STEUBENVILLE — Veteran Big Red head coach Reno Saccoccia said before last week’s opener that their opponent — Youngstown Ursuline — was one of the best teams in the state of Ohio.

A week later, the team coming to Harding Stadium this Friday night might just have one of the best players in the state.

That team is defending Division IV state champions Indian Valley, and that player is star tailback Grady Kinsey, who Big Red will have to find a way to slow down as they look to bounce back from a 37-7 set back to Ursuline on opening night.

“We had played against a very good team last week, and we’re playing against a very good team this week,” Saccoccia said. “Our preparation was good last week, hopefully we have the same preparation this week, but hopefully our Friday turns out a little bit better than did last week.”

The Braves, who won their opening game over Green, 28-21, are coming off a 16-0 season a year ago in capturing the program’s first title.

Big Red has met them three times in the past, and won all three meetings. The last meeting was in the third round of the playoffs in 2023.

“They have very good coaches, and their kids play with a great amount of intensity,” Saccoccia said of IV. “The thing I’ve learned most about them, there’s a lot of talk about the skilled people, but they have a very, very good offensive line that creates great double teams, gets off on the linebackers and gives the quarterback and tailback a lot of room to run.

“But at the same time, (the skills players) both do exactly what they’re supposed to do. They trust their eyes, when they have the ball and they’re hard to bring down.”

No one will be harder to bring down than Kinsey, who rushed for more than 3,000 yards as a junior last season and went for 309 yards and three touchdowns, averaging nearly 10 yards per carry in IV’s Week 1 win. He was a finalist for the OPSMA Mr. Football Award as a junior last season.

“He’s a really, really good player,” Saccoccia said. “We had a tough time stopping him two years ago when he was a sophomore.

“He’s a 205-pound kid that reminds me of that running back that played for Arizona State (Cam Skattabo) with his intensity and the way he runs.

“He’s just going be a great challenge for our players.”

Big Red’s offense will look to build on a 61-yard Santino Haney to Ziare Scurry touchdown connection that was the offense’s bright spot in Week 1.

Defensively, they’ll need to have a big week to slow down Kinsey. In Week 1, Tre’Von Wiggins had an interception, Landon Crosier had a sack and a tackle for loss and Nolan Blackburn had a TFL.

The opening kick is set for 7 p.m.