Football Xtra

Big Red focusing on respect

STEUBENVILLE -- Reno Saccoccia is talking to his Big Red football players about respect as they prepare for Friday's homecoming date with Pittsburgh University Prep.

"We talked with our team the last few days about respect for the game," Saccoccia said earlier this week. "If you respect the game of football, you have to respect all your opponents. We don't want a repeat of Duke and Clemson.

"We need to have a good week of practice and prepare to play a solid game Friday. We need to continue to show improvement, especially in the secondary."

Friday's contest, set to start at 7 p.m., will be the eighth all-time between the schools.

Steubenville has won the previous seven encounters including a 40-14 victory a season ago.

University Prep, which features players from University Prep, Sci-Tech and Obama Academy high schools, will bring a 2-0 mark to town.

Lou Berry's club started its season with a 26-20 double overtime victory over New Castle. Last week, the Panthers manhandled Pittsburgh Carrick 66-0.

"This is the first time we have played a Prep team that is unbeaten," said Saccoccia. "They have a lot of players back from last year (Prep returned 11 starters on both sides of the ball -- six on offense and five on defense) and they have a lot of speed. Their speed impresses me the most."

In senior wide receiver Daniel Cain (5-5, 150), University Prep may have one of the fastest payers and biggest game breakers in all of Western Pennsylvania. He was named All-City the past seasons. As a junior, Cain scored 11 touchdowns (five receiving, two rushing and four on kickoff and punt returns). He accounted for both University Prep touchdowns a year ago against Big Red, returning a kick 86 yards and scoring on a 45-yard pass play.

Cain caught a 10-yard pass from quarterback Max Qureshi to clinch the win against New Castle.

"The thing about Daniel is, not only is he fast, but he knows how to apply it appropriately on the field because he has gears," Berry said in a pre-season interview. "He can set you up where you think you have the angle and then he'll just turn it on and use his speed against you. He has that innate ability to make people miss."

Qureshi is in his second season as University Prep's starter under center. He other favorite receivers are senior Marquis Glass-Jones and junior Xair Stevenson.

Despite a lack of success in its previous seven trips, Berry feels the Steubenville game helps his squad in the long run.

"A game like this definitely helps us going forward," he said following the 2022 contest. "You walk out of here a tougher individual both as coaches and players.

"Our guys really enjoy performing in this environment. The environment here really makes it fun with the raucous crowd, the horse going off and the jumbotron. All of that is a very valuable experience for our team."

Following its 21-14 victory over Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, Steubenville improved to 2-1 on the season.

"We played through a really, really good three-game stretch where the teams weren't similar at all," Saccoccia said. "New Philadelphia ran the ball pretty well and Ursuline passed it well. The adjustments we made going into the Mooney game really helped us defensively. Offensively, we were able to make enough plays to allow our lead to stand up.

"In some areas, I think we have really improved. In other areas, we are about the same. Hopefully, we can continue to improve in all areas of the game going forward -- coaching, playing, everything. You can go by the old adage, if you're not getting better, you're getting worse. We want to keep improving every week."

Big Red, which has a Week 5 showdown on the road at Dover, has rushed for 624 yards on 104 attempts through three games (an average of 6.1 yards per trip). Senior Savier Faulks leads the ground attack with 291 yards on 41 attempts.

Senior quarterback Aydan Manning has thrown for 427 yards. Senior Isaac Hill leads the receiving corps with 19 grabs for 253 yards. Sophomore Cajuan Bryant has six receptions and senior Lee Anthony Sewell five.

Saccoccia pointed out the keys to victory for his Big Red are fairly simple:

"We have to improve in all areas and take advantage of the opportunities we get offensively," he said.