A rash of turnovers, injuries, and defense-gashing plays doomed the New Philadelphia Quakers in their 41-7 road loss to the Steubenville Big Red on Thursday night.
The Big Red led from near-beginning to end at Harding Stadium, leading the Quakers 14-0 after the first quarter, 28-0 at halftime, and piling onto the lead through the last 24 minutes.
The Quakers found themselves down early thanks to Big Red rusher Rodney James’ first touchdown of the night, followed by a fumble-turned-score by James on New Phila’s first play on the ensuing drive.
Then the injury bug bit some of the Quakers.
New Phila quarterback Kurtis Tetzloff was knocked out of the game by a second-quarter sack that looked to rattle the junior, while wide receiver/defensive back Willy Wallace ended his night on crutches after sustaining an injury in the same quarter.
Steubenville would then score on respective touchdown passes of 31 and 67 yards from junior slinger Phaeton Hill (141 passing yards) to senior receiver Brenton Jones, with the latter score occurring with just 3.9 seconds before halftime.
In the second half, James – who ended his night with 119 rushing yards and three total TDs – ripped a 13-yard run to make it 35-0, while sophomore Savier Faulks later went untouched on a 6-yard end zone run.
New Philadelphia managed a late score on sophomore quarterback Connor Rippeth’s 26-yard completion to junior Trevor Bean. Rippeth, in his fill-in performance for Tetzloff, completed four of eight passes for 54 yards, while senior Reise Meechan rushed 13 times for 76 yards.
Two big factors for the contest came in total yardage (in which Steubenville outgained New Philadelphia 519-104 for the night), and turnovers (the Quakers lost four fumbles in the game).
The Quakers fall to 1-1 and are set to open Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium against Akron Buchtel next Friday. Meanwhile, the Big Red (2-0) will play Wheeling Park.