Steubenville scores first eight times it touches the ball in 61-29 win over Coshocton

STEUBENVILLE - The Coshocton Redskins got a taste of the good, the bad and the ugly in their Ohio Division IV playoff game at Harding Stadium Friday night.

The good was that Coshocton managed to score more points against Big Red than any team had this season, the bad was that Big Red returned the favor and the ugly was the 61-29 final that sent the undefeated Big Red to the Region 13 semifinals for a rematch with Youngstown Cardinal Mooney and the now 9-2 Redskins packing.

"I wouldn't call it a perfect game, because no game is perfect, but we played a great game," Saccoccia said. "We played fast, we played physical and we played smart. It was a great, great game and a great win against a good football team. And it's a step in the right direction, but it's just a step."

It might not have been perfect, but it was pretty close.

Big Red scored on its first eight possessions of the game. Steubenville's ninth ended on its own 1. The Red then went on to force and recover a fumble to bring on their 10th, which yielded their ninth touchdown. Big Red's 11th possession ended at midfield just as the game did.

Junior quarterback Dwight Macon finished 12-of-12 for 292 yards and four scores, utilizing six different receivers. As a team, Big Red used a committee of 13 running backs of which junior Demetrius Brandon rose to the top with 127 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries.

By most accounts, the game was over at the half, as Big Red had already amassed over 300 yards of offense and scored six times on just 22 plays.

It was easy at the end of the game to forget who scored first at the beginning - Coshocton.

"We fell behind again. We were behind, 7-0, and we have do better. We have do better with the little things on offensive and the little things on defense," Saccoccia said. "We have keep improving if we want to beat teams like Mooney and Coldwater who I feel our the two best teams in the state in Ohio in Division IV."

Steubenville gave up a quick score to Coshocton with just 7:50 to be played in the first quarter.

The Redskins marched down the field and then converted a fourth-and-9 on the Big Red 33 with a halfback pass from A.J. Hession to Marcus Johnson. The point-after attempt by freshman kicker Brody Philabaum split the uprights.

"The reverse pass was excellent to get us on the scorebaord but we made too many mistakes after that," Coshocton coach Marty Arganbright said. "We had some penalties that started us off in first-and-15 a few times, That just killed us.

"At the same time, that says a lot a lot about their defense. It is aggressive and they really got after us."

Penalties weren't the biggest problem the Redskins experienced early in the game. Big Red wasted no time answering the intial score when Macon connected with Brandon Carroll on a 41-yard scoring strike and Brennan Stover supplied the PAT at 5:23 of the first quarter. It was on their ensuing possession that the Redskins committed what would be a fatal mistake - they coughed up the football in their own territory.

On second-and 1 at the Redskins 35, WVU-bound linebacker Branko Busick tore through the line and devoured Coshocton quarterback Seth Nolan way back on the 25.

Busick's bone-rattling hit on Nolan jarred the ball loose and Big Red's William Jackson recovered it. Two plays later, Steubenville crossed the goal line for a second time when Macon found David Goodwin for a 17-yard TD pass-play.

If the converted turnover wasn't problem enough for the Redskins, they went for and failed on a fourth-and-9 on their next possession.

The pass on the fake punt fell incomplete and the Red took over on the Coshocton 49. Brandon carried the ball the rest of way on one play, motoring 49-yards to paydirt and Stover's second successful PAT made it a 20-7 game.

The Red rolled from there.

Steubenville scored 21 points in the second quarter. Busick ran the ball in from 4 yards out, Jeryl Christian took it in on a 1-yard run (after a 43-yard pass from Macon to Sage Cutri) and Dan Bayne pulled down a 1-yard pass with just 26 ticks left on the first-half clock.

Big Red made two trips into the Redskins' endzone in the third. Bayne hauled in another TD pass - that one a quick hit up the middle that led to 52 yards - and Brandon ran in from 18 yards out.

Big Red capped off its scoring with a 1-yard run by Jordan McIntyre in the fourth.

"We had some big plays tonight and we hadn't really had that many this season," Saccoccia said. "That was nice to see and a bit shocking. Cohsocton is a good football team."

Big Red finished with 247 yards on the ground and Macon's near 300 in the air. As a compliment, backup QB Jordan Meyer completed both of his pass attempts to give Big Red a perfect 14-of-14 outing.

"(Macon) was very difficult to defend. We were concerned with his running ability, obviously. We also knew that he could throw it. We didn't stop either very well," Arganbright said.

"You have to stop one of the two and he was on the money. When we did put pressure on him, he would get away and buy his receivers more time. We just couldn't defend the long secondary."

Carroll led all receivers with 91 yards on three receptions. Bayne had three for 60. Cutri had two for 77. Anthony Pierro caught two for 41.

The Redskins would score a TD in the second, third and fourth. Nate Lonsinger caught a 4-yard scoring pass from Nolan, Joshnson ran in from the 3 and McKay exploded on a 50-yard run.

Big Red will now play Mooney, a 14-6 winner over Cuyahoga Valley Christian, Friday at a site to be determined. Steubenville has won 52 of its 53 games, having dropped a 35-20 to the Cardinals in last year's Region 13 championship game at Canton's Fawcett Stadium.