Dover totals 113 yards of offense and scores once

CANTON - For Steubenville Big Red head coach Reno Saccoccia, the game of football is not a complicated one. While game planning may require many subtle adjustments and nuances, the results usually boil done to the most basic concepts.

"Our linebackers and defensive backs tackled well," Saccoccia said. "That is the key. We also protected the ball. That is the key to football. As simple as it sounds, the key is blocking, tackling and protecting the ball."

Big Red put on a near perfect exhibition of those basics against Dover in the regional final at Canton Fawcett Stadium, Friday, in the Ohio Division III regional final. Steubenville earned a 28-14 victory on the back of its staunch defense, which refused to allow a high-powered Tornadoes offense any room to breathe in the first half.

While Big Red led 14-7 at the end of the first 24 minutes, Dover had netted just 9 yards on 11 plays and no first downs.

Meanwhile, Big Red had racked up 221 yards of offense on 43 plays and 11 first downs.

"At one time, I think that we had 40 something plays to their 14, but we were only up by seven," Saccoccia said. "Our defensive line and offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage and everyone else just cleaned up."

Dover head coach Dan Ifft complimented his defense for keeping its head in the game while its offense was struggling.

"We were fighting hard and our kids fought really hard," he said. "People may say that our defense couldn't get off of the field, but offensively, you have to help the defense out. If we get a couple of first downs, the defense gets rested. As the defense stayed on the field, they kept getting more tired.

"Steubenville is a very difficult team to deal with, because they are just so explosive, so good at what they do and so well coached. They are the best football team that we've played all year and there is no question about that. They're better than we are in that respect."

Dover finally got its offense in gear during the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late and Big Red capped the performance off with a 17-play, 80-yard scoring drive with 1:52 remaining to put the game on ice.

Big Red finished with 76 plays for 374 yards, while Dover had just 113 yards on 36 plays. Jordan Meyer pulled in an interception on Dover's final drive of the night, his second pick of the evening.

"They have a great class," Ifft explained. "Some people have told me that it may be the best group that Reno (Saccoccia) has had. I don't know and he can answer that. I was told that back in the summer and they are very good.

"To their credit, they capitalized when they need to capitalize, they play well and they are a better team than we are. They are going on to play Cardinal Mooney and we wish them well. I hope they beat them. They are good. They are better than we are. If we would have played out of our heads, we might have been able to steal one there. But, we didn't," Ifft continued. "They're better than we were and there is no shame in that."

Dover finishes the season with an 11-2 record, while Big Red (12-1) moves on to the Division III state semifinal.

(Newman can be contacted at anewman@heraldstaronline.com)