The Big Red of Steubenville High School took one more step towards their fourth consecutive undefeated season and their 4th straight Ohio Associated Press Poll title with an impressive 33-0 victory over the visiting Crusaders of Canton Central Catholic. The Big Red who entered the game atop both the Division III AP Poll and the OHSAA Division III, Region 11 ratings move to 9-0 on the season. Steubenville has won 24 straight games including the run to the 2005 State Championship as well as winning 39 straight regular season games, both streaks are the longest currently across the Buckeye state. With the win, the Big Red all but assured themselves of playing a home game at Steubenville's fabled Harding Stadium in the first round of the playoffs while the Crusaders must come up with a win in the season's final week to get into the post season dance.

The game between Steubenville and Canton Central Catholic featured two of the coaching icons in Ohio as venerable Lowell Klinefelter of CCC and Reno Saccoccia of Big Red have combined for nearly 60 years of head coaching experience with two of the most prestigious football programs in the State of Ohio. Fortunately for Saccoccia it was his squad who came out onto the field in high gear as Steubenville used a huge 26 point first quarter to put the game away early and avoid any threats by the upset minded Crusaders. Steubenville took the opening kickoff and following 4 straight running plays netting 31 yards, Senior Quarterback Zach Collaros found Senior Wideout Maurice Bougard wide open for a 40 yard scoring strike. On the play Collaros became the career leader in passing yardage as he eclipsed the 3,008 yard mark set by Mid-90s QB Jason Vein. Collaros has now thrown for 3,125 yards in his Big Red career.

One thing the Crusaders needed to avoid against Big Red was turnovers, but CCC would fumble the ball away on their first 3 possessions resulting in 20 more Big Red points. Big Red would recover a fumble on the Central 49 and on the very next play Senior Tailback Tamawi McGhee went 49 yards for the score. Five minutes into the game Steubenville had a 12-0 lead. Steubenville would then recover a loose ball at the CCC 26 and 3 plays later Collaros found Junior Fullback Mark Markakis for an 18 yard touchdown. Big Red last score of the opening stanza came when Zach Collaros picked off the 3rd Crusader fumble in midair and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown. Collaros would throw his 3rd TD pass of the night early in the 3rd quarter to Bougard covering 36 yards. That let both coaches get their reserves into the game for the last 1½ quarters as Steubenville walked off the field with a 33-0 victory.

For the third week in a row, Big Red went over 400 yards of offense as they finished the game 422 yards. All-State Candidate Zach Collaros finished the night going 7 of 8 for 168 yards and 3 scores. For the season Collaros is 78 of 112 for 1,332 yards, 16 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. Collaros is completing 70% of his passes. Senior Maurice Bougard had 3 receptions for 114 yards and two scores giving 19 catches on the season for 357 yards and 4 scores. Senior Dan Vogel laeads the Big Red receiving corp with 24 catches for 451 yards and 5 scores and Junior Steve Davis has added 21 receptions form 358 yards. Senior All-State Running Back Candidate Tamawi McGhee had 153 yards on 14 carries. McGhee has 1,308 yards rushing in 2006 on 161 carries for an 8.1 yard average per carry. His 13 touchdowns and 78 points leads the Big Red. Leading the way upfront for the Big Red is potential All-Stater, Center Sean Campbell. Also up front on line is Seniors Sam Pavlic and Tyree Dunn along with Juniors Andrew Radakovich, Phil Gilmore and Brandon Frye. The Big Red offense is averaging 418 yards per game with 269 on the ground and 149 through the air. Big Red is scoring a clip of 38 points per game.

The Big Red defense posted their second shutout in a row and has not been scored on for 10 straight quarters. Canton Central finished the game with just 116 yards of total offense as the Big Red forced 4 Crusader turnovers. Leading the way for the Big Red defense is their linebacking trio of Senior Nick Vogagis with 45 stops, Junior Mark Markakis with 38.5 tackles and Sophomore Branko Busick with 60 tackles. In fact Steubenville has 12 players with at least 20 tackles for the season. Steubenville has forced 27 turnovers for the season to go with 22 QB sacks. Zach Collaros leads the way having intercepted 4 passes for the season. The Big Red defense is giving up less than 200 yards of total offense per game less than 9 points per game.

The Big Red will close the 2006 season at home next Friday when Baltimore, Md. Mount St. Joe's will return to Harding Stadium. The Gaels are last team to beat Big Red at home on the field during the regular season. A win against Mount St. Joe's will give Steubenville their 17th undefeated season in 106 years of football. Then the Big Red will focus on defending their 2005 Division III State Championship by opening up in the tough Region 11 playoffs which feature many of the top 10 teams in Ohio, with visions on playing the 1st Saturday in December at Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium and the 2006 Division III Championship.

-Paul Firm