Steubenville Central unofficially clinched a playoff spot according to the Joe Eitel website with a victory over Wellsville 39-14, Saturday evening at Harding Stadium. The Crusaders quickly got on the scoreboard on their first possession when Matty Jones hit Daveon Thorn on a short screen pass, and Thorn streaked down the field for a 46 yard TD. Minutes later Jones launched a jump ball toward the back of the end zone, and Michael Fabbro pulled it in to push the score to 12-0, before Wellsville answered to make it 12-6. Last week’s scoring hero Rahim Mitchell then got into the picture by rambling 69 yards to paydirt. After a Michael Vranish conversion, the score was 19-6, which would stand not only at halftime but also through a scoreless third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, Patrick Morrow set up Central for another score with a 19-yard punt return to the Tiger 21. Shortly afterwards, Mitchell found the endzone again on an eight-yard run. Freshman Chris McCarthy added two more rushing touchdowns late in the game, one from four yards, and the other from 52 yards out with only 25 seconds remaining in the game. Central closes the season on a roll with six straight wins and a 7-3 record. Central will wait for the final official seedings to be announced, but is expected to play a road game in the first round.

Steubenville Central outlasted Conotton Valley in a slugfest Saturday evening at Harding Stadium, 66-54, behind Rahim Mitchell's eight touchdowns. Mitchell, who also contributed two interceptions and a fumble recovery on defense, scored all but one of his TDs on the ground. For most of the contest, the teams traded scores in the most literal sense of the term, with the first fifteen touchdowns alternated between the opponents. Mitchell recovered a CV fumble on the opening kickoff, then scored a few plays later to commence the scoring in a first quarter that would last around 45 minutes and see 38 points scored. In the final seconds of the first half, Mitchell pulled in a pass from Matty Jones at the Rocket 13 yard line with 1.1 seconds showing on the clock, and Jones found Michael Fabbro in the back corner of the end zone for a TD as time expired. After Joseph Vranish added the extra point, the score stood 39-36 at the half. On Central's first possession of the third quarter, Conotton Valley picked off a Jones pass and returned it 55 yards for a pick-6 to take the lead once again, 42-39. With the Crusaders leading 53-48 after three periods, Mitchell put the game away with a touchdown run of 45 yards, a key interception at the three-yard line and subsequent 28 yard return that stopped a CV drive, and his final score of the evening from 53 yards out. Central, who all but needed a win to reach the playoffs, improves to 6-3, and takes on Wellsville (1-8) at home to close the regular season.

Steubenville Central broke open a close game with 20 unanswered points to defeat Bridgeport on the road, 34-18, on Friday evening. The Crusaders opened a 14-0 lead before the Bulldogs fought back with two scores to narrow the lead to 14-12, which was the score at halftime. After Central’s three second half TDs, Bridgeport closed the scoring in the final period with a late score. Central improves to 5-3 and takes on Conotton Valley (also 5-3) on Saturday at Harding Stadium.