BIG GAME AHEAD — After getting in the win column last week, Santino Haney and the Big Red football team will look to make it back-to-back victories when they take their first road trip of the season Friday night to battle Linsly at West Liberty University. - Andrew Grimm

WEST LIBERTY — One would be hard pressed to find two teams in the area that play a tougher schedule year-in and year-out than Steubenville Big Red and Linsly.

The last several years, those schedules have included one another.

They do again this year, as Big Red will head on the road for the first time this season Friday night to battle the Cadets on the campus of West Liberty University.

“It’s been a really, really good rivalry,” Big Red head coach Reno Saccoccia said. “They have a good program, their coach does a good job. Their kids always come ready to play, and their kids go hard for 48 minutes. I hope we can continue to play in the future.

“We’ve had some close games with them, and it’s good for both teams, it’s good for both communities. And this year should be no different.”

Big Red leads the overall series between the programs 10-1-1. Steubenville has won the last two meetings, last year at Harding Stadium and in 2023 the last time the teams met at WLU.

Linsly’s win in the series came in 2022.

“We’ve played them enough the last few years that it does feel like a rivalry,” Linsly’s B.J. Depew told the Intelligencer. “I know that they have the upperhand in the series, but it’s a game we look forward to, and my guess is they do too.

“Neither one of us get to play a lot of OVAC opponents and for us it’s a great measuring stick so that we can get a feel for where we stand. They are one of the best programs around.”

Both teams are entering with 1-2 records, both having losses to very tough opponents.

Big Red fell to Division III state runner up Ursuline before it canceled the remainder of its season and defending Division IV state champ Indian Valley.

The Cadets fell to Westinghouse and St. Clairsville with a win over Brooke in the middle.

Big Red is coming off a thrilling first victory of the season, 27-24 in overtime over Youngstown Cardinal Mooney last week. Saccoccia hopes to see that excitement from the big victory carry over this week.

“We had a very good ending Friday, a very good meeting Saturday, a very good practice on Monday,” Saccoccia said.

In that win, Big Red rallied from a 14-0 halftime deficit.

“Our first half wasn’t as bad as it looked, except for the 80-yard run,” Saccoccia said. “It just didn’t look as bad (on film) as it seemed to the coaches, to the players, and to anybody that was involved at the game. But our kids just came out of the locker room ready to play … And that’s just a credit to the kids and to the coaches that prepared them during the halftime.

“We went in the locker room like an 0-3 team and came out like a 3-0 team. That was the worst halftime I’ve ever been involved in and the best halftime I’ve ever been involved in.”

For the veteran coach, the turnaround came down to one thing.

“The difference was our execution was outstanding in the second half, both offensively and defensively,” Saccoccia said.

In order to make it back-to-back wins, Saccoccia knows they will have to find a way to stop a familiar challenge in Linsly senior QB Brayden Wade, who has completed 47 of 86 passes for 532 yards this season.

“The main thing we notice is they have an outstanding quarterback,” Saccoccia said of the Cadets’ signal caller. “They have an outstanding passing game to go with that quarterback. He came in at the end of our game as a sophomore down at West Liberty (in 2023) and played very well against us last year, so this will be his third time going against us. And he’s a smart kid, he avoids sacks, and he’s a really, really good quarterback when it comes to being accurate.”

Big Red got its offense going last week as it had 18 first downs in the game and 340 yards of offense against Mooney, 248 of which came after halftime.

Senior Ca’Juan Bryant had over 150 total yards and a pair of TDs, including the game winner.

First-year starting QB Santino Haney also found his groove, tossing for a season-high 203 yards and two scores.

The opening kick Friday at WLU is set for 7 p.m.

“It’s gonna be nice,” Saccoccia said of going to West Liberty to play the game. “We’re gonna play a formidable foe on a college campus and I don’t think it gets any better than that.”