2007

BR	2007 Saccoccia	OPP
49	Indian Creek	0
20	Akron Buchtel	6
42	@ East Liverpool	0
32	Buffalo St. Joseph Collegiate Ny.	14
27	Beaver Local	7
23	Columbus Bishop Watterson	14
35	Baltimore Mount St. Joseph Md.	28
40	@ Wheeling Park Wva.	0
35	@ Canton Central Catholic	34
19	Tonawanda Cardinal O'Hara Ny.	14
28	Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy	10
44	N Canton Central Catholic	29
20	N Youngstown Cardinal Mooney	35
414	12-1-0	191

Regional quarter-final, Big Red, 10-0, vs. Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy Royals, 9-1, Saturday, November 3rd, 2007, at Death Valley.

One down. Four to go.

The Big Red football team moved one game closer to its third state title in as many years with a 28-10 final over Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy at Harding Stadium, Saturday night.

“This was just the first step and the first step is always tough,” Steubenville head coach Reno Saccoccia said. “Tonight was tough and it’s only gets tougher from here on out.”

Indeed it does. The win over the Royals sets up a second-round playoff game with the Canton Central Catholic Crusaders, whose only loss of 2007 came when Big Red scored and made the PAT with no time left on the clock in Week 9. Canton Central did its part in insuring a rematch with a 48-6 routing of Tuscarawas Valley. The winner of that game moves on to the Region 13 final where they will face either defending Division IV state champion Youngstown Mooney — a 30-6 over Coshocton — or Akron St. Vincent’s St. Mary’s. The Irish shutout Perry, 42-0.

But before the Red could think about next week, it had to get by the Royals. They did so with ease. Steubenville ended up with 19 first downs to Cuyahoga’s five. Big Red collected 203 yards on the ground and 208 more in the air. Defensively, the Red allowed just 186 yards total offense and pretty much contained the Royals’ premiere tailback, John Pettigrew, in the process.

Pettigrew, who came into the game with 1,781 yards on the season and over 4,000 in his career, did put up his usual numbers, but more than half of his 172 yards came in the fourth quarter on a 90-yard touchdown run. Other than the big play, the Red kept Pettigrew under control, going as far as to take yards back from the explosive senior running back in the second half.

At the start of the third, Pettigrew had carried the ball for 12 times for 67 yards. His first five carries of the second half each ended in a loss or no gain. Branko Busick, James Montgomery, Rolland Qwens, Markakis William Jackson and Ryan Dugan all stuffed Pettigrew.

“I wasn’t disappointed the 90-yard TD run at all. Our kids played hard and they played tough the entire game,” Saccoccia said. “That kid (Pettigrew) is a good back and good backs are going to make big plays, and to his credit he did. We didn’t stop him, but we slowed him down.”

Pettigrew and company drew first blood Saturday when the Royals’ converted a Big Red fumble into a 35-yard field goal. Cuyahoga took over the fumbled punt return on the Steubenville 35, but had to settle for the field goal by Derek Bosshard at 6:01 of the first.

The Red answered five minutes later when Branko Busick ran in from 3 yards out, capping off a 65-yard, 9-play drive at 1:42 of the first. Like he would on all four of his attempts, Brennan Stover split the uprights.

Steubenville opened up the game early in the second stanza. Sophomore Dwight Macon, who threw for all of Big Red’s passing yards and ran for an additional 50, hit Anthony Gossett with a 65-yard scoring strike at the 9:17 mark. Gossett and Macon combined for 141 yards on the night.

The Red attempted to tack on three more points six minutes after Gossett’s TD reception, but a 25-yard field goal attempt by Stover was wide.

Before the bands took the field, Steubenville made up for the missed scoring opportunity. Following the failed field goal attempt, the Red held the Royals to three and out on the Cuyahoga 30. Trying to punt the ball away Bosshard shanked it left. The punt actually lost two yards and Big Red took over on the Royals’ 28. Four plays later and with just 51 seconds left in the half, Demetrius Brandon made Cuyahoga pay for the botched punt with a 3-yard touchdown run.

Brandon, who netted in 100 yards rushing in the game, would later score a second TD, running in from 5 yards at 2:41 of the third.

Pettigrew’s 90-yard TD cap concluded the night’s scoring.

“I just want to congratulate our players for a hard-played game and our coaches for a well-coached game,” said Saccoccia, who extended birthday wishes to both of his parents following the win. “I’d also like to thank our parents, fans and administration for all of their efforts as well.”

For now, the Big Red family is going to enjoy its latest win, though that enjoyment will likely be brief, as Steubenville will soon get back to work and turn its focus to Canton Central.

“From here on out, we have to play above the shoulders,” Saccoccia said. “It’s all about being mentally perpared and playing mentally tough at this stage in the game.”

Big Red has now won 41 games in a row.

 

Regional Semi-final, Big Red, 11-0, vs. Canton Catholic Central Crusaders, 10-1, Saturday, November 10th, 2007, at Austintown Fitch Falcon Stadium.

