Big Red back home on a win streak

BACK AT HOME — Coach Reno Saccoccia and the Big Red football team are back at home the rest of the regular season, starting Friday. - Andrew Grimm
STEUBENVILLE — The Big Red football team certainly has made quite the turnaround.
An 0-2 start seems like ancient history now as Steubenville has rattled off three consecutive victories, the last two of which have come on the road.
After going eight quarters without a point, Big Red’s offense has exploded, putting up 145 points over its last 10 quarters since halftime of the Cardinal Mooney game, 118 in the last two weeks alone — 55 against Linsly and 63 on the road at Dover last week.
Steubenville is averaging 48 points in its three victories.
“I’m just really pleased with the way our players have come back and dug themselves out of a hole,” Big Red head coach Reno Saccoccia said. “And at least we’re at ground level right now, we’ve had a great couple of weeks and hopefully we continue to have a great week this week.”
After two weeks away from home, Big Red is back at Harding Stadium for the final four weeks of the regular season, starting this week with Farrell (Pa.).
The Steelers bring a 4-1 mark to town, making the close to 90 minute trip from just on the Pa. side of the Ohio border and the greater Youngstown area.
“We’re really happy to be coming back home, but we’re coming back home to play a very, very good football team,” Saccoccia said. “It’s a game that takes us back to the first two games in the way they have talent and speed and size at the right positions. So we have to be at top of our game Friday night.”
Farrell averages 37.4 points per game, allowing an average of just six points. The Steelers are on a four-game win streak.
“They have size at the right positions, they have speed at the right positions and they’re very well coached,” Saccoccia said of Farrell. “They’re a 4-1 football team for a reason. And we’re going to have to be at the top of our game. It’s going to be an exciting football game. They have a tailback that we haven’t seen the likes of him in a long time, and they have a really good, fast, aggressive defense.”
That tailback is senior Juelz Johnson, who has racked up 763 yards and eight TDs on the ground this season, averaging nine yards per carry and more than 150 yards per game.
Junior QB Aaron Pegues has thrown for 674 yards and seven TDs with just one interception, completing more than 64 percent of his passes.
His top target is Jamauri Jones, a senior with 14 catches for 162 yards and a pair of TDs.
“It’s a game that our preparation is going to be so important,” Saccoccia said. “We had a very good Monday and Tuesday, but we need an even better Wednesday and Thursday to get ready for Friday.”
Big Red sits just outside the playoff picture in Division III, Region 11, as it has climbed into 13th place. The top 12 qualify for the playoffs this year, with the top eight hosting at least one game.
The opening kick is slated for 7 p.m.