Mike Mathison GOING THE DISTANCE — Indian Creek’s Andy Waggoner returns an interception 80 yards for a touchdown during last week’s victory over Buckeye Local. The Redskins host St. Clairsville Friday.

Reno Saccoccia has a pretty simple philosophy when it comes to defense.

“Our philosophy has always been to stop the run and tackle the pass,” he said last week as he was preparing his Big Red for a trip to Boardman. “You’re not going to stop them both. If we can stop one and tackle that pass as soon as the receiver catches the ball, then we make them (Steubenville’s opponents) earn every touchdown they get.”

In Friday’s 28-0 victory over the Division II Spartans, Steubenville’s defense adhered to that philosophy extremely well.

Boardman could manage just 14 rushing yards against Big Red’s very physical defensive front. Sophomore quarterback Mike O’Horo did throw for 113 yards but Steubenville was able to make tackles as soon as the receivers caught the ball.

Koby Adu-Poku, Boardman’s stellar tailback, had 14 carries for just 19 yards. His longest rush covered 16. He was tackled for losses five times. O’Horo was sacked five times (Ny’Juan Robinson and Charles Reeves had two each while Zane Zimish recorded the other, which resulted in a fumble). In addition to the sacks, the Boardman signal caller was caught behind the line twice on designed running plays.

“We kind of knew they were really good at disguising stuff and blitzing a lot,” O’Horo told The Youngstown Vindicator after the game. “We had to check a lot of plays at the line. We could only threw short routes and we didn’t run the ball real well. It’s hard to block eight guys when we only have five.”

Steubenville’s defense basically terrorized O’Horo the entire game. He was forced into four turnovers, the fumble caused by and recovered by Zimish and three interceptions, two by Nick Scott and the other by Alec Taylor, which led to Big Red’s first touchdown. He also was tackled 11 times.

Scott’s second pick came in the Big Red end zone and thwarted Boardman’s only serious scoring threat of the contest.

“Defensively, we played our best game so far this year,” Saccoccia stated after Big Red evened its all-time series with Boardman at seven wins apiece.

Great win, but…:

Toronto remained unbeaten with its 18-7 victory over Jefferson County rival Catholic Central in its home opener.

Danny Zdinak jump-started the Red Knight offense when he surged 92 yards for the game’s opening score. In the process, he broke three tackles near midfield.

“I’ve been a fan of Danny Zdinak since I watched him in middle school,” Red Knight boss Eric Meek said.

Meek called the victory “a great win,” but added “we’ve got to get better.”

“We’re 4-0 and we still have a ways to go to get where we want to be,” he continued.

Toronto, which was ranked sixth in the initial Ohio AP Division VII poll, has now won 21 of its last 23 regular games. Both losses came to Shadyside, which will invade the Gem City this week.

“In my mind, Shadyside will always be the top Division VII program in the OVAC until we can prove otherwise,” Meek pointed out. “We need to do what we have to do to beat them next week.”

The Tigers, ranked 10th in the AP poll, moved to 4-0 by holding off Meadowbrook 48-41. In the game, junior running back Alex Krupa ran for 165 yards and five touchdowns.

Creek’s rising:

Since losing its opener to Cambridge 26-19, Indian Creek has outscored its last three opponents by an amazing 140-0 margin. The Redskins moved to 3-1 thanks to their 64-0 Week 4 beat down of Buckeye Local.

“Our biggest goal is to improve from week-to-week and I believe we have been doing that,” veteran Creek coach Andrew Connor said following the Buckeye 8 contest in Yorkville.

Creek has a major test this Friday when St. Clairsville visits Kettlewell Stadium. The Red Devils have won 11 in a row.

Good team, but…:

Derrick Stickles called his Edison Wildcats “a good football team” following Week 4’s 28-14 loss to Beaver Local.

“We are going to win some more games,” said Stickles. “We just have a few things we have to fix.”

The homecoming loss dropped Edison to 2-2.

Dual-threat quarterback Joey Nave had a big game for the Wildcats, completing 12 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. He also collected 75 yards via the ground and another score. Dom Rogers was on the receiving end of five Nave tosses.

Edison has unbeaten Union Local on the schedule this week.

He’s a load:

Cody Enrietti had another big night for Weir in its tough 28-14 loss to Keyser.

He ran for 176 yards on 29 carries and a touchdown.

“Enrietti did a heck of a job,” Keyser coach Sean Biser said following the game. “I mean at 6-3, 215 pounds he’s a heck of a load especially against my little 150-pound middle linebacker.”

The Red Riders will look to get back on the winning track when they travel to Petersburg on Saturday.

Closing in:

After just four weeks, Harrison Central’s Ty West is closing in on the 1,000 yard rushing mark.

The sophomore speedster ran for 210 and a score in the tough 37-34 Week 4 loss to Union Local. He also threw a touchdown pass for the now 2-2 Huskies.

To date, West 837 yards on 88 carries (an average of 9.5 per tote) and six rushing scores.

No beating it:

When bitter rivals Coldwater and Maria Stein Marion Local get together for their annual battle, it may be as close to a regular season Super Bowl as it gets for small high school football in the state.

Proof of that is this year’s 50/50 drawing that paid a record of $14,724 to one lucky ticket holder. That, of course, means $29,448 was collected in less than three hours.

By the way, Coldwater escaped with a 17-14 victory in the game played on Sept. 9.

Computer poll:

The Ohio High School Athletic Association will release the first official computer ratings of the season on Tuesday. Joe Eitel, however, has been making his unofficial standings available since the 2016 season began.

