Big Red fends off Dover
Steubenville headed back to the regional final
Andrew Grimm Big Red's James Turner powers across the goal line for a touchdown against Dover in Friday's Region 11 semifinal inside Harding Stadium.
Andrew Grimm Big Red's Landon Crosier fights for yards after making a catch against Dover.
Andrew Grimm Big Red's Stephen McShan finds some open field for yards after the catch.
Andrew Grimm Big Red quarterback Santino Haney gets ready to fire a pass against Dover.
Andrew Grimm Big Red's Colton Henderson gets around the edge for a big gain.
Andrew Grimm Big Red's James Turner powers across the goal line for a touchdown against Dover in Friday's Region 11 semifinal inside Harding Stadium.
Andrew Grimm Big Red's Landon Crosier fights for yards after making a catch against Dover.
Andrew Grimm Big Red's Stephen McShan finds some open field for yards after the catch.
Andrew Grimm Big Red quarterback Santino Haney gets ready to fire a pass against Dover.
Andrew Grimm Big Red's Colton Henderson gets around the edge for a big gain.
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STEUBENVILLE -- Big Red weathered the Tornadoes’ storm and closed Harding Stadium for the season victorious on Friday night.
Top-seeded Steubenville jumped out to a big lead on Dover in the Division III, Region 11 semifinals and then held off a rally from the visitors to secure a hard-fought 21-14 victory and earn a trip to the regional final for a fifth-straight season.
“You have to rise to the occasion and win and we did both,” Big Red head coach Reno Saccoccia said. “I respect the heck out of our kids. It was a tough week, but we made it through. I thought we played a really good first half and a good fourth quarter.”
With the regional final and beyond played at neutral sites, Big Red (10-2) finishes 9-0 inside Harding Stadium this season and gave a seniors a victory in their final game on their home field.
“The seniors go undefeated at home, I’m happy for them,” Saccoccia said. “I’m happy we locked up Harding Stadium with a victory.
“I want to thank our fans, they don’t let the weather stop them, they don’t let anything stop them, they’re here backing us up all year and we appreciate them.”
Braidyn Edwards’ second interception of the game with just under four minutes to play, then a couple of key first downs on runs by Colton Henderson and James Turner sealed the deal on what is Big Red’s second win this season over the fifth-seeded Crimson Tornadoes (10-3).
Henderson finished with 164 yards on 28 carries, including a 55-yard touchdown run, and hauled in five passes for another 42 yards and a score, giving him over 200 yards of total offense on the night.
Turner had Steubenville’s first touchdown of the game and finished with multiple key first down conversions with 30 yards on five carries.
Stephen McShan also hauled in five passes for 51 yards and senior QB Santino Haney finished a solid 17 of 22 for 211 yards and a score. Senior Landon Crosier had a sack and a key TFL on defense and hauled in four passes for 58 yards on offense.
“I told the kids before the game that players make plays, and we had some guys make big plays,” Saccoccia said.
After a scoreless opening quarter, Big Red put together a nine-play, 72-yard drive to open the scoring with just over five minutes before halftime, Turner converting a big fourth down then capping it with a 1-yard plunge across the goal line.
After the defense got a stop, Steubenville went on another long march, this time Henderson hauling in a short pass and powering into the end zone for a 14-0 lead with 21 seconds left in the half.
Henderson broke his 55-yarder with 2:41 remaining in the third quarter, but Dover was not going to go away that easy.
Two plays later, Tornadoes QB Deiter Weber (11 of 18, 192 yards, 2TD, 2 INT) connected with Dante Clark (seven catches, 103 yards, two TDs) for a 49-yard score to answer right back.
On the next Dover possession, the duo connected again, this time on a 14-yard score to cut the margin to just seven.
The Tornadoes defense came up with a stop to force a Big Red punt with just over four minutes to play. The returner muffed the punt, but Dover recovered it. However, a couple plays later Edwards stepped in front of a Weber pass to come up with the big play Big Red needed.
Turner and Henderson each then converted key first downs, forcing Dover to burn up its remaining timeouts and send Steubenville into victory formation.
Big Red finished with 417 yards of offense to Dover’s 245 and a 22-9 edge in first downs. The Tornadoes had 163 of their yards after halftime.
“I respect Dover, they have tough kids and a great program,” Saccoccia said. “We’re sorry not to have them on the (regular season) schedule any more, but I respect them and they played hard.”
UP NEXT
Big Red will take on No. 3 seed Columbus East in the Region 11 championship game next Friday night at site to be announced.
The Tigers (11-1) scored a late touchdown then fended off No. 2 seed Newark Licking Valley on the road for a 36-33 victory in the other Region 11 semifinal.
“We said on Day 1 that one of our goals was to win the region and we’re one step closer to that goal. We have seven days to prepare,” Saccoccia said.