AUSTINTOWN — Perhaps, Canton Central Catholic came into Saturday’s game at Austintown looking to avenge its Week 9 loss to Big Red, or perhaps, the Crusaders looked upon Steubenville as nothing more than just another hurdle they would have to jump in order to stay alive for another game.

No matter what Canton Central’s hoped to accomplish heading into Saturday’s Division IV, Region 13 semifinal at Falcon Field, one thing is certain the Crusaders came up short and the Red rolled on.

Steubenville outlasted Canton Central, 44-29, to earn a spot opposite defending Division IV state champion Youngstown Mooney — a 28-7 winner over Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary’s — in a clash-of-the-titans regional final set for Nov. 17 at Canton’s Fawcett Stadium.

“I’m proud of the kids. Everybody stepped up. Everybody played hard. Everybody came through,” Reno Saccoccia said.

“Our kids never gave up. They kept fighting and it paid off with a win.”

While every player in a Big Red uniform contributed, some posted much larger numbers and sophomore quarterback, Dwight Macon, led the offensive charge.

He rushed for a mind-blowing 298 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries.

Macon also connected with his target on all but one of his 11 passing attempts for 172 additional yards and another score.

Big man Branko Busick, a junior tailback-fullback, finished with 98 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries.

As a team, the Big Red machine chewed up 428 yards on the ground. It also amassed 26 first downs to the Crusaders’ 12, despite racking up 82 yards in penalties to Canton’s 18.

Despite the lopsided statistics and much like the Week 9 contest with Canton Central — a game Big Red won, 35-34, with a scoring pass and PAT with time left on the clock and by rallying back from a two-touchdown deficit in the final six minutes — Steubenville had to come from behind.

The Crusaders, who lived by the big play in the regular-season game with Steubenville, opened up the semifinal with a 62-yard scoring strike from QB Joey Rhoads, who finished with 218 yards, three TDs and one pick while hitting nine of his 17 attempts. The touchdown play was the Canton Central’s first play from scrimmage and came just 14 seconds into the game.

Unshaken, Big Red answered and took the edge with back-to-back scores in the first quarter — Macon and Busick both ran it in from two yards out at 6:22 and 3:03, respectively.

The lead was cut to four points when Andy Streb nailed a 28-yard field goal for Canton Central early in the second.

The Crusaders then pulled ahead on an 86-yard pass from Rhoads to Andes at 9:11 of the second.

Big Red would score again in the second stanza as would the Crusaders. Macon connected with Markakis for a 5-yard TD pass with 3:36 left on the first-half clock, while Max Colaner ran in for Canton Central a little over three minutes later.

At the end of all the first-half scoring, it was Canton Central who led, 23-19.

While the first two quarters yielded 42 points, the third would yield only eight. All were scored by Steubenville, as Busick ran in from 4 yards out to put up six and Macon ran in on the conversion for the other two.

Steubenville went on to score three more times in the fourth — Macon had TD runs of 15 and 2 and the Big Red defense recorded a safety.

The Crusaders scored just once more. Rhoads ran it from 2 yards out.

“Keeping the ball out of their hands in the second half did help, and this might sound crazy, but we did everything defensively we wanted to do. I know they had those two big passes one for 62 and the other for 400 yards or whatever it was, but we did what we wanted to do defensively and that’s stop the run and tackle the pass,” Saccoccia said.

Canton Central coach Lowell Klinefelter agreed.

“We just couldn’t get our hands on the ball,” he said. “They beat us up front and we just couldn’t stop them defensively.”

Canton Central finishes the season 11-2 with both losses coming at the hands of Steubenville.

Big Red is now 12-0 in 2007 and extended its winning streak to 42-straight.

 

Regional Final, Big Red, 12-0, vs. Youngstown Cardinal Mooney Cardinals, 12-0, Saturday, November 17th, 2007, at Canton's Fawcett Stadium.

CANTON – When Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia sat down earlier in the week for his weekly interview, he didn’t want to talk about turnovers. In the weeks prior, turnovers had been the main topic of discussion. Just the week before, his team overcame three fumbles in the Red’s 44-29 win over Canton Central in the Region 13 semifinal.

But this week, he didn’t want to mention turnovers, because, quite frankly, his team couldn’t afford any against nationally-ranked Youngstown Cardinal Mooney in Saturday’s regional final at Fawcett Stadium in Canton.

But Steubenville did commit turnovers against the Cardinals. Not only did the Red turn the ball over, they turned it over early and often, giving it up four times in the first 20 minutes of play. Mooney took advantage and ended up on top of a 35-20 final.

The win extended the Cardinal’s winning streak to 28 games, and stopped Big Red’s roll at 42.

“We’ve had a run of turnovers the last five or six games and you just can’t do that against a team like Youngstown Mooney,” Saccoccia said. “You can’t give a team like Mooney a short field. We did and we did it more than once.”

