×

Teams march toward playoffs

Indian Creek’s Robert Coppa (20) and Austin Rawson celebrate a touchdown. The Redskins are 4-1 and visit Brooke this week.

Five weeks down and five, maybe more for several area teams, to go.

Big Red has made it to the 2016 midway point unscathed. Three local squad (Indian Creek, Toronto and Weir) are 4-1 while Harrison Central, thanks to its shutout of Martins Ferry, is 3-2.

Steubenville improved to 5-0 by outscoring Dover 57-45. Big Red now has won 17 consecutive regular season games and finished the first half unbeaten for the second straight campaign.

“We’re halfway through and we’re 5-0 but we still have a lot of room for improvement,” coach Reno Saccoccia said following the game. “We made some mistakes tonight and we’ve made mistakes for five games but we have improved in our intensity, improved in being physical and improved at playing smart.”

Junior Jacob Bernard became the first Big Red running back to surpass the 100-yard rushing mark in a game this year. He finished with 143 and a score.

Meanwhile, junior quarterbacks Javon Davis and Johnny Agresta both threw for more than 100 yards. Davis had 169 and Agresta 115. They each had two scoring tosses.

Next up is a visit by Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary. The Fighting Irish stand at 2-3 following a 24-0 Week 5 loss to Akron Hoban. This week’s meeting will be the fourth all-time between the schools, Steubenville holding a 3-0 series lead.

No more monkey:

Indian Creek snapped its 11-year losing streak to St. Clairsville thanks to a 30-13 homecoming victory. The Redskins now have won four straight following their season-opening loss to Cambridge.

“This feels great,” proclaimed Creek coach Andrew Connor. “The kids wanted this win. They worked hard all week. It is nice to get the monkey off of our back.”

Quarterback Greg Wade had a huge night for the Redskins, running for 69 and passing for 60. Tailback Robert Coppa produced 67 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. Creek finished with 282 yards of offense, 222 coming via the rush.

“Offensively we moved the sticks,” Connor noted. “We mixed it up well.”

The Redskins will visit Brooke this week.

Can’t cover up:

Toronto’s dreams of running the regular season table ended with a tough 31-30 homecoming loss to Shadyside.

The Tigers scored the deciding touchdown with 7:01 left to play.

“We’ve got to regroup, which we will,” Red Knight boss Eric Meek said after the difficult defeat. “You can’t lay in bed and keep the covers over your head. You’ve got to get up the morning, get back to work, correct your mistakes and do what you have to do to get better for the next game.”

Meek’s gridders will look to rebound when they travel to Conotton Valley this Friday.

Max Tice had a big game for Toronto, running for 142 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns. Nate Karaffa passed for 141 and a score. Ty West hauled in four Karaffa passes.

Riders roll:

Weir High rebounded from its only loss by cruising to a 48-7 win on the road at Petersburg.

The Red Riders rode a strong performance by quarterback Donavan Spencer to the easy victory. The speedster had touchdown runs of 74 and 63 yards. He also threw for three scores. Cody Enrietti topped the 100-yard rushing mark again and found the end zone twice.

Tony Filberto’s club has a major test this week when it welcomes unbeaten Union Local to Jimmy Carey Stadium. The Jets moved to 5-0 with a convincing 47-14 win over Edison.

Positive reaction:

After losing two straight, Harrison Central needed a victory in its annual showdown with rival Martins Ferry. The Huskies got defensive and posted a dominant 23-0 win.

Harrison held the Purple Riders to a meager 154 yards of total offense in posting the Homecoming triumph.

“You’re coming off two hard losses and you don’t know how the kids are going to react but they reacted the way we hoped they would,” said Harrison coach Justin Kropka.

Ty West collected 98 rushing yards for the winners while Wyatt Elias completed eight of his 17 passing tries for 162 yards and two scores.

Harrison will host St. Clairsville this week.

Computer updates:

With Big Red’s victory and Shelby’s initial loss of the campaign, Steubenville now is second in the Division IV, Region 15 computer standings, according to Joe Eitel. The officials OHSAA rankings will be released Tuesday.

Johnstown Monroe continues to hold the top spot. Indian Creek now is ninth in the region.

The loss to Shadyside dropped Toronto to seventh in Division VII, Region 25. Meanwhile, Harrison Central is seventh in Division V, Region 19.

Weir High is tied for 11th with Independence in the West Virginia Class AA poll.

A record?

Big Red and Dover combined for 102 points in their Week 5 shootout. The point total may have set a Harding Stadium scoring record.

During the 2014 season, Big Red welcomed Athens to town and came out on the short end of a 58-42 decision. Research indicates there have been no other games played inside Harding Stadium that either reached 100 points or topped that total.

Alec Sayre, Dover’s sophomore quarterback, threw 50 passes, completing 28 for 520 yards. In the process, he established a school single-game record. Sayre eclipsed the old mark of 501 set in 2011.

Top rushers:

West leads area ball carriers after five weeks with 935 yards on 115 carries. He also has six rushing touchdowns. Enrietti is second with 773 on 98 trips.

The rest of the top five includes Wade (473 yards), Spencer (417) and Seth Cade of Edison (399).

Creek’s Coppa has seven rushing touchdowns to lead in that category.

