READY FOR ANOTHER TEST — Lino Saccoccia and his experienced coaching staff will be ready for another test as the Big Red travels north of the border on Friday night when Huron Heights heads from Ontario, Canada, to Harding Stadium. We are preparing for the challenge. – Andrew Grimm
STEUBENVILLE — The Big Red football team faces a different kind of challenge this week when Huron Heights heads north of the border to Harding Stadium.
The Warriors, an undefeated team based in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, will bring their Wing-T style offense to Steubenville when the undefeated teams clash Friday night.
“I know their coach very well… They’re a 7-0 team and they beat a good team last week.” Big Red head coach Leno Saccoccia said. “We haven’t played Wing T for a long time, so we’ll have to work hard to prepare for that. It should be a good game.”
Veteran grid bosses know that preparing for that style of attack will require adjustments.
“Facing a spread with one or no tight ends and one or two backs is different than having a full crowd in a phone booth.” Mr. Saccoccia said. “We went from playing on the runway to playing in a phone booth.”
This will be the Warriors’ second trip to the United States after traveling to New York to play Bishop Timon last week and winning 27-7. They will play a 12-game schedule, with the Big Red playing the second of six straight games against Team USA. They will travel to River Rouge, Michigan next week to play and finish against three more New York teams, including Long Island Luthan, the Big Red’s Week 10 opponent.
The Warriors, coached by Heath Weir, who began his career as a graduate assistant at the University of Memphis and Arkansas State University, were defeated by Canadian teams such as University of Brantford (45-7) and Michael Power St. Joseph (57-0). are winning. , St. Peter (54-0), Chaminade College School (35-0), Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School (55-7), Paul Dwyer (58-7).
They won both the senior and junior divisions at the Ontario provincial championship last season and won the Golden Horseshoe Bowl.
Mr Weir has been with the program since 2004 and is also the publisher and editor of the football magazine.
“It’s good to get tested during this time. I think the more you get tested, the better you’ll be.” Mr. Saccoccia said. “It helps us grow as a team. It helps us prepare throughout the week, and the better we prepare throughout the week, the better we perform on Friday night.”
The Big Red has outscored its opponents 176-46 in its past four games, and Saccoccia believes that preparation has fueled its success in recent weeks.
“I think we had three or four weeks of good practice, which is really important.” Mr. Saccoccia said. “It keeps everyone on their toes. The way we practice is we practice in two groups and it keeps the players competing. They’re competing against each other.”
Big Red’s win over Linsley last week moved it to No. 1 in the computer rankings for the Division III, Region 11 playoffs.
Steubenville has been ranked No. 2 in the latest Division III Ohio Associated Press poll for the second consecutive week, receiving two first-place votes.
In the win over Linsley, quarterback Aiden Davis threw four touchdown passes, giving him his 11th touchdown pass of the season against just one interception. He has rushed for seven more touchdowns and has 1,209 passing yards this season.
Brody Saccoccia, already the team’s top receiver, scored two long touchdowns on Friday and had three catches for over 100 yards, giving him 15 grabs for 301 yards on the season.
Friday night’s opening kick is slightly earlier than usual, set for 6:30 p.m.
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