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Steubenville Big Red, Madonna and Brooke had a lot in common during Friday's playoff victories - no one started with their best foot forward.

Big Red trailed 10-6 at halftime before scoring 28 points in a row for a 34-10 victory over Salem in the Ohio Division III, Region 11 semifinals at Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium in New Philadelphia.

The Blue Dons flat got punched in the mouth early by No. 16 seed Gilbert in the West Virginia Class A opening round playoffs at Jimmy Carey Stadium.

Madonna responded from a 6-6 tie with 42 unanswered for a 48-6 final.

The Bruins hosted No. 16 Princeton in West Virginia Class AAA postseason action and was down 14-0 before outscoring the visitors 33-3 the rest of the contest for a 33-17 triumph.

"It is never good when you're trailing at halftime," said Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia. "But, you can always make good come out of it by reflecting on why you are trailing and how you go about taking the lead.

"But, as bad as we were playing, I was happy to be down only 10-6."

Blue Dons players were not happy coming off the field after Gilbert tied the score at 6-6.

"Yes we did," Madonna coach Bob Kramer said about his team getting punched in the mouth early by the visitors. "I think we were reading our own press clippings a little bit. I tried to warn them. I watched a lot of film on Gilbert and they moved the ball on everybody they played, including Man.

"I knew they had a good running attack and a solid defense. They threw the ball a little better than I thought they would. We got caught a little flat-footed. Hopefully, it was a wake-up call.

"Our kids knew what they had to do. They are a level-headed bunch of kids. They don't get too excited and they don't get too down on themselves.

"I told them we were going to have to play better or we were going to lose the ballgame.

"We went out and played better."

The Tigers had 204 rushing yards on 28 carries in the first half. They finished with 45 attempts and 195 yards.

"We played a pretty good first half,'' noted Princeton coach Ted Spadaro said after the loss, which snapped a six-game winning streak. "They made some good adjustments, which good teams are supposed to do,''

Brooke outscored the Tigers 20-0 in the second half and standout quarterback Cotey Wallace had a hand in all three scores - on runs of 10 and 15 yards and a 4-yard pass to Shane Paesano. After that score, Wallace ran in the two-point conversion.

"Cotey Wallace is an athlete,'' Spadaro said. "If they (college coaches) can't see what kind of heart that young man has, there's something wrong with them.''

Wallace, sans standout running back Ryan Lazear, finished with 208 yards on offense - 143 through the air and 68 on the ground - and all five touchdowns.

"Tremendous kid,'' said Brooke assistant coach Rich Thomaselli of Wallace. "He has to be one of the better players I've seen. Again, we're just the ones sending the plays in. He's the one making us look like geniuses.''

Brooke coach Tom Bruney will be back on the sidelines after his one-game suspension as the Bruins take on No. 9 Ripley at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Brooke Memorial Stadium.

Madonna will host Tucker County, also the No. 9 seed, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Jimmy Carey Stadium.

Big Red will make its fifth-straight appearance in the regional finals Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Dover at Canton's Fawcett Stadium.

Steubenville last played Dover in the 2006 regional final and came away with a 33-30 victory.

The Tornadoes threw the ball on most downs three years ago, but it'll be different this time.

"Any time you face any team that is balanced there's a lot more pressure on you to defend the whole field," said Saccoccia. "They have good receivers, a good quarterback and a couple of good running backs. They are more balanced this year and it shows in their record."

• Tickets for Big Red's playoff game will be on sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday and from 8 a.m. to noon Friday at the high school ticket office.

The cost is $7 during the week and $9 at the gate. All playoff ticket prices are set by the OHSAA. The high school will keep a portion of only the tickets sold at the school.

• Tickets to Madonna's playoff game will be sold from 9 a.m. to noon today through Friday at the high school office.

The cost is $7 for adults and $5 for students. All tickets at the gate are $7.

(Mathison can be contacted at mmathison@heraldstaronline.com)