Big Red makes Irish black and blue

Steubenville held Ursuline to just 126 yards in a 24-8 victory.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Steubenville shut down Ursuline's high-powered offense and had plenty of its own as the Big Red handed the Irish a 24-8 defeat Friday at Stambaugh Stadium.
Ursuline (1-1) managed just 126 total yards against the Big Red defense, while the Irish turned the ball over four times.
Steubenville (2-0) rushed for 214 yards behind senior running back Gary Stubbs, who scored three touchdowns -- all on short runs.
"In the first half we were killing ourselves on first down," said Ursuline coach Dan Reardon. "We lost two or three yards several times on first down and then we had a difficult second-and-long situation.
"In the second half we had opportunities, but we just never finished them."
Steubenville coach Reno Saccoccia praised his defense.
"I said once that our offense can be our best defense, but tonight our defense was our best defense," Saccoccia said.
"We played pretty well, but I was still disappointed that we had several other opportunities that we didn't take advantage of."
Rough start
The Irish got in trouble on their first possession when they reached the Big Red 29. On second down, sophomore quarterback Scooter Hargate tossed a short pass down the line of scrimmage intended for Derrick Stewart, but Steubenville's Zach Collaros stepped in front of the ball, picked it off at the 30 and raced 70 yards for the game's first touchdown.
When the Big Red offense got its chance, it didn't disappoint. On its first offensive series, it drove 61 yards in 15 plays, mostly on the ground, with Stubbs going the final 3 yards for a 12-0 lead.
Ursuline's offense was stopped cold in the half, gaining just 69 total yards, 27 rushing.
Steubenville made a statement on the opening drive of the third period when it went 65 yards on 13 plays, all on the ground, for an 18-0 lead. Stubbs drove over from a yard out.
Ursuline got to the Steubenville 23 in the fourth quarter, before senior tailback Alex Allen fumbled at the 15 on the next play and Collaros recovered.
Lone highlight
Ursuline's lone touchdown was set up by a blocked punt early in the final period, and the Irish took over at the Big Red 21.
After losing a yard on first down, Hargate lobbed a high pass to Stewart, who went up over a defender to haul it in at the 5. Two plays later sophomore Matt Yarab scored from a yard out.
With time running out, the Irish just about gave the Big Red their final score.
Back on its own 12 with just over three minutes remaining, Hargate was sacked on fourth down at his own 1-yard line. Stubbs scored on the first play for Steubenville to close out the scoring.
Hargate didn't have a good night as he finished just 4-of-13 passing for 70 yards, but threw three interceptions and was sacked three times.
Allen finished the game with 101 yards rushing on 19 carries for the Irish, but Ursuline had 10 plays where it lost yardage and three others where it gained zero yards.
mollica@vindy.com