AKRON — Steubenville gambled and won — twice — Friday at InfoCision Stadium.
The Big Red scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns on fourth downs and rallied from a halftime deficit for a 35-22 win over Shelby in the Division IV state semifinals.
Steubenville (14-0) will play Clarksville Clinton-Massie for the state title next weekend in Canton. Clinton-Massie beat John Glenn 28-21 in Friday’s other state semifinal.
Shelby concluded the greatest season in school history at 13-1.
Trailing 22-21 and facing a fourth and 13 early in the fourth quarter, the Big Red took the lead for good when Johnny Agresta caught a screen pass from Javon Davis and dashed 36 yards for a touchdown. Running back Jacob Bernard iced it with a 9-yard TD run on fourth-and-one with 4:19 remaining.
“They’re good and you’ve got to fight and play with grit against good teams,” Steubenville coach Reno Saccoccia said. “We played with passion.”
It didn’t look like the Big Red would be challenged early. Steubenville raced to a 21-6 lead midway through the second quarter before the Whippets came to life. Quarterback Brennan Armstrong ignited the rally with a 6-yard touchdown run with 6:17 to play in the second quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, Uriah Schwemley booted the ball down the far sideline and it was covered by Cameron Hamilton at the Steubenville 25. Armstrong ran it in from 19 yards and the Whippets trailed 21-19.
Shelby’s Hunter Bishop then intercepted a Davis pass with 52 seconds remaining in the first half. The Whippets took a 22-21 lead when Schwemley booted an 18-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining in the half.
“Going into half I said, ‘I love the resilience of this team,’ ” Shelby coach Erik Will said. “We came right back.”
Armstrong capped a sensational high school career with 107 yards rushing and 180 yards passing. He threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Carter Brooks in the first quarter. Brooks had three catches for 114 yards in the first half.
“I told the kids, ‘There is nothing I’m going to say right now that is going to take away the pain,’ ” Will said. “They are going to appreciate this later in life.
“I’m hurting for them.”
