Steubenville Big Red sweats out 34-33 win over Alter

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Steve Davis finished with four catches for 147 yards, a touchdown, two interceptions and a blocked kick.

MASSILLON (AP) — Steubenville scored 34 points in the first half, then held on for dear life in the second to win its second straight Division III championship.

Zach Collaros threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more and Steve Davis made big plays on offense, defense and special teams to help lead the Big Red to its 30th straight win in a 34-33 victory over Kettering Alter on Saturday.

"This was No. 1 vs. No. 2. This was 14-0 vs. 14-0," said Kettering Alter coach Ed Domsitz. "It was one of the marquee matchups and it lived up to that."

Steubenville (15-0) led 34-13 late in the second quarter, but the Knights nearly pulled off the biggest comeback in a Division III final.

Blocks PAT

Chris Roark's 4-yard TD run with 9:17 remaining made it 34-33. But the extra point was blocked by Davis.

Davis came up big again on the Knights' final drive, picking off Jeff Laumann on a flea-flicker for his second pick.

"We were running out of time. That was the problem," Domsitz said of the trick play. "We were asking some kids to really do a lot at that point."

It was the highest scoring game in a Division III title game. Mentor Lake Catholic and Cincinnati Academy of Physical Education combined for 65 points in 1991.

Steubenville became the 23rd school to win at least two titles in a row.

Kettering Alter (14-1) opened the second half with a 42-yard touchdown run by Michael Shaw to pull within 34-27.

Kettering Alter, which had allowed only one touchdown in its four previous tournament games, shut the Big Red out in the second half. But Steubenville was unstoppable in the first.

Collaros, an Associated Press Mr. Football finalist and offensive player of the year, threw two TDs in the first five minutes, hitting Maurice Bougard and Anthony Gossett on passes of 8 and 20 yards.

QB's yardage

Collaros, who threw for 254 yards and ran for 44, also scored on a 3-yard run with 1:05 left in the first quarter.

A series of big plays followed in the second quarter with Davis scoring on a 69-yard pass that made it 27-7 with 8:59 left in the second quarter.

Kettering Alter responded with Steve O'Donnell's 50-yard pass to Shaw, who took the short throw up the sideline, outrunning Steubenville's defenders.

Collaros added another 1-yard TD to make it 34-13, but threw an interception just before the half that Alex Place returned 52 yards to the Steubenville 4.

Roark score two plays later from 3 yards out and the Knights trailed 34-20 at the half. Roark had 90 rushing yards and Shaw 57.

Davis finished with four catches for 147 yards, a touchdown, two interceptions and a blocked kick.

"I've felt he's the best junior two-way player in Division III," Steubenville coach Reno Saccoccia said.

Sunday, December 3, 2006