STEUBENVILLE — Saturday night’s high school football game between Bridgeport and Steubenville Catholic on the Reno Field artificial surface inside Harding Stadium turned into an old fashioned ‘ground and pound’ as the teams combined for 77 carries.

The host Crusaders (3-1) ran the ball 46 times for 245 yards and three touchdowns as they celebrated Homecoming with a 22-13 victory over the Bulldogs (1-3), who collected 207 yards on 31 attempts and scored two TDs.

“We were able to drive the ball a couple of times and keep them off the field,” Steubenville Central head coach Eric Meek said. “They stymied us a couple of times, but in the end when we needed it, we were able to move the ball again.”

The Crusaders took an 8-0 lead on their first series of downs, going 75 yards on 15 plays that saw them eat six minutes off the clock to end the first quarter. They converted a pair of fourth downs before Kyran Busic muscled his way in from a yard out.

The Bulldogs jumped offside on the PAT try, so the Crusaders opted to go for two and Sprochi reached the end zone.

The lead increased to 15-0 two plays into the second quarter. Following a Zach Bryan interception just inside Crusaders’ territory in the waning seconds of the first quarter, quarterback Matthew Sprochi capped a 56-yard drive with a 10 yard scamper up the middle of the field early in the second quarter. Santiago Descalzo booted the PAT.

Bridgeport, which only had the ball for one possession in the first quarter and twice in the entire second half, scored a pair of touchdowns within a span of two minutes to make it 15-13.

“They (Bridgeport) kept playing and it was a hard-earned win,” Meek said.

Jaki Threet kept the ball around his left end and sprinted up the far sidelines for a 30-yard TD run and Augusto Bettini tacked on the PAT. Threet had a 38 yard run earlier in the drive.

After the Bulldogs held the Crusaders deep in their own end of the field on the ensuing possession, AJ Bishop took a handoff, broke a tackle in the backfield before racing 38 yards down the middle of the field for six. However, Threet was tackled by Zach Bryan on the two-point attempt.

“We’ve got explosive players in Jaki and AJ and when they get going it’s hard to stop them,” Bridgeport head coach Andrew Yahn said.

The Bulldogs threatened on their only drive of the third quarter behind the running of Threet and Bishop, but the drive stalled and Bettini was summoned for a 48-yard field goal attempt which landed in the middle of the end zone.

“We just weren’t able to push that one in there in the third quarter,” Yahn noted. “That would’ve been huge.”

“We were able to keep them contained in the second half after they made a run there in the second quarter,” Meek recalled.

The Crusaders drove 80 yards on 17 plays – 15 runs – using up just over 10 minutes off the clock as Busic bulled his way into the end zone from a yard out. Descalzo made it 22-13.

The two non-runs sparked the lengthy march as Sprochi found Busic for 5 yards on fourth-and-3 and then connected with Matty Jones for 11 on third-and-8.

“We hit a couple of big pass plays when we needed to,” Meek allowed. “That was a big step for us.”

Bridgeport’s Marco Gonzalez returned the ensuing kickoff to the Steubenville Catholic 40, but a fourth down pass fell incomplete, allowing the Crusaders to run out the clock.

Sprochi finished with 172 yards on 24 carries, while Busic added 37 hard-earned yards on 10 rushes. Ryan Holzworth also toted the rock 10 times, picking up 27 yards. Sprochi completed 5-of-11 passes for 41 yards as he recorded 213 yards of offense.

Threet paced the Bulldogs with 126 yards on the ground on 16 attempts. Bishop finished with 12 carries for 66. Threet was 0-for-3 passing with the INT.

“I’m proud of my kids,” Yahn stressed. “They could’ve easily given up when it was 15-0, but they didn’t and we made it 15-13 and were in the game.”

Steubenville Catholic remains at home next Saturday when Wheeling Central visits. Bridgeport journeys to New Martinsville on Friday to meet Magnolia.

GAME NOTES

– Chiara Balzano selected the odd-colored rose at halftime to become the Crusaders’ Homecoming Queen.

– Prior to the game, a moment of silence was held for Monroe DeLuca, a third grade student at Bishop John King Mussio School who passed away Friday after a prolonged illness.