Andrew Grimm
BREAKING TACKLES — Big Red’s Jalen Minniefield breaks tackles from Kettering Alter defenders during Friday’s Division IV state semifinal.
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WESTERVILLE — A couple of things went against Big Red early in Friday’s Division IV state semifinal, and the momentum never shifted back in Steubenville’s direction.
Kettering Archbishop Alter opened an early lead and did not look back, pulling away for a 48-0 victory at Westerville Central High School for a trip to Canton next weekend.
Big Red, which saw its 13-game winning streak come to a close and was playing in the state semifinals for a second-straight season, drops the curtain at 13-2.
“I want to thank the players for their effort, a lot of our players gave a great effort,” Big Red head coach Reno Saccoccia said. “Everybody tried, some gave a great effort, some gave a good effort — the effort was there. I just think we let a couple of early calls get to us and frustrate us.
“(The season) started bad and ended bad, but the 13 games in the middle were pretty enjoyable.”
Alter advances to take on Cleveland Glenville, who topped Canton South 42-21 in the other semifinal on Friday night, in the Div. IV state title game next Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
The first break to go the direction of the now 12-3 Knights came when it had appeared they had fumbled at the 1-yard-line and Sabron Felton was headed up the field with the football, but the play was blown dead and ruled that a whistle had been blown with Felton across the 50 on his way to the end zone.
On the next play, Alter QB Gavin Connor scored on a QB sneak to make it 7-0. That drive started in the Big Red end of the field after a Steubenville fumble.
It was all Alter from there as a 29-yard Noah Jones TD run on the next Knights drive made it 14-0, then a Connor to Carter Sheets 38-yard scoring connection put the deficit at 21-0 after one quarter.
Jones’ 3-yard run in the second quarter made it 28-0 capping an eight-play march. On that drive, Big Red was flagged for a pair of personal fouls and a pass interference call, which started the game down a path of being marred by penalties — almost exclusively on Steubenville. In the game, Big Red was flagged 15 times for 184 yards, 13 of which were personal fouls. Alter was flagged three times for 35 yards.
Big Red’s best chance to get on the board came on a drive that started at its own 10 after a pair of flags before the drive had even started, but went 13 plays into the red zone before ending with a turnover on downs at the Alter 8, leaving the deficit at 28-0 at halftime.
It appeared Big Red’s defense had secured a stop on the opening drive of the second half as it forced a punt, but three flags were thrown on the play and the one accepted resulted in Alter maintaining possession.
Two plays later, the Knights were back in the end zone to initiate a running clock.
After a pair of personal fouls on the extra point put the kickoff at the Big Red 30, a short squib was recovered by the Knights, who made it 42-0 with a 3-yard Mike Rose TD run on the next snap.
Rose later added a 1-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin for the Knights, who finished with 332 yards of offense.
Big Red did put together a solid final drive looking to get on the board, marching 16 plays inside the Alter 10 before a sack as the clock expired closed things out.
Savier Faulks tallied 36 yards on the final drive, capping his Big Red career with 70 yards on the night.
Aydan Manning threw for 63 yards in the game, 33 of which went to Isaac Hill.
Big Red finished with 186 yards of offense.
“We thank the fans for their support of us all season,” Saccoccia said. “We appreciate them more than they will ever know.”