Big Red focused on Louisville
No. 3 ranked Steubenville not looking ahead to playoffs
Trending
LOUISVILLE -- Reno Saccoccia is busy this week conveying a rather simple message to his playoff bound Big Red--don't look ahead, focus on the task at hand.
That task for Big Red, now 8-1, is traveling to Louisville Friday and returning with its ninth consecutive victory.
The kick for the second ever meeting between the schools is set for 7 p.m. inside Leopard Stadium. Steubenville took down the Leopards in the 2022 season opener.
Louisville, a Division III school, fell in its season opener to New Philadelphia 42-21. Big Red pinned a 29-14 defeat on the Quakers in Week 2. The Leopards then whipped Division III Zanesville before dropping consecutive verdicts to Division IV Canal Fulton Northwest, Division II North Canton Hoover, Division II Uniontown Lake, Division II Massillon Perry, Division II Green, Division I Glen Oak and Division V South Range, which went 16-0 a season ago and captured the Div. V state championship.
"I've watched six of their games on film and they sure don't look like a 1-8 team to me," Saccoccia said earlier this week. "They are very well coached and a really good screen team. They should put on their film 'any one, anytime, anywhere. They have played a really tough schedule.
"If you watch them on film without knowing scores or the record, you would consider them to be a very good football team. They are physical and they'll be a challenge for us. My message to our guys this week is concentrate on Louisville, not what lies ahead.
"We have to play solid football Friday. There is no easy way to play football and there are no easy wins in football. It is a tough game. You had better respect the game and you had better respect your opponent."
In the 28-0 win over University School, Big Red senior quarterback Aydan Manning fired three scoring passes and finished with 244 passing yards. He connected with eight different receivers. Meanwhile, the Steubenville pitched a shutout for the second consecutive week.
"It was a very good win," Saccoccia said, "but we have to fix our penalties."
The Big Red was flagged 17 times for 130 yards.
"We made a lot of pre-snap mistakes, we've got to fix that," Saccoccia said following the U.S. game. "You have to take something to work on from the wins and something from the losses. We have to work on the penalties. We have to learn from what we did well and learn from our mistakes and finish the regular season strong.
"Our focus this week will be doing a better job of staying square, getting our second football down on the group and keeping our hands inside. That's the best way to block regardless of your position. Defensively, we will focus on getting to our tackles squad and better protecting the gaps."
Thanks to his performance against University School, Manning now has thrown for 1,502 yards and 11 touchdowns. His favorite target continues to be senior Isaac Hill, 56 catches for 789 yards and six scores. Savier Faulks continues to pace the ground attack with 717 yards on 127 carries and 12 touchdowns.
Steubenville's win over University School, coupled with Sheridan's loss to Tri-Valley, vaulted the Big Red into the top spot in the Division IV, Region 15 computer standings. On his Fantastic 50 website, Drew Pasteur installed Big Red as a 40 point favorite against Louisville. A victory, of course, would wrap up the top seed for Saccoccia's club. Pasteur is predicting a first round matchup with McConnelsville Morgan, which currently is 5-4 and closes its regular season against Crooksville.
The Louisville offense is directed by senior quarterback Owen Burick (5-11, 170). He threw for 162 yards in the loss to South Range. Senior Braiden Hershey (6-2, 185) had seven catches for 68 yards while junior Cam Dougherty (6-0, 200) finished with six catches for 55. Both had receiving touchdowns. Dougherty also is the leading rusher for the Leopards.
"We have to concentrate on Louisville and be ready to play 48 minutes of football Friday," Saccoccia said.