Best arms:

Harrison Central’s Elias tops area quarterbacks with 592 yards. Big Red’s Davis has 526 and Toronto’s Karaffa 522.

Buckeye Local’s Jared Moore is fourth with 417 followed by Oak Glen’s Lance Collins with 376.

Davis’ eight scoring tosses lead the area through five games.

Best hands:

Brooke’s Chris Yachini has 19 catches to top area receivers. Chase Crago of Oak Glen is a close second with 18. Dan Callarik of Buckeye Local and Toronto’s West have 13 receptions apiece. Big Red’s Charles Reeves has 12 grabs.

Yachini, Reeves and Weir’s Dom Murphy all have four receiving touchdowns.

Top O, D:

Harrison Central’s offense has compiled the best yards per game average among area teams through the first five weeks. The Huskies are averaging 427 yards per game.

Big Red has the best scoring average at 46 points per outing.

On the defensive side, Weir is allowing an area best 131 yards per game. Indian Creek tops the points allowed category with 7.8.

Drawing praise:

Speaking of Yachini, the senior had six catches, good for 120 yards and two touchdowns in Brooke’s loss to Wheeling Park. His scoring grabs covered 75 and 13 yards.

“Chris is showing the type of athlete he is in the determination he plays with,” said Bruin coach Mac McLean.

Both his touchdown catches came off passes from sophomore quarterback Logan Williams, who started the season third on the Brooke depth chart and was making his first start of the season against the Patriots. Williams finished with 157 passing yards.

“Logan is a talented little quarterback and I look for him to improve and I am excited about his future here,” McLean noted.

Dons are back:

Following its mandatory West Virginia bye week, Madonna will be back in action this weekend, traveling to Vienna Mathews.

The Blue Dons are 0-4 and entered their bye week following a tough 21-19 loss to Oak Glen.

Mathews is 2-3 and were blanked by Rootstown, 42-0 in Week 5 action.

Just one score:

Catholic Central went toe-to-toe with Warren JFK (one of Ohio’s best Division VII squads) before falling 14-0 Saturday.

In five games, the Eagles have outscored opponents 148-7. The lone touchdown was given up in Week 3 against Girard. JFK held the now 1-4 Crusaders to 15 total yards of offense (14 passing).

“We’ve not faced a defense like this,” Catholic Central coach Steve Daley told the Youngstown Vindicator after the contest. “We’ve been able to move the ball on everybody we played this years, but JFK is different.

“They bring pressure every down and their quickness is the difference. Even when it looks as though you have a seam like we did a few times tonight, they close it off awful fast.”

3 for 3:

Big Red’s Mitchell Gulan has a nice streak going through the first five games of the season.

The senior tight end has three catches, all producing touchdowns. In Friday’s game with Dover, he caught a seven-yard scoring pass from Agresta.

Gulan also has a catch for a two-point conversion.

Plenty of 3’s:

Local kickers certainly made an impression during Week 5 as four connected for field goals.

Big Red’s Mark Smith booted one from 36 yards out while Harrison Central’s Logan Starr connected from 31 yards away.

Toronto’s Danny Zdinak nailed one from 30 and Indian Creek’s Brandon Hiles was good from 22 away.

Jorge Bravo of Dover also got into the action as he drilled a three from nine yards away.

Stout Crusaders:

Catholic Central’s defense allowed just one touchdown in the 14-0 loss to state-ranked Warren JFK. The other Eagle score came via a pick six.

JFK lost two fumbles and had two passes intercepted. After the game, JFK coach Jeff Bayuk had some praise for the Crusader D.

“I have to do a better job of getting the kids ready to play and we have to eliminate the mistakes we made tonight,” Bayuk said during a post-game interview with The Youngstown Vindicator. “But make no mistakes about it, Steubenville Central played a part in that. Defensively, they are very stout up front.”

Top stats:

Running wild

¯ 210 Donavan Spencer, Weir, 2 touchdowns

¯ 163, Cody Enrietti, Weir, 2 touchdowns

¯ 143, Jacob Bernard, Big Red, touchdown

¯ 142, Max Tice Toronto, 2 touchdowns

¯ 98, Ty West, Harrison Central

Gunslingers

¯ 169, Javon Davis, Big Red, 8 of 12, 2 scores

¯ 162, Wyatt Elias, Harrison Central, 8 of 17, 2 scores

¯ 157, Logan Williams, Brooke, 9 of 19, 2 scores

¯ 147, Donavan Spencer, Weir, 3 scores

¯ 141, Nata Karaffa, Toronto, 8 of 15, score

¯ 115, Johnny Agresta, Big Red, 6 of 8, 2 scores

¯ 112, Jared Moore, Buckeye Local, 6 of 12, score

Hands team

¯ 6, Chris Yachini, Brooke, 120, 2 touchdowns

¯ 6, Chase Crago, Oak Glen, 66

¯ 5, Charles Reeves, Big Red, 145, touchdown

¯ 4, Dom Murphy, Weir, 106, 3 touchdowns

¯ 4, Ty West Toronto, 67

¯ 4, Seth Cade, Edison, 41

¯ 4, Austin Rawson, Indian Creek, 45

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today