Big Red returns home, welcomes St. Joseph
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STEUBENVILLE -- One can call the team traveling from Ottawa, Ontario to Harding Stadium Friday St. Joseph. Or, if one prefers, he or she could call it Football North Ottawa.
Veteran Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia is choosing to call it a quality opponent with size and athletes.
The Jaguars are a sister program to Football North, which Big Red scrimmaged in its annual preview game. This is the inaugural year for the "American football team," and the Jaguars are off to a rough start, having traveled to Ohio the past two weekends, losing to Olentangy Liberty (49-14) and Chardon (56-21).
Team members do their academic work at St. Joseph High School in Ottawa, Canada's capital city, then travel to the U.S. for the majority of their games. St. Joseph, a school with more than 1,400 students in grades 7-12, also runs a Canadian football team that plays in a local league. Football North players attend Clarkson High School in Mississauga, Ontario. The program is similar to the one operated by Canada Prep, which has previously played Big Red.
"We have seen them on film a couple of times, and they're a lot like the team we had in the preview," Saccoccia said. "So in preparing, we basically have two films, and we're going a little by what we saw in the preview also.
"They have size and athletes. They haven't spent a lot of time together yet, but they look solid, and I'm sure they'll be ready to play come Friday."
Saccoccia added that the Jaguars have a very good quarterback in Ben Maracle (6-4, 190 pounds). His favorite targets are Dante Mitchell (6-1, 175), Kevin Victome (6-0, 165) and Nathan Coleman (5-8, 160).
"They have two very good receivers and like to throw the ball around," Saccoccia said. "Then, they'll run draws and traps off of their formations."
When St. Joe runs the football, Jayden Simmons (5-11, 180), Connor Bornais (6-0, 250) and Antonio Coris (6-2, 195) generally get the call.
The size Saccoccia referred to involves linemen Matt Kingsley (6-0, 260), Julien Ford (6-2, 235), Alex Berwick (6-3, 305) and Nate Frangione (5-11, 270). Lee Barette, the athletic director at St. Joseph, pointed out the new American football team is young and learning and is coached by Blaine Scatcherd.
As Saccoccia prepares to deal with the size and speed of the Jaguars, he also has another goal in mind.
"Early in the year, we like to work ourselves and concentrate on how we can get better as a team," he said. "That's what we're focusing on right now."
Steubenville went on the road last week and earned a 28-6 victory over Morgantown. Three turnovers and six penalties helped keep Big Red's offense in check during first half. Saccoccia's club led just 6-0 at the break.
In the second half, Big Red simply wore down the Mohigans, rushing for 193 yards and three scores. Steubenville compiled 349 yards on the ground with eight different ball carriers getting touches. Senior Jamal Petteway led the way with 110 yards on 19 carries, while junior Caleb Mitchell added 87.
"Our defense played great for 48 minutes at Morgantown, and the offensive line played really good," Saccoccia said. "Two positives came out of the trip. First we won, and second we got a lot of kids some playing time. So, as the year goes on, hopefully we can continue to develop some depth, especially on both lines and be a complete football team.
"I don't think you can be a complete team when you have guys on the field who can't play to the best of their ability. The more kids we get playing, the more enthusiasm we're going to have and our players will be fresh. When those things happen, the kids are going to play harder."
After two games, Big Red's offense is averaging 455 yards per outing (282 on the ground and 173 through the air) and 33 points. Mitchell has 168 yards rushing to lead the team. Petteway is next followed by Taveon Montgomery and Jeziah Blackwell.
Senior quarterback Javon Davis has completed 23-of-37 passes (62 percent) for 343 yards and four scores. Seniors Gino Pierro and Johnny Agresta both have six catches to pace Big Red
The defense has allowed a total of 266 yards in its first two outings, 90 on the ground and 176 through the air, while surrendering 13 points.
Following this week's game, Big Red will host currently unbeaten Boardman then Pittsburgh USO before traveling to Dover.
As he reviewed the progress his Big Red has made in the first two weeks, Saccoccia took time to praise the efforts of his senior players.
"These seniors have been really dedicated football players to date when it comes to being physical, trying to play fast and being fundamentally sound in their alignments, assignments and adjustments," he said. "I've always said the better the seniors perform, the better your juniors will perform and the better the sophomores will perform.
"It's like follow the leader. Most members of a team will do what they see the seniors do. If you can have your best players as your hardest workers, then you will have an ideal team."