Steubenville Downs Tallmadge
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STEUBENVILLE--In a game that featured 951 yards of offense, it seems hard to believe that three defensive plays made all the difference.
Thanks to them, Big Red survived and advanced in the Division III, Region 9 playoffs with a 41-35 victory over Tallmadge Friday inside Harding Stadium.
All three took place in what proved to be a scoreless fourth quarter. The first came with 6:36 left to play when Steubenville's defense stopped Collin Dixon, Tallmadge's talented junior receiver, short of a first down by a yard. The next occurred with a little more than two minutes to play when Inky Jones hit junior quarterback Ty Hurst near the Big Red goal line, forcing a fumble that bounced through the end zone, resulting in a touchback.
The Blue Devils would get one more opportunity, taking over at the Big Red 43 following Steubenville's only punt of the game. On fourth-and-two at the 35, Spencer Ostovich hit Hurst as he was releasing a pass, causing the football to fall short of its mark. After the Ostovich pressure, the hosts were able to run out the clock and hang on for the victory.
With the win, Big Red, now 9-2 and the region's sixth seed, moves on to face third-seeded Kenston on the road next Friday. The Bombers advanced with a 38-15 whipping of Painesville Harvey.
"We survived and we are advancing," said Big Red's Reno Saccoccia, who now has 401 career victories tying him with Jim France as the all-time winningest coach in Ohio high school football history. "We kept digging holes for ourselves but we kept filling them back up too.
"There were some ugly plays but there is never an ugly win."
Big Red jumped out in front early as it took the opening kick and traveled 65 yards, chewing more than five minutes off the first quarter clock. Ostovich did the honors from 3 yards away and Austyn Roberts tacked on the conversion.
It took the Blue Devils just two plays to answer--Hurst connecting with Dixon for a 42-yard touchdown. Ben Hudak added the first of his five extra points.
Steubenville grabbed the lead back with 9:53 left before the half--Ostovich capping a 76-yard march with a 1-yard plunge. The score moved to 19-7 when Phaeton Hill connected with Jones for a 66 yard touchdown. The six-pointer came three snaps after Ivan Buggs picked off a Hurst pass.
Tallmadge made it 19-14 with 3:41 remaining in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by Zander Hopkins.
Steubenville would find the end zone two plays later when Tylik Sims went 58 yards on a screen pass. After grabbing the P. Hill aerial, Sims avoided being shoved out of bounds by two Tallmadge receivers, did a little tight rope act down the sideline and scooted to the end zone.
Again, the Blue Devils quickly responded, going 49 yards to score. This touchdown came on a 27-yard Hurst to Dixon connection. Big Red was up 27-21 at the intermission.
The Steubenville defense forced a Tallmadge punt on the first possession of the third quarter and Ivan Buggs put the hosts in great position thanks to a 43-yard return of the boot. Ostovich crossed the goal from four yards away.
With 5:31 left in the third, Tallmadge actually took a 35-33 lead on a 33-yard pass from Hurst to Aiden Long. This touchdown came when the Blue Devils forced a turnover on downs at midfield.
Big Red then started what proved to be the game-winning drive with 5:19 left in the third.
It covered 62 yards and ended on Ostovich's fourth score of the game, this time from six yards away. The hard-running junior also ran for the two-point conversion.
"Every time it came down to the nitty gritty--we were nitty gritty," Saccoccia said. "The tackle we had on number two (Dixon), keeping him short of the first down was a key play."
Ostovich had a monster night for Big Red, collecting 207 rushing yards on 30 trips and scoring four times. P. Hill threw for 226 yards and Jones had four grabs for 108.
Big Red will hit the road for just the second time this season when it travels to Chagrin Falls in Geauga County for the battle against Kenston.
Division IV, Region 15
John Glenn 35,
Union Local 21
NEW CONCORD -- Hayden McCrate delivered an 80-yard touchdown run in the first half but Union Local ultimately fell on the road to John Glenn in the Ohio Division IV, Region 15 playoffs.
McCrate turned in 152 yards rushing on 16 carries but after his score, the Muskies reeled off 28 unanswered points to put the game away.
UL QB Carter Blake fired a 57-yard TD to Caleb McWhorter in the fourth and Blake also dove in for a 2-yard TD himself in the final minutes.
COLLEGE
VOLLEYBALL
West Liberty Women Sweep Senators
WEST LIBERTY - The West Liberty University volleyball team continued its climb up the Mountain East Conference's North Division ladder with an impressive 3-0 sweep of Davis & Elkins inside the ASRC.
Maddie Clayton had another dominant night at the net with nine kills, seven blocks and three service aces while Nina Billotto added seven kills and five blocks with a sterling .667 hitting percentage.
Riley Cudnik also checked in with seven kills and five blocks for the hosts while Kirsten Bogunovich added 17 assists, five digs, three blocks and two more service aces as WLU posted an 11-1 edge in service aces on the night.