Freshmen coming of age for New Castle High football

By JOHN D’ABRUZZO

jd’abruzzo@ncnewsonline.com

It was two years ago, but Dave Beavon remembers the practice like it was yesterday.

Standing over his group of seventh-grade New Castle football players, Beavon asked his team for a favor.

“I remember telling them to come back one day and show me their WPIAL rings,” he said with a laugh. “I set the bar pretty high for them. I told them to shoot high and step up and try to reach their goal.”

A few of those seventh-graders are already getting that chance to step up.

Despite the fact that those players are mere freshmen this season, New Castle High’s ninth-grade class is already starting to make an impact at the varsity level.

Red Hurricane coach Frank Bongivengo Jr. opted to cut the program’s ninth-grade team for the first time this year. He decided to move those 17 freshmen up with the rest of the varsity team to add numbers to his roster.

That decision appears to be paying off.

Not only is New Castle’s junior varsity team successfully beating opponents, but a handful of freshmen also are seeing quality varsity playing time on Friday nights.

“I was really worried coming into this year about how they were going to react coming up with us,” Bongivengo said. “They’ve done a great job.

“We have a nice group of ninth- and 10th-grade mix in there. It’s been very helpful, not only to our team, but it’s also been helpful to the kids because they’re hearing us (varsity coaches) all the time.”

WAVE OF THE FUTURE

Back when this year’s freshman class was playing football at the seventh-grade level, the youngsters were virtually unstoppable.

New Castle’s seventh-grade team went 8-0 in 2006 and set a junior high school record when it outscored opponents, 408-30.

“It was a fantastic season,” said Beavon, who is in his fourth season as the seventh-grade coach. “They had a great work ethic and practiced hard. That group knew how to practice and knew how to get ready for a game.

“They also knew about teamwork. They didn’t care who scored; they were just glad when we scored.”

The group moved up to eighth grade and lost one game last season, against Quad-A Pine-Richland. In two seasons, those players went 13-1.

At the time, Beavon knew there was a lot of potential and talked with his players about making an impact when they got to high school.

“I told them to be ready when they get the opportunity,” he said. “They have blossomed nicely, but I didn’t expect to be seeing that until they were in 10th or 11th grade.”

And Beavon has already been hearing about a few of those players.

Cornerback Marcus Carter (6-foot, 150 pounds) and defensive end Latrell McKnight (6-0, 201) are now starters on the ’Canes’ defense.

Running back/defensive back Justin Fleo (5-11, 175), quarterback Johnny Matarazzo (6-2, 185) and tight end/defensive end Darrian Rice (5-10, 155) also are seeing varsity time as backups.

Some come from very good stock.

Fleo and Matarazzo’s fathers played for New Castle in the early 1980s. Fleo is a son of former fullback/defensive back Willie Fleo and Matarazzo is a son of former wide receiver John Matarazzo, who went on to play at Pitt.

McKnight is a nephew of former star halfback Allan Cuffie, who played at New Castle in the 1960s. Carter’s father, Jay Holland, played for the ’Canes in the late 1980s.

“The layout of the team coming into the season was our numbers were down in upper grades and our lower grades were up,” said assistant coach Joe Cowart, who also serves as New Castle’s head JV coach. “We knew we had a pretty special group, athletically speaking. It wasn’t an easy choice, but in hindsight, it was a great choice.”

MAKING THEIR MARK

Cowart, like most New Castle faithful, have heard about promising youngsters in the past.

“How many times do we say it about teams in this area? We always talk about kids coming up and we’ve seen a lot of classes not pan out,” said Cowart, who starred as New Castle’s quarterback on its 1998 WPIAL championship team. “Even when I played, they were talking about the guys behind us. But it doesn’t always work out.

“These guys pretty much made a name for themselves. They’re laying the foundation and making hay right now, and that’s something to be said.”

According to Cowart, New Castle’s JV team hasn’t had much trouble with opponents this season and the younger ’Canes remain undefeated going into tomorrow’s contest against Ambridge.

“Those games are monumentally important,” Cowart said. “If they don’t play Friday night, then the JV games are their season and they treated it like that.

“At the beginning of the year we called them the ‘redeem team.’ And they wanted to go out and redeem those early losses. They treat these games with intensity. It’s so unbelievable how these guys execute.”

The JV contests also are crucial considering the youngsters carry out valuable duties during varsity practice as well.

“It’s important for them to get that experience because all week you have your JV team playing as the so-called suicide squad,” said Fred Mozzocio, who also coaches the JV team. “They’re running the other team’s offense or the other team’s defense, and they’re often going against kids who are older than them.

“The games are a chance for them to go against their own element and show what they can do against their own age groups.”

GOOD WORK

Most of all, the New Castle coaching staff is pleased with how quickly the youngsters have progressed since the start of the year.

“They’re a good group of kids and as they moved up, a good caliber of competition also stepped up,” Mozzocio said. “They’ve all adapted very well. They all pay attention in practice when the varsity kids are learning, and that has carried over into the JV games.

“Their eyes are open and they’re all hard workers from top to bottom. They’ve been a nice addition to the JV team because last year our numbers were low and that was a big reason in why coach wanted to move them up.”

The ’Canes play Ambridge at 7:30 p.m. today at Taggart Stadium. A win will give New Castle at least a share of the Parkway Conference.

“With the young guys, you have to mention to them how the senior class has been,” Cowart said. “They all live as one family and as one group. The success they are having as younger players has a lot to do with the success of the older players and the fact that they’re being accepted by guys above them.”