Big Red, Dover meet again
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STEUBENVILLE -- There is an old saying it’s hard to beat a team twice in the same season. The Big Red football team is going to try to do just that to Dover.
After winning a regular season meeting all the way back in Week 2, Steubenville welcomes the Crimson Tornadoes back to Harding Stadium for a second time this season in the Division III, Region 11 semifinals.
Steubenville won the first meeting, 44-14, back in August when the sun was still shining at halftime and fans were wearing shorts. Now, it’s football weather with temperatures forecasted in the 30s and a chance of seeing some snowflakes.
The weather is not the only thing that is different from 11 weeks ago, as both teams come into Friday night feeling like they have changed considerably since the first meeting.
"It's a very familiar opponent, but no team is the same in Week 13 as they were in Week 2," Big Red head coach Reno Saccoccia said. "Hopefully both teams have gotten better since then. It's a new game, we have to prepare for a new game. We have to re-scout and re-focus, I'm sure they do some things different now than they did in Week 2.
"We've been in this situation before where we beat them in the regular season and they beat us the playoffs. Our coaches remember that and we have to be prepared for a new game."
Big Red’s win in the regular season was its 25th overall in the 32 all-time meetings between the teams. Steubenville’s win over Jackson to start its 26th-straight playoff appearance was its 83rd all-time playoff win in 117 playoff games.
The Tornadoes are coming off an impressive victory of their own, going on the road and toppling a 9-1 Athens team that was the No. 4 seed in the region 41-0 inside the stadium Joe Burrow once called home.
"They're coming off a very big win, a beautiful effort in my book against a very good team," Saccoccia said. "We have to be ready to go.
"It doesn’t matter what the name of the team is or what the color their jersey is, we have to go out there and do what we do and just do it a little bit better than we did last week."
Dover is now 23-26 all-time in the postseason. They defeated Columbus South 41-7 in the opening round of the playoffs.
As was the case in August, Dover (10-2) is led by standout QB Deiter Weber, who went on to have another fine season for the Tornadoes. The junior has accounted for over 3,000 total yards and 30 touchdowns. He has multiple Division I offers to continue his career beyond high school.
Also key contributors for Dover are tailback Cohen Murray, who has over 1,100 total yards and nine scores and receiver Dante Clark, who has over 900 receiving yards and 13 scores on the season.
The opening kick on Friday night for the last game of the season inside Harding Stadium is set for 7 p.m.