Photo by Andrew Grimm Steubenville coach Reno Saccoccis, left white shirt, celebrates with his team after setting a new state record with 402 coaching wins Friday night.

STEUBENVILLE — “It’s we, not me.”

That is what Hall of Famer Reno Saccoccia told the crowd gathered near midfield at Harding Stadium after he became the state of Ohio’s all-time coaching wins leader with Big Red’s 21-0 opening night victory over visiting Louisville.

And, when the fourth quarter clock struck zeros to seal the accomplishment, win No. 402 which broke a tie with the retired Jim France, it was the countless players, assistant coaches and other individuals that made the journey possible over the last four decades that were on Saccoccia’s mind.

“There are a lot of people I have to thank,” he said. “Forty years of players, 40 years of coaches, 40 years of parents, 40 years of a true Big Red nation. I love working for all of them.

“But, if we’re a true Big Red nation, it’s we, not me. The rest of the year the focus should be on the 2022 Big Red football team. They’ve earned this opportunity.”

Saccoccia expected Louisville, making its first visit to Harding Stadium for the initial meeting between the programs, to be a tough opponent — and they were, as they held Steubenville off the scoreboard until late in the first quarter and stayed within two scores until the middle of the fourth.

The Big Red defense, however, was up to the task of slowing the Leopard’s option attack, limiting the visitors to just 90 yards on the ground and 110 overall.

“They were a tough football team, a good football team, but we still got a shutout,” Saccoccia said.

Perhaps the biggest moment of the game, especially for the defense, was a goal line stand in the middle of the third quarter, stopping the Leopards on four-straight plays from inside the 5, capped by a Ky’jhaun Hopkins tackle for loss on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to turn the ball over on downs.

“They key part of the game to me was the goal line stand,” Saccoccia said. “(The defense) was very disciplined, they had to cover the dive, the quarterback and the pitch and they were very disciplined to their assignments. They were assignment sharp.”

Senior quarterback Phaeton Hill finished with 233 yards and three touchdowns, finding six different receivers, while seven different players carried the ball for a Big Red ground attack that put up 156 yards.

“We tried to play as many kids as we could, when you have heat like this, you have to play everybody,” Saccoccia said. “Everybody has to be ready. We played a lot of linemen, a lot of different receivers, a lot of backs, a lot of guys on defense.

“They should accept that as an honor for us to have confidence that they can go in at any time.”

After turning the ball over on downs on its first possession, Big Red opened the scoring with 1:15 to go in the first quarter when Hill connected with Isaac Hill for a 19-yard score to make it 7-0 and cap a seven play drive.

With just under two minutes to go before halftime, Gavin Bozica, who also rushed for 55 yards on 14 totes, hauled in a screen pass and broke through the Leopards’ defense for an 80-yard score to double the lead.

After a scoreless third, thanks to the big goal line stand, Hakim Edwards all but put things away when he took a short pass and found running room for a 55-yard score with 8:32 remaining.

Savier Faulks led the Big Red run game with 67 yards on seven carries, while Spencer Ostovich recovered a fumble in the second quarter to thwart a Louisville drive, then Ivan Buggs intercepted a pass in the endzone later in the quarter to also end a promising Leopard march.

“We came in here with expectations different than what we got,” Louisville head coach Troy Davis said. “We expected to play hard, but we have got to take care of the football. We killed ourselves with turnovers, three fumbles and an interception in the first half. You can’t give up the ball and expect to win.”

“Big Red is a hard-nosed football team. Reno is a great coach.”

Steubenville is on the road to battle New Philadelphia next week.