Published: October 26, 2007 02:06 pm            

CARDINAL O'HARA NOTEBOOK: Hawks put winning streak on the line

Cardinal O’Hara coach Angelo Sciandra has told anyone who’ll listen that his team is going to Ohio tonight to win a football game, first and foremost, and to get an experience as well.

The Hawks will definitely get the experience, and they’ll have to earn the win. O’Hara meets two-time defending Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III champion Steubenville in a meeting between two programs with long winning streaks. The Hawks’ 25-game run is a school record. They haven’t lost since falling 35-29 at Kiski Prep of Pennsylvania on Sept. 10, 2005 and haven’t lost in Western New York since Oct. 30, 2004, falling 3-0 to Walsh.

Steubenville is on a 39-game winning streak overall (eighth-longest in the nation), a 46-game home winning streak and a 49-game winning streak in the regular season. The Big Red play in the 10,000-seat Harding Stadium under head coach Reno Saccoccia, who’s led the program to a 254-45 record in his 25 years at the helm.

Steubenville may sound familiar to local fans, as the Big Red have hosted St. Joe’s seven times. The Marauders lost earlier in the season at Steubenville, 32-14.

The Hawks, who defeated St. Joe’s 41-20 last week in a much-anticipated meeting of Monsignor Martin schools, have the state’s second-longest winning streak. With one showdown out of the way, the O’Hara players are looking forward to the next.

“I’ve been waiting for this game for a year,” O’Hara running back Reggie Garner said last week. “We want to see how we do against the best.”

• Though a three-touchdown victory would be viewed as a success for almost any school, the Hawks know they have to tighten up defensively. St. Joe’s outscored O’Hara 20-6 in the second half of last week’s game.

— Jay Skurski

        

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