2011

BR	2011 Saccoccia	OPP
31	Morgantown Wva.	9
22	Akron Buchtel	6
53	Bishop Ryan Ont.	0
40	@ Brooke Wva.	6
22	@ Youngstown Ursuline	17
41	East Liverpool	0
35	Balt. Mt. St. Joseph Md.	20
49	Buffalo St. Joseph Collegiate Ny.	26
24	Massillon Washington	7
39	Tonawanda Cardinal O'Hara Ny.	0
68	Indian Creek	13
22	N Young. Cardinal Mooney	24
446	11-1-0	128

Regional Quarter-final, Big Red, 10-0, vs. Indian Creek Redskins, 8-2, Friday, November 4th, 2011, at Death Valley.

STEUBENVILLE - In just a shade more than three minutes, the bottom fell out of Indian Creek's first playoff appearance since 1996.

The Redskins stunned Friday's overflow Harding Stadium crowd by taking the opening kickoff and marching 76 yards for a touchdown. Then came that dreaded span of three minutes and seven seconds.

In that time, Big Red scored 21 straight points and dominated from there as it registered a 68-13 victory in Division III Region 11 quarterfinal action. The win advances Reno Saccoccia's 11-0 club into next week's semifinals where it will meet Youngstown Cardinal Mooney. The official site will be announced Sunday but early indications are the battle will be staged at Canton's Fawcett Stadium.

Mooney advanced via a 42-22 win over Canal Fulton Northwest. In the other Region 11 openers, Dover outscored Sheridan 68-53 and Minerva nipped Poland 29-28.

Indian Creek, which earned a share of its first Buckeye 8 title this season, finishes at 8-3.

"It's a 48-minute game, no matter how you look at it," Saccoccia said. "They won the first two minutes and we won the rest of the game. I want to congratulate coach Andrew Connor, his staff and his players for a great season. They came out and played their game and we played our game. We just had more breaks than they did."

Creek's seven-play scoring march was capped when David Kemp and Mike Furda hooked up on a 12-yard scoring toss. Fabio Mattina added the extra point. Furda, who was injured in the first quarter and didn't return, had two grabs for 23 stripes on the drive.

Big Red's first offensive possession ended in a three and out. The scoring barrage began the next time it touched the ball.

Taking over at its own three, the hosts marched 97 yards. The key play came when Big Red gambled on a fourth and three from its own 34. Lined up in punt formation, the hosts put the ball in the hands of William Houst on a direct snap. He plowed forward for five stripes and the first down. Several plays later, LeShawn Luke scored on a one-yard plunge. Luke Smith then hit the first of eight straight conversion kicks.

On Luke's run, Creek was flagged for grabbing his face mask. Thus, Smith teed the ball up at the Redskin 45. Saccoccia gambled again, calling for a short kick, which was recovered by Luke. Two plays later, Jo Jo Pierro sprinted 15 yards on a toss sweep play for the six-pointer.

The score went to 21-7 when Marcus Prather found Eric Robinson all alone over the middle. The pass and run covered 27 yards.

Creek did answer, going 67 yards in 11 plays. Mark Ludewig powered his way to pay dirt from the two. The extra point attempt failed.

Big Red would score two more times in the opening half. One came on a 53-yard Prather to Najee Murray pass and the second when Prather hit Luke for 21 yards. The Luke score was set up by a Matt Petrella interception.

After Creek held Big Red to a three and out on its first possession of the half, Steubenville responded with five straight scores. Three of Prather's final five passes in the first two periods resulted in touchdowns.

In the second half, Big Red scored the first five times it touched the football, meaning it went 10 for 10 in the possession to scores category from the first quarter on.

Pierro went 84 yards on a throwback screen pass, and then motored in from 19 yards away. Luke raced 29 stripes for a touchdown and Randy Otis zoomed 24 yards for six on his only carry of the evening. The night's last score came on a 12-yard burst by Chez Glenn.

Big Red's offense ran 64 plays for 646 yards. Pierro had 16 carries for 162 and Luke added 74 on just seven trips. Pierro also had 95 receiving yards. Prather had another stellar outing, hitting 11 of 16 for 245.

"I don't think our offense has changed all year," Saccoccia said. "We just have to eliminate mistakes. In the first series, we were misaligned. They came out in a defense we didn't expect.

"I thought our tailbacks did a good job of jamming their foot and cutting back that stretch play. We thought we could stretch them. They didn't want us too so we turned from an eight hole stretch to a six hole stretch. Our fullbacks did a good job of kicking out instead of hooking.

"Overall, our blockers did a good job of reading what they were doing defensively."

Creek finished with 70 yards on the ground. Kemp did pass 189. Blake Roar grabbed five Kemp tosses for 54 yards.