According to Eitel, Big Red remains third in the Division IV, Region 15 standings. Johnstown-Monroe is first and Shelby second. Indian Creek is 10th.

Toronto stands fourth in Division VII, Region 25. Mogadore holds the top spot followed by Warren JFK and Monroeville.

Harrison Central is 12th in Division V, Region 19 with Edison 19th.

16 in a row:

Big Red’s road victory at Boardman was its 16th-straight regular season victory.

Steubenville captured its final three games of the 2014 season before running a nine-game table a season ago.

Saccoccia has his Big Red off to a 4-0 start for the 15th consecutive campaign.

Tough half I:

Brooke’s brutal first half of the season continued in last week’s 47-0 loss at Hurricane, the third ranked Class AAA squad.

Mac McLean and his beat up Bruins also have fallen to No. 1 Huntington, number four University and No. 5 Morgantown.

The string of bad luck continued for the Bruins early in the Hurricane game when sophomore quarterback Gage Yost was injured on the third play from scrimmage. He was replaced by Logan Williams. Earlier, McLean lost senior signal caller Koty Hudson for the season to a knee injury.

Williams completed four passes for 37 yards. Chris Yachini, the top receiver in The Herald-Star/Daily Times coverage area, has three catches.

“I gotta give our kids credit,” McLean told The Charleston Daily Mail following the Hurricane game. “I can’t complain because we’re putting the best players we have left out there and they are giving it all the can. With all these injuries and we lose our quarterback on the third play, it just seems like an all-inclusive nightmare right now.”

That nightmare continues this week when Brooke hosts Wheeling Park, the defending Class AAA champion. Park stands at 2-2 following its Week 4 loss at University.

Tough half II:

In its first four games, Catholic Central has fallen to unbeaten Toronto, once-beaten Wheeling Central, considered a West Virginia Class A title contender, and a very physical Berlin Center Western Reserve squad.

Next up — a trip up state Route 11 to test unbeaten Warren JFK, Ohio’s third ranked Division VII club. The Eagles moved to 4-0 via a 34-0 shutout of Columbiana Crestview.

“Our kids have shown through the first four weeks that they’re going to play tough no matter who it is,” Central coach Steve Daley said following the loss at Toronto. “We’re just going to keep working and hopefully we can get some more wins as the season goes on.”

Brody Mihalyo continued to run the football well for the Crusaders, collecting 114 yards.

Red zone woes:

Big Red’s offense displayed a few flashes of brilliance in the 28-0 win at Boardman, however, Saccoccia was quick to note the unit can be much better.

Steubenville had a golden opportunity after Zimish blocked a Spartan punt, giving Big Red the football at the Boardman 19. The offense, however, went four and out, the final snap resulting in a quarterback sack.

Following a short Spartan punt, Big Red moved from the Boardman 43 to the five. Agresta’s connection with Jonathon Blackmon was the big play of the march. Following a motion penalty on first down, the scoring threat fizzled out.

Two other opportunities, both stemming from defensive gems (Zimish’s fumble recovery and Scott’s first pick) ended in zero points. Each time, Big Red started on Boardman’s side of the field.

“When we get in the red zone, when we get turnovers, when we get opportunities, we have to take advantage of them,” Saccoccia stressed. “Our offense was nice but to be a great offense, you have to score when you get the ball inside the 30. When we get the ball in the red zone, we have to score — end of story.”

Bears get one:

When two hungry teams get together, they generally stage a competitive contest.

Such was the case Thursday when Oak Glen visited Madonna.

The Golden Bears are winless no more. Dakota Price ran for 157 yards and Lance Collins threw for 167 as Oak Glen handed first-year coach Ted Arneault his victory in a 21-19 thriller.

“I’m happy for the kids,” Arneault said.

“They came together as a team this week. They were really focused. They knuckled down.”

Different route:

Dover, Big Red’s Week 5 opponent, did something a little different in its 28-20 Week 4 win over Akron East.

The Tornadoes, who rely on the passing game, did all their scoring on the ground. Veteran coach Dan Ifft couldn’t remember the last time that happened.

Dover will bring a 2-2 record to Steubenville Friday.

Top stats:

Running wild

¯ 210, Ty West, Harrison Central, touchdown

¯ 176, Cody Enrietti, Weir High, touchdown

¯ 157, Dakota Price, Oak Glen, touchdown

¯ 143, Dan Zdinak, Toronto, touchdown

¯ 114, Brody Mihalyo, Catholic Central

¯ 91, Donavan Kirby, Madonna, touchdown

¯ 82, Jacob Bernard, Big Red

Gunslingers

¯ 167, Lance Collins, Oak Glen, 10 of 13, score

¯ 139, Joe Nave, Edison, 12 of 18, score

¯ 120, Javon Davis, Big Red, 9 of 15, 2 scores

¯ 118, Nate Karaffa, Toronto, 8 of 13, score

¯ 105, Justin Hartzell, Catholic Central, 8 of 19, score

Hands team

¯ 6, Chase Crago, Oak Glen, 118, touchdown

¯ 5, Dom Rogers, Edison, 97, touchdown

¯ 4, Charles Reeves, Big Red, 60, 2 touchdowns

¯ 4, Vinny DiCarlantonio, Catholic Central, 68

¯ 4, Seth Cade, Edison, 11

¯ 3, Dujuan Jones, Big Red, 44, touchdown

¯ 3, Jake Keenan, Toronto, touchdown

¯ 3, Chris Yachini, Brooke, 30