Massillon Is No Match for Steubenville
Big Red runs streak to 67 in a row with total domination of Ohio Division-I TigersBy STEPHANIE ELVERD
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STEUBENVILLE - If Division III Big Red was supposed to be the underdog in its game with Division III Massillon on Friday, nobody bothered to tell them. Instead of rolling over for the Tigers, still undefeated Steubenville rolled over, winning by a 13-3 final at Harding Stadium.
Big Red stunned Massillon, which last played Big Red in 1978 and led the series 37-3-2 when it ended 31 years ago, by giving up 23 yards rushing while racking up exactly 200 more on 54 carries. Steubenville also collected 18 first downs to the Tigers' six, and just dominated a much-bigger Massillon up front.
For the Steubenville program, which has traditionally struggled against Massillon, it was a victory worthy of the history books.
"I told our kids before this game that this was their chance,'' Steubenville coach Reno Saccoccia said. ''We've had a lot of great players come through this locker room and a lot of great teams play on the field, but (Friday night) belonged to them.
"I told them we had to play physical, smart, physical and fast. I said physical twice for a reason. We had to be physical if we wanted to win this game. We had to battle hard to beat a team like Massillon. We had to go after it and if we got knocked down, we had to get up and go after it again."
Big Red's running game succeeded in two ways. First, it kept the ball out of the Tigers' hands - Big Red held the ball for 15:08 to Massillon's 8:52 in the first half and limited the Tigers to 16 plays in the second half. Second, it opened Big Red's passing game, which produced both TDs.
"I thought our running game was outstanding,'' Saccoccia said. ''We ran the ball well, which allowed us a lot of play-action passes."
Quartervack Dwight Macon finished 8 of 16 for 79 yards and both scores. The first came at 3:15 of the second half when Trey Wiggins hauled down a 7-yard scoring strike. Anthony Pierro caught the other TD reception with 1:37 remaining in the third. Macon made good on 1 of 2 PAT attempts.
Massillon's three points came at the end of the first half. Jeremy Geier booted a 26-yard field goal with no time left on the clock.
Macon led the Red on the ground with 84 yards on 21 carries. JoJo Pierro was second with 65 yards on 14. Dominic Garay led the receiving corps with 30 yards on three catches.