On Steubenville’s fourth play of the game, Mooney defensive lineman Anthony Anderson intercepted a deflected pass by Dwight Macon. The Cardinals were unable to capitalize on the initial turnover and after the punt, Steubenville moved the ball deep into Mooney territory – all the way to the Youngstown 5. It wouldn’t move any closer to the end zone. On a quarterback keeper, Macon coughed up the football.

Mooney recovered the pigskin on the Big Red 7. It looked as if the Red would dodge a bullet when after a motion penalty and a run for a loss, the Cardinals were pinned inside their 3. However, facing a third-and-15, Brandon Beachum, a six-foot-1, 223-pound senior tailback, broke free for 62 yards.

Beachum, who would finish with 245 on 32 carries yards, was pulled down inside the Steubenville 36.

Beachum would later finish the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run at 1:40 of the first quarter. The 10-play drive covered 98 yards.

Big Red ended up punting the football on its next possession, but senior QB Tim Marlowe returned it 68 yards for Mooney’s second touchdown just as time expired from the opening quarter.

Trailing 14-0, things went from bad to worse for Steubenville when Macon fumbled for a second time on the first play of the Red’s fourth possession. That fumble was recovered on the Big Red 27.

The Cardinals made Steubenville pay for the mistake with a 5-yard scoring strike from Marlowe to Mike Gemma at 8:12 of the second stanza.

On the next possession, Steubenville fumbled for the third time, while turning the ball over for the fourth. A pass was caught by Davis, but then bobbled. Mooney converted the turnover when Beachum ran it in from 5 yards out with 4:53 remaining in the first half.

By the time the bands took the field, Mooney led, 28-0.

Big Red won the battle of the second half, but it was too little too late, thanks in large part to an early third-quarter score by Mooney.

“Steubenville is a great team. Their coaches do a great job and we knew they wouldn’t give in,” Mooney coach P.J. Fecko said. “I think the big key was our scoring drive early in the third. That was a big play, especially after the second half Big Red came up with.”

Mooney notched its final touchdown at 8:39 of the third when Beachum rushed for a 2-yard TD run. Steubenville, however, would go on to score three touchdowns.

Branko Busick took the ball across the goal line from 2-yards out at 2:00 of the third. A 55-yard screen pass from Macon to Markakis set up the score.

At the 7:11 mark in the fourth, Jeremy Banks pulled down a 13-yard scoring strike from Macon to cap off a 10-play, 80-yard drive.

Big Red’s final TD came with 3:48 left in the game. Davis recovered a fumble and Macon and Josh McCloud converted it with a 23-yard pass play.

Big Red had the opportunity to tack on another TD when with 1:46 left, Mooney fumbled, and Big Red’s Anthony Jackson recovered it on the Big Red 9, but the Red ran out of time to make anything happen.

Mooney now advances to the state semifinals where the Cardinals will face Westfall, a 14-12 winner St. Clairsville, Saturday at a location to be determined by the OHSAA.

As for the Red, they have nothing to hand their heads about.

Aside from finishing the regular-season 10-0 for the fifth-straight season, Steubenville closes the season at 12-1.

“I was happy with our second-half effort, but I was happy with our first-half effort, too,” Saccoccia said.

“Our kids never quit. I was proud of them every second they were out on the field. I live and die with our kids.”

 

2007~

#5 Patrick Gilbert
#8 Steve Davis
#9 Anthony Gossett
#10 Dwight Macon
#11 Josh McCloud
#13 Dominique Lytle
#14 Jeryl Christian
#15 David Anderson
#20 Jovan Wallace
#21 Michael Goodwin
#22 James Montgomery
#23 Jeremy Banks
#24 Jordan McIntyre
#27 Brandon Carroll
#28 Demetrius Brandon
#30 Zach Howarth
#31 Shamus Nixon
#32 Anthony Jackson
#33 Caleb Westlake
#34 Rolland Owens
#35 William Jackson
#36 Alvin Taylor
#40 Mike Miller
#41 Angelo Iachini
#42 Tyler Ossman
#43 Branko Busic
#44 Dan Bayne
#45 Mark Markakis
#46 Isiah Willis
#47 Trey Wiggins
#48 Tom Ball
#50 Devon Campbell
#51 Jordan Banks
#52 Jamey DeVaul
#53 Sailor Kittle
#54 Phil Gilmore
#55 Ryan Dugan
#56 Richard Dunn
#57 Justin Baldwin
#60 Jake Trifonoff
#61 Dylan Clayton
#62 Josh Sterling
#63 Keith Gregory
#65 John Elder
#67 Pat Geary
#68 Travis Moore
#70 Roderick Perdue
#72 Andrew Radakovich
#74 Brandyn Frey
#75 Trey Terry
#76 Mike Weber
#77 Tom McCoy
#80 Brennan Stover
#81 Joe Woo
#82 Johnathan Littlejohn
#84 Sage Cutri
#85 Alex Morales
#87 David Hall
#88 Dorond Watts