By Chuck Housteau

The state’s top-ranked Div. III team prevailed at Poland, 39-20, after the Bulldogs couldn’t stop drives.

POLAND — Ninety minutes before the kickoff of the Poland-Steubenville football game fans of both teams had already filled Dave Pavlansky Stadium in anticipation of the highly touted matchup between the Bulldogs and Big Red.

By kickoff the field was lined nearly four deep along the fences which created an atmosphere of an old-time high school football game.

“All except the plastic grass,” said Steubenville coach Reno Saccoccia.

And for the better part of three quarters the teams matched that anticipation on the field before Steubenville (8-0) pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 39-20 win.

“There are no moral victories in Poland football,” said Poland coach Mark Brungard. “We came here fully expecting to win this football game.

“We played our hearts out but Steubenville is a darn good football team.”

Poland (6-2) pulled to within 27-20 on Ryan Rovnak’s 23-yard field goal with 8:54 remaining in the game but the Bulldogs couldn’t stop Big Red down the stretch.

There was too much Dwight Macon to deal with.

The junior quarterback tormented the Bulldogs’ defense all night and he guided Big Red on two more late drives to seal Steubenville’s 58th consecutive regular season victory.

Macon completed 11-of-12 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns. The all-state performer also rushed for a touchdown and gained 109 yards on 17 carries.

“What a weapon Macon is,” said Brungard. “He so hard to defense. Just when you think you have him contained he can kill you with such accurate passes while on the run.”

Saccoccia couldn’t have been more proud of Macon and the entire Big Red football team.

“Offense, defense, special teams. Everybody was so into this game and I’m proud of our effort.

“Tonight we played strong, we played smart and we played fast.”

It was Poland that got off to the strong start after Greg Sabol recovered a fumble on the first series and the Bulldogs converted it into an early score.

Rovnak kicked a 22-yard field goal after an apparent Poland touchdown was ruled short of the goal line on third down.

Steubenville came right back and scored on a Macon to Sage Cutri 11-yard touchdown pass for a 7-3 lead.

Poland’s Luke Wollet, who rushed for 114 yards on 18 carries despite playing with a sore knee, raced 47 yards to give the Bulldogs a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter.

Steubenville rallied in the final minute of the first half to score on a Branko Busick 5-yard run to give Big Red a 14-10 lead at the break.

Although Steubenville pushed the lead out to 21-10 on a 53-yard pass from Macon to Trey Wiggins, Poland came right back and marched 78 yards to score on a Sabol 5-yard run.

Again, Macon was the man of the night and led his team on another scoring drive before tallying himself on a 6-yard run to put Big Red up 27-17.

“We played good football but having to settle for two field goals was the difference,” Brungard said. “If we would have made a few more plays we would have won this football game.”