'Nobody but this locker room thought we could win': Sheridan win over Steubenville resonates

Nary a player on either current roster was alive the last time Sheridan played Steubenville on a football field.

It was Nov. 13, 2004 at Dover's Crater Stadium, a game in which the late Paul Culver Jr.'s Generals earned one of the biggest wins in Muskingum Valley League history.

The 10-1 Generals, whose only loss came at Newark Catholic, 7-3, in Week 3 of the regular season, entered the matchup with the unbeaten, top-ranked Big Red as decided underdogs in the minds of most.

"Nobody but this locker room thought we could win it," Josh Coleman clarified on Wednesday. Coleman was a junior on that team and is now an assistant coach.

He would know.

He picked off a pass in the first quarter of that game to set up a touchdown, as Sheridan took a 10-0 lead. Big Red stormed back behind injured quarterback Antonio Magnone, who led three scoring drives.

Facing an 18-10 deficit in the fourth quarter, Sheridan leaned on tailback Jake Greene and fullback Kevin Culver for two scoring drives — then held on for a 22-18 win before massive crowds on both sides.

Cory Noyes, a senior safety, admitted some personal doubt settled in as Steubenville's offense got established. Then All-Ohio nose guard Justin White, who doubled as an All-Ohio wrestler, recorded a sack and unleashed a primal scream that could be heard across the field.

It thwarted a potential scoring drive and Big Red didn't score again.

"From that moment, I remember there was no way we couldn't win," Noyes said.

Big Red missed two extra points and failed to convert a two-point conversion, which wound up making the difference. They also had four turnovers.

"We sent shockwaves through the state tonight," the late Culver Jr. said in a jubilant celebration afterward.

Dream chasers: Sheridan is one win from its third Final Four. Another blue blood stands in the way.

Greene, one of many key senior contributors, ran for 132 yards on 27 carries. Sheridan won despite not completing a pass, but it was two key calls in the fourth quarter that proved critical.

One was a pass interference penalty on a deep ball from Josh Barrera to Josh Davy down the sideline. The latter was a Kevin Culver fumble that appeared to be a Big Red recovery, only to have officials rule him down by contact.

It remained a point of contention in Big Red country, only exacerbated by video evidence suggesting the call was missed.

But veteran coach Reno Saccoccia, one of the winningest coaches in Ohio history, told the Times Recorder afterward that Sheridan "was the better team tonight, and we were outcoached."

That was what stood out to Coleman. His father, John Coleman, was a longtime Culver assistant with Larry Davis, Nick Bendle and Tyrone Davis. Paul Culver III, who has been the team's head coach since 2016, was also on staff.

They devised a game plan that allowed Sheridan to win without completing a pass, while all but shutting down an explosive Big Red ground game. It took a Herculean effort from Magnone, who injured an ankle the week prior, to carry the offense with his arm.

"Credit to him, he was hurt and still played a hell of a game," Coleman said.

Zach Collaros, then a sophomore, started in his place. It was his only loss as a starter, as he led Big Red to back-to-back state titles as a junior and senior. After a standout career at Cincinnati, he is now the biggest star in the Canadian Football League.

Sheridan intercepted four passes — two from Noyes and one from Coleman and Kyle Culver, Kevin's twin brother.

Those didn't come by accident.

"The coaching staff we had, with their ability to prepare, there were no question marks heading into that game," Coleman said. "We knew what they were going to do. That first drive when I got that pick, I think I saw that play 700 times in practice, it felt like. They threw it right to me."

The game mirrored Sheridan's reliance on depth and cohesion. Two-way starter Chuck Messer, a center and middle linebacker, sat out after being suspended following a questionable ejection the week prior against Cambridge.

It forced 160-pound Phillip Walser into a starting role, and he helped lead a rushing attack that put up more than 200 yards.

Messer sneaked into the stands behind the bench a nervous mess, and was all but brought to tears afterward when talking of the team's bond. The players and coaches donned "12th Man" helmet stickers in Messer's honor.

Greene said he felt confident entering the game adding that "there wasn't a team that year that I didn't feel confident against."

They allowed only 34 points in the regular season, many against backups, with five shutouts. Two other teams failed to score touchdowns.

Big Red was a different beast, however. Culver, who grew up 20 minutes from Steubenville in Hopedale, made sure to inform his players.

"I knew the name since I was a kid," Greene said. "I knew about Steubenville, knew their history. Coach Culver told us, 'you better be ready.' We were. I knew every yard counted."

His best friend on the team, Noyes, confirmed it.

"(Greene) wouldn't talk to anyone before the game," Noyes said. "I remember feeling like I was staring right through his eyes into a type of scary purpose that I am still not sure I understand. Watch the game and you will see the result."

Greene said Steubenville lived up to the description that Culver gave them in the days prior — strong, fast and physical. But he left feeling his own squad offered plenty of the same.

That, he said, was a product of Culver's weight program. He felt many backups on that team would have started for most others in the area.

This team combined talent and supreme chemistry. They it left as one of the most beloved in program history.

"That was one of the biggest games that Sheridan ever won, I think," Greene said. "I always say, go around the weight room and look at what it says. Not to be braggadocios. ... Coach Culver gave us the nickname 'The Mustangs' because all ran (together). We were a team."

Sheridan felt the other end of the emotional spectrum a week later in Mansfield. A massive crowd watched two teams slip and slide for four quarters as the grass surface at Arlin Field was all but unplayable, the result of torrential rain and another game played there one night earlier.

Sheridan, a team that leaned on speed on defense, dropped a 14-0 decision to Canal Fulton Northwest — its third loss to the Indians in as many years.

Culver, ever the philosopher, had a clear message afterward.

"I was really frustrated with how it ended for a long time," Greene said. "I remember him telling us: 'It's a good lesson. Life isn't fair.' A lot has changed since. There is a reason they don't play those games on grass fields anymore."

The Big Red win came on the heels of a 27-8 win at Dover in the Region 11 quarterfinals in 2003, when the Tornadoes were ranked second in the final Associated Press poll in Division III. Dover was one of five 10-0 teams in the region.

It started a run of eight playoff games in three years for Sheridan in one of its most dominant stretches. It returned to the regional finals in 2005, upsetting Cincinnati Indian Hill, in the second round of the Division III, Region 12 playoffs.

Coleman said he still watches those games. The Steubenville game, thanks to YouTube, was played in the weight room this week. Coleman joked that the current players asked why they were watching a team they didn't know.

A little research would prove their elders had some mojo, too.

"Dad had 15 playoff wins and (the 2004 seniors) had five of them," Culver III said.

sblackbu@gannett.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Sheridan football playoff upset over Steubenville still resonates