Photo by Michael D. McElwain Big Red's Phaeton Hill delivers a pass.

STEUBENVILLE — Big Red tuned up for next week’s showdown with Dover by rolling to a 40-14 victory over Pittsburgh USO Friday inside Harding Stadium.

Steubenville, which was ranked fourth in the initial Ohio AP Division IV poll, turned its first two possessions into touchdown then put the game away with a pair of third quarter scores off short drives.

With the win, Big Red improves to 4-0 and now owns a 7-0 lead in its series with USO, which features players from University Prep, Sci-Tech and Obama Academy high schools. The Wildcats fell to 0-2.

“It was a real good start–our kids were ready to play from the beginning,” said Big Red coach Reno Saccoccia. “I thought we should had that fumble early. It could have been 21-0 in the first quarter. After that, it was kind of downhill in the first half.

“But we came out and had a really good second half. All the guys who earned playing time got playing time. We’ll just enjoy this one until tomorrow.”

Big Red took the opening kick and needed just four snaps to travel 60 yards. Spencer Ostovich got the scoring started with a 10-yard burst up the middle. The conversion kick missed its mark. The march was aided by a 34-yard Phaeton Hill to Ivan Buggs.

After a bad snap on a USO punt, Saccoccia’s crew launched its second drive from the Wildcat 10. Gavin Bozica bulled his way in from a yard out and Cole Bowers split the uprights for a 13-0 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, it appeared Steubenville’s Elijah Mullins recovered USO fumble deep in Wildcat territory. The officiating crew ruled the runner was down by contact, thus allowing the visitors to maintain possession.

The third Big Red score came with 6:44 remaining before the half on a 35-yard Bozica sprint. Bowers again nailed his kick. This scoring drive covered 53 yards and took just two plays. Prior to the TD jaunt, P. Hill connected with Alikwon Harris for 18 yards.

USO, which actually made arrangements to rent Steubenville school buses for the trip from Pittsburgh, did threaten late in the opening half, moving from its own 24 to the Big Red 11. Back-to-back holding calls and two incomplete passes thwarted the opportunity.

P. Hill found Isaac Hill for a 9-yard touchdown early in the third. Bowers’ boot made it 27-0. The 45-yard scoring drive took just 1:39 off the clock. On its next touch, the Big Red quickly moved 44 yards in just 1:35. This time, P. Hill delivered a 23-yard scoring strike to Zach Smith. Hayden Hicks’ kick put the score at 34-0 and brought on the running clock.

The score moved to 40-0 with 10:19 left to play on a 28-yard run by speedy sophomore Jalen Minniefield.

Talented junior Daniel Cain accounted for both USO touchdowns. He returned a kick 86 yards then grabbed a 45-yard pass from freshman Jaquille McIntosh.

“We just wanted to match their intensity and just fight back,” said USO coach Lou Berry. “That is a team that is well-coached, they play hard and they play to the whistle.

“Those are things we have to match. We have to stop getting pushed around and bullied and accept that as if it is OK. You talk with your pads and you play to the whistle–that is the way the game of football is played.”

Big Red finished the night with 315 yards of offense, 213 via the ground and 104 in the air. Bozica toted the pigskin just 10 times but managed to collect 84 yards. Minniefield added 43 on two carries.

P. Hill completed seven of his 12 passes. He connected with six different receivers

Defensively, the Big Red held USO to a negative 30 yards on the ground and 176 via the air.

“I saw improvement in some areas but we want to improve in all areas,” Saccoccia said. “I’ll wait until I see the film tomorrow. I think the effort was a lot better than it looked.

“Guys who earned the chance to play played. The other kids will play tomorrow. I am happy with the attitude of this team–it is great. Also, our crowd was great tonight.”

Junior quarterback Max Qureshi threw for 131 yards for the Wildcats. Cain had six grabs for 77 yards and Malik McDougal caught four passes.

“A game like this definitely will help us going forward,” Berry said. “You walk out of here a tougher individual both as coaches and players. Obviously, this was not the result I would like. I felt we had some opportunities and we moved the ball fairly well against these guys. At the same time, we have to eliminate the mistakes and the penalties (USO drew 11 flags) that kind of got in our way at times.

“We have a combination of experience on this squad. We have experienced players then we have some real young guys on the back end. We have some individuals starting for the first time. We have a freshman guard and a sophomore tackle with high ceilings and we are excited for the future. Those guys were really pleased with performing in this environment. The environment here really makes it fun with the raucous crowd, the horse going off and the jumbotron. All of that is a very valuable experience for our team.”

Up next:

Big Red will welcome Dover to Harding Stadium Friday for a Week 5 meeting of the unbeatens. The Crimson Tornadoes improved to 4-0 with a 19-6 victory over Pittsburgh Allderdice.

“Tonight was a good night for Big Red football,” Saccoccia said. “We’ll enjoy it then get ready for Dover.”

USO starts Pittsburgh City League play Thursday, squaring off against Westinghouse.

“We have a short week to get ready for Westinghouse, the top-ranked team in our league,” Berry said. “We are excited and as a result of this game, we are looking forward to Thursday night.”

Canadian visitors:

At 10:30 a.m. today, Big Red’s freshmen and a few sophomores will welcome St. Paul’s from Canada to Harding Stadium.

“This team just started football and they have all freshmen and sophomores,” Saccoccia said. “They will be going against our freshmen and a few sophomores.”

Steubenville 40, Pittsburgh USO 14

Pittsburgh USO 0 0 0 14 — 14

Big Red 13 7 14 6 — 50

S: Ostovich 10 run (kick failed)

S: Bozica 1 run (Bowers kick)

S: Bozica 35 run (Bowers kick)

S: I. Hill 9 pass from P. Hill (Bowers kick)

S: Smith 23 pass from P. Hill (Hicks kick)

S: Minniefield 28 run (run failed)

USO: Cain 86 kick return (pass failed)

USO: Cain 45 pass from McIntosh (McIntosh run)

RUSHING: USO 14-(-30) (Qureshi 6-(-20); Harris 2-13; Helvy 3-0; Glass-Jones 1-(-15); Lawhorn-Lester 1-(-3); McIntosh 1-(-5)); Big Red 27-213-4 (Bozica 10-84-2; Ostovich 3-20-1; Faulks 4-3; P. Hill 1-(-5); Manning 1-1; Felton 1-12; Hopkins 1-0; Minniefield 2-43-1; Simmons 2-3; West 2-25).

PASSING: USO 16-28-176-1 (Qureshi 15-27-131; McIntosh 1-1-45-1); Big Red 7-12-104-2 (al by P. Hill).

RECEIVING: USO 16-176-1 (Cain 6-77-1; Helvy 3-33; Stevenson 3-38; McDougal 4-28); Big Red 7-104-2 (I. Hill 1-9-1; Buggs 1-34; Edwards 2-19; Bozica 1-1; Harris 1-18; Smith 1-23-1).

FIRST DOWNS: USO 8; Big Red 16.

PENALTIES-YARDS: USO 11-101; Big Red 9-85.

FUMBLES-LOST: USO 1-1; Big Red 0-0.