. "The schedule is good talk for down at the bar," Saccoccia said. "You can brag about who has the toughest schedule, but anybody can beat anybody on a Friday night. Anybody who is 11-0 is good, lucky, or both. West Holmes is a good football team." Saccoccia didn't think the 600th win will be prevelant on the minds of his players just yet. "Right now it's not real important to them, " Saccoccia said. "Their girlfriends are probably a little more important to them. But when they are older, it becomes more important. In 20 years from now, it will be very important."

 

Regional Final, Friday November 19th, 1999, Big Red (10-2) vs. Poland Seminary Bulldogs (12-0) at Austintown Fitch's Falcon Stadium.

Two Plays. In its 100th official season of football, two plays may haunt the Steubenville Big Red football program for another century. "You can't plan on those sort of things," said Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia. Big Red didn't. After building a 14-3 lead against Poland in the Division III, Region 11 final at Falcon Stadium in Austintown, two long pass plays erased that advantage and sent Big Red to a 23-21 defeat. Poland was ranked #1 in the final AP poll of Division III teams.

"Those 2 plays were obviously huge," said Poland coach Paul Hulea. "We were feeling kind of blue at halftime, but the kids took over." Big Red couldn't have scripted the 1st half any better, but Bulldog quarterback Ben Bair hit Pete Modelski on a 62-yard touchdown pass just 2 minutes into the 2nd half to cut the lead to 4. Less than 3 minutes later, Bair found Perry on a screen pass. The senior running back broke a tackle and burst down the left sideline for 85 yards, and suddenly Big Red trailed 16-14. Perry finished with 127 yards rushing and 87 receiving. He did fumble 5 times, losing 2. Bair, though, was a bear for the Big Red defense. "Their quarterback threw for a lot of yards, but everything we saw on film showed a lot of those yards came after the catch," Saccoccia said. Bair finished 7-of-11 for 228 yards and the 2 touchdowns. But as awry as the first 4 minutes of the 3rd quarter went for Big Red, the first 24 couldn't have fallen into place any better. After a 26-yard field goal by Jason Resch gave Poland (13-0) a 3-0 lead, Big Red launched a 16-play, 80-yard scoring drive with the in-your-face offense that had led the team to the regional final. There was nothing fancy, nothing flashy. "We knew we could move the ball on their defense," Saccoccia said. "We didn't have any doubts we could move the ball. They didn't stop us. We stopped us." Vinnie West capped that 16 play drive with an 8-yard scoring run. On Big Red's next possession, Brian Benton bowled in from the 4 to cap a 12 play, 85-yard scoring drive. The two Big Red scoring drives in the 1st half chewed 14 minutes off the clock. "We weren't used to that," Hulea said. But instead of a rousing halftime speech, Hulea sat back. He didn't have to say much. "At this point in the season, the kids know what to do," Hulea said. "They took it upon themselves." After the 2 long scoring drives gave Poland the lead, the Bulldogs took advantage of an interception of Vein and drove 60 yards for a score capped by a 2-yard run by fullback Shaun Saad. Big Red answered in the 4th on a 2-yard plunge by fullback Todd Filtz to close the gap to 2, but a late Big Red drive stalled on an incomplete pass by Vein on 4th and 13 from the Big Red 23 with 29.5 seconds left. Vein, though, enjoyed a big game. The senior quarterback was 11-of-18 for 131 yards and an interception. West also had a good game, rushing for 116 yards on 26 carries. "We knew if we were going to pass, we needed to do it on 1st down," Saccoccia said. "Things just happened. Like I told the kids in the locker room, 'If you work as hard as you did this year for the next 35, you won't have anything to hang your heads about.' "

 

 

1999~
Anthony Saccoccia db
Mike DiAngelo qb
Matt Vein qb
DeMare Mayo db
Mike Batalo k
Ed DeHart wr
Trevor Kalinoski k
David Owens wr
Matt Ellis db
Jesse Turner wr
Brandon Fletcher rb
Vinnie West tb
Todd Filtz lb
Charles Rice wr
Luke Hartman lb
Brian Benton tb
Joe Puzzouli fb
Gavin Federico tb
John Healy wr
Brad Brown wr
Dale Taylor fb
Mark Nation db
Robert Christian db
Joe Yanok te
Dameon Harris lb
Andrew Zapolnik te
Carlos Spinner de
T. J. Coldebella c
Brock Budash c
Mark Battistel c
Mike Carmine c
Chris Gasser g
Brian Ellis c
Robbie Vandine g
Duke Jones t
Tony Jones g
Ryan Doran lb
Ricky Terry t
Craig Gorman g
Justin "Big Buckeye" Knight
Josh Seminara c
Kevin Rea g
Jim Oberman t
Tom Kotsanis t
Mike Herrick t
Jared Angelica t
Erik Weber t
Jimmy Snyder t
Salih Muhammad te
David Sanders te
Jim Featner wr
Justin Kenefick te
Brian Radakovich te
Joe Healy wr