Late Miscues Lead to Steubenville’s Exit in State Semifinals
Joe Lovell COLUMBUS--Big Red was on the verge of pulling a Division IV semifinal surprise Saturday night until disaster struck in the fourth quarter -- not once but twice.
Looking to add to its one-point lead, Steubenville had a first down at the Cincinnati Wyoming 12 yard line with 3:53 left to play. Unfortunately, a mishandled exchange resulted in a fumble, recovered by the Cowboys.
Wyoming quickly moved 84 yards for the go-ahead score. A few minutes later, the Cowboys added a pick six and went on to hand the Big Red a heart-breaking 32-20 defeat inside Historic Crew Stadium.
With its victory in the first ever meeting between the tradition-rich programs, Wyoming, now 15-0, advances to this week's D IV championship game where it will meet unbeaten Cleveland Glenville. Big Red's outstanding season, which included a 22nd consecutive trip to the post-season and a 19th regional title, ends at 12-3.
"It was a good game -- an exciting game," said Big Red's Reno Saccoccia, who became Ohio's all-time winningest high school football coach during the 2022 campaign. "We had our chances.
"Wyoming is a good team but we had our chances. You have to take advantage of any opportunities you get in a big game like that. Opportunities don't come around very often in a game of that nature. We had three opportunities and we scored on two of them. We didn't take advantage of the third one."
After the defenses forced a couple of punts, Wyoming got its offense going midway through the opening quarter. The Cowboys moved from their own 32 to the Big Red 11 before the drive stalled. Carter Rummer delivered a 28-yard field goal with 36 seconds left in the first.
On its possession following the score, Big Red marched from its own 25 to the Wyoming 36, thanks to a 30-yard burst by Savier Faulks. Two incomplete passes, however, resulted in a turnover on downs.
The Steubenville defense forced a punt and the offense was back in business at its own 39 with 9:28 left in the first half. Big runs by Faulks and Gavin Bozica gave Big Red a first and goal at the one. Spenser Ostovich capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge. Cole Bowers' conversion boot make it 7-3.
Wyoming would score twice before the intermission to grab a 13-7 advantage. Rummer nailed a 32-yard field goal at the 4:10 mark and C.J. Hester scored from 4 yards out with just 24 ticks remaining. His touchdown capped a 62-yard drive. The key play on the march was Hester's 34-yard run on a screen pass from Quaid Hauer.
The Cowboys completed the double dip (getting a score on their final possession of the first half and their first of the second) by marching 89 yards. Hester and Hauer connected for a 16-yard touchdown. A run for the two-point conversion failed.
Relying on its ground game, Big Red responded with a 73-yard scoring drive. The touchdown came on a 4-yard Ostovich run. Faulks accounted for 39 yards on the march. The extra point attempt sailed wide of the uprights.
Early in the fourth, Wyoming was threatening again. The Cowboys had a first down at the Big Red 26. The drive ended when Isaac Hill sacked Hauer on third down, forcing a Wyoming punt, which bounced into the end zone for a touchback.
Following a 6-yard gain by Kyjhaun Hopkins and a 4-yard run by Faulks, Steubenville had a first down at its own 30. Faulks took a handoff, broke through the first wave of the Wyoming defense, cut outside and raced 70 yards for a touchdown. Bowers' kick made it 20-19 Big Red with 8:09 left to play.
Big Red's defense stood tall on the ensuing Wyoming possession, allowing six yards on the first three plays. The Cowboys tried a fake punt on fourth and four from their own 36 but gained just one yard, giving the football back to Steubenville.
Steubenville collected two first downs thanks to runs by Faulks, Bozica and Ostovich, advancing to the Wyoming 12. Disaster then struck on the mishandled exchange, Wyoming's Tony Blair recovering at the 16-yard line.
Wyoming then needed just seven plays to retake the lead. Hauer had two key completions on the drive, which was aided by a pass interference call against the Big Red. Hester had a 30-yard run then found the end zone from 4 yards out. A pass for the two-pointer fell incomplete.
Taking over with 1:48 left to go, Big Red moved from its own 21 to the its 41 thanks to Phaeton Hill completions to Lee Anthony Sewell and Tylik Sims. The second disaster struck when Wyoming linebacker D. J. Gray stepped in front of a Hill pass and returned his interception 52 yards for the game's final score.
Big Red's final possession also ended with an interception, this one by Hester.
"We worked extremely hard," Wyoming coach Aaron Hancock told Shelby Dermer of the Cincinnati Enquirer following the game. "They (Steubenville) are a very good football team.
"We just had to keep battling. That's all it was. It was a next man-up mentality, line up and forget about the last play, do your job and good things happen when you do that."
Big Red finished with 282 yards on the ground and became the first team this season to score three touchdowns on Wyoming's defense, which has posted 10 shutouts this season and had only allowed 35 points in 14 previous games.
Faulks led the way with 183 yards on 18 carries. That performance put the junior speedster over the 1,000 yard mark for the season. Bozica, also a 1,000-yard rusher, added 83 on 11 trips.
Steubenville's aerial attack could only manage 37 yards on six completions.
"We never really got into a flow," Saccoccia pointed out. "It was like we were working all night but never got into a rhythm.
"Defensively, we gave up too many big plays on third down."
Hester, a finalist for the Ohio Mr. Football award, led Wyoming's ground game with 94 yards. He missed some playing time after suffering an injury in the third quarter but returned to action midway through the fourth. It was the first time all season that Hester was held to under 100 yards of rushing. He now has more than 3,000 yards for the season and 7,000 plus for his career.
Hauer threw for a career-best 275 yards, completing 16 of his 26 passing attempts. Will Svendsen had six receptions for 124 yards. Gray, who wore the jersey (No. 12) of Anderson Mitchell, also had six catches, good for 83 yards. Mitchell suffered a season-ending injury in September.
"The post-game message was short but it was positive," Saccoccia noted. "We told the players you know how your coaches feel about you and hopefully, you feel the same way about your coaches."
Steubenville now has an all-time playoff record of 73-31.
"I was happy with most of the season but you're never satisfied," Saccoccia said. "I think this was a team that had the potential to come out on the positive end every week.
"Although we did most of the time, we didn't all the time. We had opportunities in each of our losses to win. If you look at the season overall, we came up short."