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Ursuline’s Late Heroics Topple Steubenville, 44-40

 
Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, Game Photos-Videos, Gameday Hub, News, Non-PIAA, pfn

| October 2, 2026

Youngstown – Division III heavyweights deliver an instant classic at the Ice Castle as the Irish toppled the Big Red 44-40.

Often, the hype for a football game is better than the game itself. Well, scratch that thought. The contest between Steubenville and Ursuline showcased everything that makes high school football so special.

Kids playing their hearts out, excitement throughout, big plays, and the game coming down to the final snap.

According to MaxPreps.com, Steubenville entered the game ranked #1 in Division III, while Ursuline came in ranked #2.

“I think I may have had a heart attack in there somewhere,” said Ursuline head coach Tony Stephens. “But our kids fought. Not once did I think this game was over. I knew how these guys fight.”

Trailing 40-29 with 7:35 to play after a bad snap led to a 31-yard loss, Kyler Snyder recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown, and the Irish had their backs against the wall.

Ursuline began their rally with a 12-play, 80-yard drive, with Ethan Sandusky catching a 27-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Reardon. He came under fire on a 4th down earlier in the drive, but launched a 33-yard completion to Dale Peterman Jr. to keep their hopes alive.

Reardon completed 9 of 16 passes for 140 yards and the score.

“It shows our identity as a team that we rely on each other, and don’t back to anybody,” Reardon said. “We do what we got to do to win. We always have to keep our heads. We can’t get too low or too high. We need to be level-headed. We know our abilities; we know we can always score. We were just thinking about winning the game. We know we can trust our defense every week, and they did great.”

Trailing 40-37 following a Vinnie Fecko 2-point rush with 3:40 to play. The Fighting Irish had already decided to go onside. Sure enough, they recovered the ball at the Big Red 34-yard line.

Suddenly, they were in prime position to regain the lead, and 61 seconds later, they did, when Fecko scored his fourth touchdown of the night on a 15-yard run with 2:39 left.

“We had a plan when we were down 11,” Stephens said. “We’re going to go down and score, we’re going to convert that 4th down, and we’re going to come back. We had to onside kick no matter what because we knew we had to get the ball back. We’re always talking about setting changes and momentum swings.”

However, nobody breathed a sigh of relief as the Steubenville offense, which hadn’t been on the field since Colton Henderson scored his third touchdown on a 24-yard run at the 9:58 mark of the final quarter that had given the Big Red their first lead since 21-15 in the second quarter, capping a 9-play, 73-yard drive.

Steubenville began at their 22-yard line with 2:29 to play, having scored on all three of their prior second-half possessions.

The Big Red drove 72 yards in 13 plays thanks to the legs of Colton Henderson and the arm of Santino Haney. They reached the Irish 5-yard line with under a minute to play. A procedural penalty pushed them back five yards, and on the following snap another flag pushed them back again, negating what could’ve been the winning score from Henderson.

“They were moving the ball all game,” said Stephens. “But we just kept saying, we just need one stop from our defense. The pressure was going to be on them because of the clock. We have some things we need to clean up, but those kids made the plays at the end when they needed to.”

Steubenville eventually moved the ball to the 7-yard line with two seconds to play, where Haney’s pass was broken up in the end zone, ending the game. A motion penalty would’ve been called if the catch had been made, forcing the final play from the 12-yard line.

While the comeback fell just short, the Big Red’s initial comeback came in the second half, as Henderson got the ball rolling with an 18-yard scoring run late in the third quarter following an 8-play, 72-yard drive, pulling them to 29-27 after a failed 2-point conversion.

Henderson’s third score and Snyder’s fumble recovery had given them what seemed like breathing room. Colton Henderson rushed for a team-high 136 yards on 24 carries, including 101 in the second half, while adding three rushing touchdowns.

The Fighting Irish took the second-half kickoff and extended their lead to 29-21 as Fecko finished an 11-play, 81-yard drive with a 26-yard touchdown run.

That score mirrored how Ursuline finished the first half when trailing by six; they beat the clock on Fecko’s 2-yard scoring run with 17 seconds to play, taking a slim 22-21 lead into the locker room.

Vinnie Fecko had another monster game for the Irish, rushing for 239 yards on 30 carries with four rushing touchdowns.

Steubenville took the second-quarter lead with two lengthy scoring drives covering 76 and 70 yards, with James Turner finding paydirt on a 7-yard run and Henderson a 9-yard jaunt.

Ursuline scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns on Zalin Strother’s 1-yard run succeeding an 11-play 65-yard drive, and Fecko ripping off a 33-yard score.

The Big Red responded with a 70-yard touchdown pass from Santino Haney to sophomore Stephen McShan. McShan caught a game-high six passes for 130 yards, while Haney completed 16 of 23 passes for 289 yards and a touchdown.

Both schools are in action again next Friday night as Steubenville hosts Buffalo Health Sciences while Ursuline travels to Walsh Jesuit.

Game Highlights

Ursuline 44, Steubenville 40

Score by Quarters

Steubenville – 6 15 6 13 – 40

Ursuline – 15 7 7 15 – 44

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

U – Zalin Strother 1 yd run, (Vinnie Fecko rush), 3:18 – 11-65

S – Stephen McShan 70 yd pass from Santino Haney, (rush failed), 1:43 – 3-73

U – Fecko 33 yd run, (Antonio Ricchiuti pat), 0:28 – 3-55

Second Quarter

S – James Turner 7 yd run, (Chase Beall pat), 8:08 – 12-76

S – Colton Henderson 9 yd run, (Landon Crosier from Haney), 1:59 – 10-70

U – Fecko 2 yd run, (Ricchiuti pat), 0:17 – 9-75

Third Quarter

U – Fecko 26 yd run, (Ricchiuti pat), 8:31 – 11-81

S – Henderson 18 yd run, (rush failed), 3:41 – 8-72

Fourth Quarter

S – Henderson 24 yd run, (pass failed), 9:58 – 9-73

S – Kyler Snyder fumble recovery in the end zone, (Beall pat), 7:35

U – Ethan Sandusky 27 yd pass from Patrick Reardon, (Fecko rush), 3:40 – 12-80

U – Fecko 15 yd run, (Ricchiuti pat), 2:39 – 4-34

Individual Stats

Rushing: S – Henderson 24-136, Turner 12-54, Crosier 1-3, McShan 1-1, Haney 6-24, Chevy McGee 1-(-3). Totals: 45-215. U – Fecko 30-239, Strother 10-64, Reardon 5-10, Javey 2-7, Dale Peterman Jr. 1-0, Team 1-(-31). Totals: 49-289.

Receiving: S – McShan 6-130, Braidyn Edwards 3-39, Turner 1-15, Saige Smarrella 1-23, Crosier 3-52, Henderson 2-30. U – Ray Javey 3-41, Peterman Jr 2-52, Sandusky 2-41, Strother 1-8, Fecko 1-(-2)

Passing: S – Haney 16-for-23, 289 yards, 1 TD. U – Reardon 9-for-16, 140 yards, 1 TD.

 
 
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