photo by: Andrew Grimm

Big Red tailback Ca’Juan Bryant finds open room to run against Canisius.

STEUBENVILLE — A sign on the wall inside the field house at Harding Stadium says, “Refuse to Lose.”

There could not have been more fitting words written on that poster board for the Big Red football team Friday night.

Steubenville trailed by two scores going to the fourth quarter and multiple times seemed to be in trouble, but Big Red simply refused to lose.

James Turner plunged into the end zone with 6.7 seconds left in the game for his second score of the fourth quarter and Cole Bowers booted his fifth extra point square down the middle, lifting Big Red to a thrilling 35-34, comeback victory over visiting Canisius.

“What a game,” Big Red head coach Reno Saccoccia said. “Our players never quit. It was a game where both teams made big plays, and both teams made little plays, and the little plays made the difference.

“We went down 14-0, but these guys didn’t stop playing. We kept battling back and kept fighting.”

The late touchdown and Bowers boot gave Big Red (5-2) what proved to be its only lead of the game after falling behind early and battling back.

“We talked before the game that this game was going to come down to the fourth quarter, and we needed to win the fourth quarter,” Saccoccia said. “We outscored them 14-0 in the fourth quarter. We won the fourth quarter.

“It was a battle to the very end. It was a complete team effort. Everyone did something to contribute to this win.”

Ca’Juan Bryant had a workhorse night to will Steubenville back into the game, carrying the ball 44 times for 237 yards and three touchdowns. He had 29 carries and 137 yards after halftime.

“The coaches trusted in our players and the players trusted in our coaches,” Saccoccia said. “When it got down to the nitty gritty the players trusted in our play calling and we trusted in their execution.”

The Crusaders of the Buffalo, New York area and a Division II program by OHSAA standards, fall to 5-3 on the season with all three losses coming to teams from the Buckeye State. They went up 14-0 early and took a 34-21 lead with 1:04 to go in the third quarter, but a bobbled snap and subsequent failed run on the conversion try left the margin at just 13, opening the door.

Big Red marched down the field on the first drive of the fourth quarter, a drive extended by a successful fake punt pass on which Matthew Fabbro made a dazzling one-handed grab, setting up Turner to plunge in from the 2 to cut the margin to one score.

Big Red then recovered a surprise onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but a holding call on a third-down run that would have set up a first and goal led to a turnover on downs with just over six minutes to play.

The defense got its biggest stop of the night on the ensuing possession with a three-and-out to give the offense another chance. Big Red then again drove deep into the Canisius end of the field, but a personal foul set up a fourth down and 20 with 1:16 to go.

Santino Haney (153 pass yards) stepped up in the pocket, avoided pressure and fired a strike on the money through a hit to Zaire Scurry for 21 yards and a first down to keep the game alive, then, after Bryant had taken the ball inside the 5, Turner finished the pivotal march by powering across the goal line.

Bowers, the senior kicker who is headed to Army to kick for the Cadets next year and was 24 hours removed from setting a new single season record for goals on top of scoring his 100th career tally for the Big Red soccer team, split the uprights on the extra point and booted a sixth touchback of the night on the ensuing kick off.

The defense prevented anything crazy from happening on a hook and ladder play to send Big Red Nation into a frenzy.

Canisius’ valiant effort was led by star junior tailback Elijah Kimble, who scored on a runs of 78, 41, 5 and 73 yards in the game. Kimble, ranked in the top ten nationally of next year’s recruiting class and the top RB in the state of New York, finished with 258 yards on 18 carries.

The Crusaders’ Darnell Galimore had a 30-plus yard interception return for a TD in the first quarter.

Canisius led 14-0 after one and 21-14 at halftime after a big late stop before the break, but Steubenville out-scored them 21-13 in the second half and 14-0 in the fourth quarter.

MOVING UP

According to Joe Eitel’s unofficial rankings Friday night, Big Red’s victory moved them up to No. 5 in the Division III, Region 11 standings. The top eight host a playoff game and the top four earn a first round bye. Eitel had Big Red marked as in control of its own playoff destiny.

UP NEXT

Big Red is back at Harding Stadium to welcome another team from the north as McDowell (Pa.) makes the trip from the Erie area for a second-straight season. McDowell, a Division I program by OHSAA standards, are 3-4.