photo by: Andrew Grimm

Steubenville’s Colten Henderson applies a stiff-arm Friday against Bishop Watterson

NEWARK — The Big Red football team put together quite the memorable run to a fourth-straight regional final appearance.

Unfortunately, that is where the run ended Friday night.

Defending Division III state champion Columbus Bishop Watterson got on the board first and pulled away with a big second quarter to win the Regjon 11 title 43-0 at a rain-soaked White Field in Newark.

Watterson, the No. 1 ranked team in the state, improved its record to 12-0, extending its win streak to 28.

Big Red saw its nine game winning streak come to an end and drops the curtain at 9-3.

“It was not a fun ending, but it was a lot of fun getting here,” Big Red head coach Reno Saccoccia said.

Steubenville put together quite the run after an 0-2 start. It’s 15 seniors wrapped up successful careers in the Crimson and Black, departing having reached the regional final all four years.

“We started not on a good note, and ended not on a good note, but we had a lot of young men pull through for us in the middle,” Saccoccia said. “Our seniors know how I feel about them, I really appreciate everything they did. Our seniors were in the regional final all four years, that’s a really nice accomplishment.

“I’m so proud of our coaches. We were 0-2 and our coaches worker their butts off to put our players in the best position possible to have success.

“I appreciate the players, the parents, the coaches and the fans. They all are a part of making Big Red Nation what it is.”

The Big Red defense got off to a good start, forcing a turnover on downs from the Eagles on the opening drive of game, but Watterson opened the scoring on its next possession with a 7 yard Ben Uhlenhake run, making it 7-0 after one quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Caden Mangini broke a 23-yard scoring run to make it 14-0.

Big Red moved the ball picking up a couple of first downs, but the drive stalled.

After a well-executed punt pinned Watterson inside its own 5, it looked as though Big Red got a big stop, but a pass interference call on third down extended the drive. On the next snap, Watterson’s Drew Bellisari hit tailback Jack McCoy for a 77-yard TD to make it 21-0, a turn of events that seemed to swing the momentum for good.

Watterson’s Joe Hayes IV broke a 47-yard scoring run late in the second quarter to make it 28-0 Eagles at the break.

Bellisari hit Nate Henderson in the back corner of the end zone for a 15-yard score to cap Watterson’s first drive of the second half and start a running clock. Tommy Rowlands called the scoring late in the fourth quarter with a 5 yard run.

Watterson finished with 430 yards of offense, 344 of which came in the first half.

Big Red QB Santino Haney finished 8 of 14 for 61 yards, while Ziare Scurry had three catches for 27 yards, Jeremiah Hinton hauled in three passes for 24 yards and Landon Crosier caught two passes for 10 yards.

Watterson will face Tippecanoe in the state semifinals next Friday in a battle of unbeatens at a site to be determined. Tippecanoe won the Region 12 title 33-16 over London.