Big Red, Panthers meet in semifinal game
By MIKE MATHISON, sports editorFact Box
Directions
Follow U.S. Route 22 west to state Route 250 north.
Merge onto Interstate 77 north and follow to exit 104B, state Route 30/62 west.
Follow to Richville Drive exit.
At bottom of ramp, turn right onto Richville Drive, South West.
Follow Richville Drive to Walnut Drive and turn right on 16th Street South East.
Follow 16th Street over the railroad tracks to second traffic light.
Stadium is on the right.
MASSILLON - Steubenville Big Red will meet New Lexington at 7:30 p.m. todau at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium for the right to play for the Division IV state championship.
This is Big Red's first trip to the state semifinals in this division.
It won the Division III state championships in 2005 and 2006 on the same field.
"Once the game kicks off, the kids will be focused on what they are doing," said Steubenville coach. "We will enjoy the experience of playing there."
Big Red got this far after last week's 35-17 defeat of Perry in the Region 13 final.
New Lexington won the right to this game because of its 21-14 win over Martins Ferry in overtime in the Region 15 final.
The Panthers, according to head coach Bill Nutt, have never made it this far. The Panthers lost to Bellaire in the regional final two years ago.
"We are just trying to prepare for Steubenville's speed," said Nutt, who has been the head coach for 10 years. He was an assistant at Newark Catholic for 15 years prior to taking the job.
"Reno is a great head coach. He has an outstanding squad. They are very, very well coached.
"Steubenville is completely fundamentally sound, great defense. Their offense also has great fundamentals. They play fast on offense and defense."
The winner will face the winner of the Kettering Alter-Genoa Area contest.
The championship game is at 3 p.m. at Canton's Fawcett Stadium on Nov. 28.
New Lexington is led by quarterback Clint Cannon. He has run the ball 214 times for 988 yards and 19 touchdowns. Cannon has 1,738 yards through the air on 131-of-237, 16 scores and nine interceptions.
"Any time your quarterback is also your mike linebacker means two things - he's a great leader and a tough kid," said Saccoccia.
Brett Wycinski has 45 catches for 654 yards and eight touchdowns. He also ran for 462 yards and two scores and was named the Southeast District offensive Player of the Year.
Matt Etherly has caught 41 passes for 536 yards and five scores. R.J. Starkey has added 822 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground.
Big Red is outscoring its opponents 33-7 through the first three quarters.
It has a 259-157 advantage in first downs.
Steubenville has gained more yards on the ground that the defense has given up - 3,155 to 2,706. It has passed for an extra 2,117 yards.
"They do some real nice, interesting things on both sides of the ball," said Nutt, whose team was treated to a community pep rally on Wednesday. "They try to out-flank you. Their passing game is excellent. They are able to do those zone reads extremely well."
For Big Red, Demetrius Brandon leads the ground game with 1,184 yards on 163 chances and 14 touchdowns. Quarterback Dwight Macon adds 750 yards on 137 attempts and 11 scores and Branko Busick 16 yards on 77 carries and 13 touchdowns.
Macon is 133-for-185 (72 percent) for 2,059 yards, 26 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Sage Cutri leads the receivers with 24 catches for 410 yards and nine scores. He is followed by Trey Wiggins (20-297-5), Brandon Carroll (20-285-4), Anthony Pierro (19-279-1), Michael Goodwin (14-260-2), Danny Bayne (14-201-4) and David Anderson (10-115-1).
"Steubenville is a different kind of team, though," Nutt said about the comparison between Big Red and Martins Ferry. "They have a completely different kind of offense. Their running attack is much more diverse. They bring a lot of different weapons to the table. They are not entirely different defensively from Martins Ferry."
Busick leads the defense with 96 tackles, 15 for loss and has forced five fumbles. Shaquille Petteway has 88 tackles and 17 for loss. Jesse Birden has 83 tackles. All of them are linebackers.
Jeryl Christian has 44 tackles, 16 for loss and John Elder 39 tackles, 10 for loss.
