When you talk about a high school football team on an exhilarating playoff roll, it’s the Dover Crimson Tornadoes.
The Tornadoes have masterfully overcome the loss of multiple injured two-way starters this season to claw their way into the Division III regional playoff semifinals.
The 11th-seeded Tornadoes, who knocked off fifth-seeded Granville and third-seeded Tri-Valley in the first two weeks of the postseason, will play second-seeded Steubenville in a D-III third-round battle Friday night at 7 p.m. at Carrollton’s Community Field. It’s a contest between two of Ohio’s tradition-steeped football schools.
Dover head football coach Dan Ifft said his talented and ever-growing team is playing with “house money,” and the Tornadoes and their fans are loving every part of the experience.
“It’s like going to the roulette table and it’s not my money, so I’m good with it,” Ifft said. “Let’s roll it and see what happens.”
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Friday’s game marks the 30th time overall, and second occasion this season that the Crimson Tornadoes and Big Red have played. The historical series actually began back in 1921 when Ohioan Warren G. Harding was in the White House.
Dover is riding a wave of momentum entering Friday’s game. The Tornadoes (9-3) are coming off a thrilling 37-35 second-round playoff win over Tri-Valley in Dresden last week. The Tornadoes impressively rallied from as much as a 21-point deficit to stun the formerly unbeaten Scotties (now 11-1).
“We were down 21, and it looks like we’re getting running clocked and then something clicked,” Ifft said. “Our offense started to click and started to move the ball a little bit, and I think that gave our defense a little bit more confidence. Someone’s watching out for us, so to speak.”
In that game, Dover’s senior kicker Jameson Marlatt sealed the deal, booming a 42-yard field goal with just 25 seconds remaining to lift the Tornadoes to the two-point triumph.
“Jameson Marlatt’s kick at the end was just a phenomenal kick,” Ifft said. “He pounded it right down the middle from 42 yards away, and that’s not easy.”
Another outstanding effort in that game was turned in by Dover’s junior quarterback Jack Judkins, who ran for three touchdowns and threw for 258 yards and two aerial scores. Meanwhile, Daylen Clark had 87 yards rushing, Justice Hughes had eight receptions for 105 yards and Caden Schie snagged seven passes for 80 yards in the incredible comeback.
“They’re playing extremely hard,” Ifft said. “Like I said, we’re not real big or anything like that. Sometimes it’s unexplainable, it’s just their effort and their attitude that has carried them a long way, and I’m so proud of them for that.”
The Tornadoes will face Big Red for the second time this season. The two teams met in Week 5 in Steubenville’s Death Valley (Harding Stadium) with Big Red capturing a 41-7 win, but Dover is truly a much different team from that first meeting back in September. The Tornadoes have won six of seven games since then and are playing with confidence, especially after their two playoff wins.
“We didn’t give a real good account of ourselves back in Week 5,” Ifft said. “We played well in the first quarter, then things kind of fell apart on us and we were not real competitive in that second half, which was a little disturbing to me, but our kids bounced back from that to resurrect their season and now we play them again and we know exactly what to expect.”
Steubenville checks into Week 13 with a 12-0 record and is coming off playoff wins over Buckeye Valley (47-7) and The Plains Athens (35-14) last weekend.
“They’re one of Ohio’s blue bloods in football, and it’s going to be a physical, tough, fast game, so hopefully we can give a much better account of ourselves and hang in there right to the end and see what happens, but that’s easier said than done, obviously,” the Dover coach said.
One of Steubenville’s strengths revolves around their outstanding senior quarterback Aiden Davis (5-11, 175), who threw for 250 yards and touchdown and also added a score on the ground in the win over Athens.
“They’re so diversified offensively,” Ifft said. “Over the last several years they’ve gone more to passing the ball. They’ll come out and run a play and then next play the ball is up in the air. They’ve got a very good quarterback — he’s from the (Jose) Davis lineage and he can wing it and Steubenville’s kids catch it. They do not drop passes.”
Another veteran Steubenville player who had a big game in the win over Athens was senior running back Jalen Minniefield (5-9, 160) who added 75 yards rushing and two scores.
“We’ve had some classic playoff games with them,” Ifft reflected. “Most notably in 2006 at Fawcett, that one will be etched in my memory forever. We came out on the short end (33-30), but for high school football, it was a fantastic football game, so we’re hoping to be able to do our part but I know how talented they are, so we’re going to have to step up our game.”
The Tornadoes and Big Red have the ability to score points quickly due to the game-breaking ability of numerous players. Dover is averaging 32.5 points-per-game and is giving up 22.3 points-per-outing, while Big Red scoring 37.2 points-per-outing and surrendering 14.9 ppg.
“I think it always starts up front with Steubenville,” Ifft said. “Their guys are good but their offensive line, there’s a couple (teams) this year that are very well coached, but they’re certainly right there. Their offensive line is very well drilled. They come out and get you pretty good. They work hard at driving your legs and stepping in their gaps and finishing their blocks and things of that nature. Our defensive front must hold up against them because they’ve got two or three running backs that can take it to the house on you at any time, but it all starts right there (on their line).”
Both head coaches in this game — Dover’s Ifft and Steubenville’s Reno Saccoccia — are members of the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Big Red leads the overall series with the Tornadoes, 22-6-1, but Dover won the last time they met in the playoffs — a 41-20 win in 2020 in Death Valley.
