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STEUBENVILLE – The venue might be friendlier, but the challenge remains a big one for Big Red on Friday night.
After back-to-back weeks on the road facing teams ranked No. 1 in the state in their respective divisions, Steubenville returns to Harding Stadium this week to take on another perennial Ohio power as the Wheelersburg Pirates make the trip to Harding Stadium.
“It’s always nice to play at home,” Big Red head coach Reno Saccoccia said. “The last two weeks were a very big test for us, coming back home this week we have another big test and we will find out how we respond.”
After going on the road and taking on at the time Division V leading Cardinal Mooney at YSU and earning a hard-fought win in a close game, Big Red suffered its first set back of the season last week, falling 41-13 at Division IV No. 1 Indian Valley.
Now sitting at 4-1, Saccoccia sees it as a big opportunity for his team and coaching staff to see how they respond to adversity.
“It’s the test of a team to see how you respond, not just when things are going well and you’re winning, but how you respond when you struggle and you face adversity,” Saccoccia said. “That’s how you find out the kind of team you are, if you can dig down deep when things didn’t go well and respond and have a big game.
“It’s not just a big opportunity for the players to respond, it’s a big opportunity to see how the coach responds to adversity.
“It’s a big week for us to be able to tell a lot about our team, players and coaches.”
The Pirates come to Harding Stadium with a 3-2 record. They come to town on a roll as they are winners of back-to-back games, having defeated McDermott Northwest (49-0) and Lucasville Valley (42-0) in their last two outings. Their other win is a 63-0 trouncing of Portsmouth back in Week 1. Their losses were both close, 26-18 at Chillicothe and 14-3 against Jackson.
Last season, the Pirates went all the way to the Division V state championship game, finishing as state runners up. They went to the regional final the year before that and the regional semis the prior two years.
MaxPreps has the Pirates, who are scoring an average of 35 points per game and allow just 8.0, ranked No. 16 in Division V. They received votes in this week’s Ohio Associated Press poll and sit in a playoff spot in the first official Ohio computer ratings in Region 19.
They are led by junior quarterback Jack Doerr, who has thrown for 644 yards and eight touchdowns with just three interceptions, also adding an addition score rushing.
On the ground, the Pirates have six different plays who have rushed for at least 100 yards and are already at 1,000 yards on the ground as a team. That effort is led by senior Stephen Hall, who has 221 yards and five trips to the end zone and averages 4.5 yards per carry.
Receiving wise, Doerr’s top target is Xavier Miller, a senior with 17 catches for 237 yards and three touchdowns. Fellow senior Cameron Conn has 13 grabs for 131 and a score. The Pirates have had 12 different players catch a pass.
“The last few years they have been a really successful football program,” Saccoccia said of the Pirates. “I have not seen them in person but they look really strong on film, They were state runners up last year and are just a really good program.
“It’s going to be a great game against a great team in a great atmosphere. We will see how we respond.”
Despite the loss to Indian Valey, MaxPreps still has Big Red as No. 1 in Division III and Steubenville is ranked No. 4 in the Ohio AP Poll, receiving two first place votes. Big Red sits No. 3 in the first Region 11 standings released this week.
Friday night is homecoming night and the matchup between Big Red and Wheelersburg has a special 6 p.m. opening kickoff time following the parade and a day of festivities.