"The kids played hard," Connor said. "Things kind of got away from us. I am proud of the kids for the whole season.

"Obviously, when things get away from you like that, it falls on me as the head coach. I just feel disappointed for our kids that the season didn't end in a more positive way."

Regional Semi-final, Big Red, 11-0, vs. Youngstown Cardinal Mooney Cardinals, 7-3, Friday, November 11th, 2011, at Canton's Fawcett Stadium.

CANTON - On a day that comes around once every 100 years, Steubenville Big Red and Youngstown Cardinal Mooney locked horns in a high school football game worthy of the occasion.

When it was all said done on 11-11-11, Mooney escaped with a 24-22 victory thanks to a Connor Durina 30-yard field goal with just five seconds remaining on the Fawcett Stadium clock.

The victory moves the 8-3 Cardinals into next week's Region 11 championship game against Dover. Big Red drops the curtain at 11-1.

Durina's kick finished a fourth quarter that the fans in attendance Friday won't soon forget.

Big Red entered the final 12 minutes clinging to a 16-7 lead. Roosevelt Griffin cut into that advantage when he sprinted 49 yards for a touchdown. Griffin would fumble on the next Cardinal possession, but the Cardinals recovered from that miscue a few plays later when Marcus McWilson picked off a Marcus Prather pass. His return gave Mooney a first and goal at the Steubenville 3.

Griffin plunged over for a yard away and Durina added the extra point to give P.J. Flecko's club a 21-16 advantage with 4:37 left.

Reno Saccoccia's club, however, wasn't through. With Prather hitting four of six passing attempts, the Big Red moved 78 yards to retake the lead. The drive culminated when Evan Westlake made an outstanding grab in the back of the end zone. Luke Smith's kick put Steubenville up 22-21 and set the stage for the controversial finish.

After a P.J. Quinn pass fell incomplete, Big Red was nailed with a 15-yard penalty for alleged helmet-to-helmet contact. Mooney later converted on a fourth and 7, setting up a first down at the Steubenville 20. Griffin was hit for a loss and appeared to the lose the football. However, he was ruled down by contact.

The officials flagged Big Red for another 15 yards, this time for a personal foul. Apparently, the flag was not dropped for anything actually done in the course of action. Instead, Big Red was penalized for holding onto the football following the somewhat puzzling no fumble call. Mooney's game-winning field goal came three plays after that call.

"I want to congratulate them on their last drive," Saccoccia said. "I'd like to congratulate our players on a great game and a great year. I thought we had the fumble and I'm not sure what happened on the personal foul."

Mooney scored on its initial possession, marching 72 yards in eight plays. The touchdown came on a 24-yard pass from Quinn to Farragher.

Big Red knotted things at seven early in the second period when Prather found Westlake from 30 yards away. The scoring toss came as Prather rolled to his right and threw back to his left.

Steubenville got its first lead of the evening just before the half as Jo Jo Pierro bulled in from a yard out. His run capped an 88-yard drive, 80 of the stripes coming via the air. Prather hit on four straight finding Pierro, Matt Petrella, Pierro again and LeShawn Luke.

The only score of the third period (a Big Red safety) came when Manard Reed tackled Quinn in the end zone. A great punt by Smith pinned Mooney back at its one-yard line.

"It was one of those games where momentum kept swinging back and forth," Fecko said. "We ran into field position issues in the third quarter but we were able to flip field position in the fourth quarter. When you look at the penalties, we gave them some big yardage; it was nice to get some yards back during the last drive."

For the night, Mooney was flagged 10 times for 70 yards and Big Red drew 11 for 85.

"Offensively, we couldn't move the ball on the ground, so we got everything in the air," Saccoccia added. "We had to run the ball enough to keep them honest."

Big Red finished with just 34 rushing yards on 27 trips. Through the air, Prather hit on 19 of 32 for 285 and two touchdowns.

Mooney had 305 total yards (204 on the ground and 101 via the pass). Griffin ended with 150 yards and a pair of scores.

"Our kids came up with a beautiful drive at the end of the game," Saccoccia said. "We played great defense the whole game. It was just one of those things."

Big Red forced Mooney into three turnovers - an interception by TeShawn Luke after a huge hit by Najee Murray and fumble recoveries by William Houst and L. Luke.

"I have been the head coach here for 29 years and I have been involved in some great games," Saccoccia continued. "I'll never forget this team because of the way they left two-a-days as a very average team. They ended the season as real men with intestinal fortitude, dedication and a love of the game. I am never going to forget these seniors.

"They did a great job. I want to congratulate them, congratulate the coaches. I think I have the best coaches in the state. Our seniors stepped up all year, they led us all year. They gave a great senior effort tonight and we gave a great team effort. It was just a tough loss."