Clinton-Massie takes its football road show east this week, visiting Steubenville High School, home of one of the greatest prep football traditions in Ohio history.
“Big Red is Big Red,” said CM coach Dan McSurley. “They are the returning champs of Region 13 and have the majority of their team returning. We are going to have fun and play loose. That’s the reason you play in the first place.”
Steubenville ranks third all-time in Ohio history for victories, trailing only Massillon Washington and Canton McKinley.
Friday’s game for Steubenville with the 1,117th in school history. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Ironically, SHS head coach Reno Saccoccia has coached more games, won more games and lost more games than any other coach in Big Red history.
Almost half of Steubenville’s 766 all-time victories have been by shutout (331).
They opened with a 53-0 win over Cleveland John F. Kennedy last week. Clinton-Massie defeated Blanchester 51-7 in its opener.
McSurley said Steubenville has “a lot of team speed and run multiple formations.”
Johnny Blue had two touchdowns and 97 yards rushing on just eight attempts against JFK. McSurley said Blue is “very similar” to Richard Hall and P.J. Pope, a pair of former Wyoming High School running backs who faced the Falcons several years ago.
As a team, the Big Red had 258 yards rushing on 33 attempts. Steubenville was 9-for-9 passing for 156 yards and three touchdowns.
Against Blanchester, McSurley said the team’s opening drive should have ended in points. Instead of kicking a field goal with Chris Demler, McSurley went for it on fourth down and came up short.
“Looking back I should have kicked the field goal,” he said. “With our kicker being one of the strengths of our special teams.”
Blanchester turned that around and grabbed its first lead over Clinton-Massie since the 2006 season. That lead was short-lived, though, as Massie scored 51 unanswered points on 30 offensive plays.
McSurley said Brad Hunt’s emergence at fullback will give Massie a weapon for teams to key on other than quarterback Hunter Fentress and running back Davey Tunon. Fentress led CM with 123 yards rushing on four attempts while Tunon had 96 yards on 13 carries. Hunt went 64 yards on three tries.
“Adding Brad to the mix forces teams to account for the fullback which is how our offense works,” said McSurley.
