Big red back on a roll after Week 9 stumble

By John Bassetti | November 24, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Mooney vs Poland

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Mooney Vs. Poland

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By JOHN BASSETTI

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — Steubenville Big Red has quite a reputation for its football and its rabid fan allegiance, even when games are hundreds of miles away.

In its last 70 regular-season games, Big Red is 69-1, losing only to Inkster, Mich., during Week 9 in October.

But this isn’t the regular season and this week’s opponent Cardinal Mooney has a 4-1 series advantage as the teams prepare for their Div. III state semifinal.

Of the five meetings, Big Red’s only win was in 2008 — 28-16 in the Div. IV regional semifinals.

In 2007, Mooney was a 35-20 winner in a regional final. The other three games were in 1981, 1982 and 1985.

“We were fortunate to come out on top,” Reno Saccoccia said Monday, not of the 2007 Mooney game, but of Big Red’s win over Dover last Friday.

In that 28-14 victory, Dover forced Big Red mistakes.

“They had a pretty good scheme,” Saccoccia said of Dover in the Region 11 championship game.

Big Red was less than full strength most of the season, but slowly overcame the intermittent injury problems in the last two games.

“We’re getting back to normal and both teams will be pretty healthy come Friday,” Saccoccia said of the physical status for this weekend.

The Big Red coaching icon addressed a concern of his staff.

“What concerns us the most is their experience in every part of their game,” Saccoccia said of Mooney. “Their offensive line is back from last year, their three running backs are back and their quarterback is back.”

Saccoccia also noted another Mooney trait to be reckoned with.

“We’ve watched a lot of their games and they’re very consistent,” Saccoccia said. “They’re a consistent football team, they’re a proud football team, so this will be a great challenge.”

Saccoccia said that a game of this magnitude is something the Big Red family works for all season.

“Hopefully, we can play to the best of our ability,” he said.

Although some key players return, Saccoccia doesn’t expect Mooney to resemble the 2008 Cardinals squad.

“They’re nowhere near last year’s team,” Saccoccia said. “Last year’s team was a little bit more open. This year’s team just comes at you and dares you to stop them.

“They do a great job of play-action pass and, defensively, their secondary is probably the best I’ve seen in a long time,” Saccoccia said. “They’ve come up with 25 interceptions. Their line and linebackers are good, but their secondary is above everybody else in the state as far as how they play.”

While quarterback Dwight Macon is the offensive dynamo, halfback Shaquille Petteway and fullback Jesse Birden are players Big Red needs.

“Hopefully, they’ll be able to play more this week,” Saccoccia said.

Other integral components to the team’s success are JoJo Pierro and tight end Sage Cutri.

Before its 68-game winning streak was stopped by Inkster, Big Red’s previous regular-season loss was 6-0 to East Liverpool at the end of the 2002 season.

A year ago, Steubenville was Div. IV state runner-up after losing to Kettering Alter, 21-6.

In 1981, Mooney beat Big Red, 49-0, in the first round of the playoffs. The Cardinals won again in 1982, 13-2, in the first round.

bassetti@vindy.com