ANOTHER BIG GAME — The Big Red football team has another big game this week when they welcome Erie McDowell to Harding Stadium on Friday night. McDowell, a Pennsylvania Class 6A team, is the equivalent of a Division I school in Ohio. - Andrew Grimm

STEUBENVILLE — When a team plays a schedule like Big Red’s, each week is a challenge in its own right. However, this week’s test for Steubenville is a different kind of challenge.

That challenge will come in the form of 6-2 McDowell, which makes its first trek to Harding Stadium from Erie, Pa. for a 7 p.m. opening kick Friday night.

The Trojans are a Class 6A team in Pennsylvania, the equivalent of a Division I team by Ohio standards. MaxPreps ranks them No. 8 in Class 6A and No. 16 overall among all Pa. teams. They’ve gone to the third round of the playoffs each of the last two seasons.

“This is probably the best all-around opponent we’ve faced all year,” Big Red head coach Reno Saccoccia said. “We’ve played good teams, but none of them have been as healthy as McDowell is ­– McDowell has all of their kids playing right now and they’re a very well-coached team.

“They beat Austintown-Fitch last week, and Austintown-Fitch is a good Division II team. If they were in Ohio, they would be a Division I team. We’ll have our work cut out for us.”

McDowell is the only Division I equivalent Big Red will see this season. They have wins over a pair of Division II equivalents in Pittsburgh USO and Wheeling Park.

Big Red, coming off a 34-19 win over Huron Heights (Canada) last week, is ranked No. 3 in Ohio Division III by the Ohio Associated Press with a first-place vote. They currently sit No. 2 in the Region 11 playoff computer ratings. They were ranked No. 1 before last week, but Joe Eitel’s site lists the win over the Warriors as not counting in the computer ratings.

None the less, according to Eitel, Big Red has locked up a 24th-consecutive trip to the playoffs. A win over McDowell would likely secure a first-round home game.

While the Warriors had a Wing-T style that resulted in rushes on 42 of 45 snaps with a lot of misdirection, the Trojans bring a much more balanced attack to town.

“It’s good to be tested every week in different ways,” Saccoccia said. “Maybe against the run, like last week, or against the pass, like some of the teams we’ve played, but the thing that makes this team a little bit different is they are very balanced with the run and pass and they’re very effective at both.

“When you’re playing a team like that, you can’t cheat on the run or the pass, because any cheating to stop one or the other will leave your team vulnerable somewhere else.”

McDowell has no shortage of weapons. Senior quarterback Blayze Myers has thrown for 1,912 yards with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. He averages 239 passing yards per game and threw for 400 yards in the win over Fitch last week. He’s completed nearly 64 percent of his 221 pass attempts through eight games and seems poised to be a 2,000-yard passer.

His favorite targets are fellow seniors Daymar Dickerson (29 catches, 229 yards, two scores), Gavin Magorien (23 catches, 333 yards, two scores) and Stephon Porter (23 catches, 277 yards, five scores).

Myers can also use his legs, having rushed for 230 yards and four more TDs, while Porter leads the rushing attack. He’s already passed the 1,000-yard mark with 1,005 on 169 carries, an average of 5.9 per carry and 125.6 per game. He’s scored nine rushing touchdowns.

“Their tailback is a 1,000-yard rusher already and their quarterback is a veteran, a senior and they have a really good wideout,” Saccoccia said. “Those three will probably dominate the touches on offense and they do a really good job defensively. They’ve got eight (starters) back on defense and they’re doing a good job defending the run and the pass.”

In addition to the win over Fitch, the Trojans have also defeated Woodland Hills, Erie (Pa.), Meadville (Pa.), Villa Angela St. Joseph, and Cathedral Prep (Pa.).

After losses in Weeks 2 and 3 to Mentor and Walsh Jesuit, they’ve won five-straight.