Big Red has no problem getting past Canada Prep
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STEUBENVILLE -- During a post-game interview, Reno Saccoccia emphatically stressed "team beats talent."
His Big Red proved that to be true Friday, holding off a furious second half rally to clip Canada Prep Academy 39-27 on Senior Night inside Harding Stadium.
Steubenville, which has earned its 16th consecutive trip to the Ohio playoffs, built what seemed to be a comfortable 26-0 halftime lead. The Raiders, who hail from St. Catharine's, Ontario, refused to go away and closed to within five (32-27) late in the game.
Saccoccia's club, however, sealed the deal by marching 82 yards, all coming on hard runs by junior Jacob Bernard, for the final score. Bernard, who toted the pigskin 40 times for a career-high 223 yards, found the end zone on a 12-yard sprint. Austen Duggan booted the extra point and Big Red had its ninth win in 10 starts.
"You're not shutting out a team like that for 48 minutes--I don't care who you are or who your players are," Saccoccia stated. "You're not shutting out a team with that kind of talent period. But, team beats talent when team has will.
"That last drive was beautiful. That was everybody -- I can't point out any individual or any individual group. Everyone did their jobs tonight to the best of their ability plus some. That was Big Red football from the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s, all the highlight teams. That was just a Big Red football game."
Early indications from Joe Eitel have Big Red finishing third in Division IV, Region 15 and starting its playoff run with a home game against Cambridge. The official pairings will be announced Sunday by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
In building its early advantage, Big Red used a scoring trifecta (a touchdown, safety and field goal) to go up 12-0.
The hosts took the opening kick and methodically moved down the field for game's first touchdown. The drive covered 80 yards, consumed more than seven minutes and was capped with a one-yard plunge by Zane Zimish.
Steubenville then went up 9-0 on Prep's first snap from scrimmage. Quarterback Esson Hamilton was pressured by Big Red's aggressive defense and chased into his own end zone where he drew an intentional grounding call.
Big Red's next drive stalled at the Prep 17. On fourth down, Mark Smith split the uprights fron 34 yards away.
Midway through the second period, Big Red struck again when Dejuan Jones made a sensational finger-tip catch of a Javon Davis pass in the corner of the end zone. Jones, unfortunately, was hurt on the play and had to be helped off the field. The touchdown came after Prep gave their hosts great field possession due to a high snap on a punting attempt. Nick Scott and Kwadre Williams threw the Prep punter for a 14 yard loss.
Big Red also scored on the last play of the half via a 20-yard alley-oop pass from Davis to Charles Reeves, who went up, grabbed the ball and managed to hold on. Gino Pierro's conversion pass to Mitchell Gulan made it 26-0.
In the first half, Big Red ran 43 offensive plays for 200 yards while Prep had 18 snaps for a negative yard.
Prep got its offense going in the second half, scoring two quick touchdowns. The first came on a 22-yard sprint by Jean Paul Cimankinda and the second on a 70-yard Hamilton to Raidan Thorne pass.
On the kick following Thorne's grab, Big Red drew two penalties, one for holding, and the other for a personal foul.
Undeterred by poor field possession, Big Red traveled 87 yards on a drive that consumed more than seven minutes. The march featured plenty of hard running by Bernard, who plunged over from two yards away.
The Raiders responded by marching deep into Big Red territory but a sack by Jalen McGhee and a penalty killed that opportunity. Steubenville began moving but fumbled, Sammy Obiang recovering and racing 54 yards for a Raider touchdown.
Cimankinda then traveled 26 yards for a score with 6:13 left as Prep closed to 32-27, setting the stage for that "beautiful" Big Red drive.
"I'm happy with the win, but not satisfied," Saccoccia pointed out. "We have to keep working and we have to keep improving.
"I thought we played well in every phase of the game -- kickoff, kickoff return, punt and punt returns. Our quarterback (Davis) had a 39-yard punt and that was big when we needed it. It was an all-around football game."
After being held in check during the first half, Prep finished the night with 306 yards of offense. Hamilton threw for 222 (208 coming after the break) and Cimankinda ran for 99.
Big Red finished with 396 yards. Davis completed 12 passes for 130 and the two scores. Reeves had five catches for 57.
Prior to the game, Big Red honored its 21 football seniors.
"We're 9-1 and that was a beautiful year for our seniors," Saccoccia said. "We talked about that going on to the field tonight. We wanted our sophomores and juniors to help send the seniors out 9-1. Now, we get ready for the second season."