Coaching connection, offensive fireworks make Neshannock football fun

By Joe Sager

New Castle News

Football is fun at Neshannock High.

The points — and wins — keep racking up, which keeps the Lancers grinning.

Neshannock is off to a 3-0 start for the first time in at least the past two decades and bidding for its first 4-0 start since the 1976 season. The team is hoping to maintain its unblemished record and remain on top of the Big Seven Conference standings when it travels to Shenango on Saturday night.

“It’s very exciting,” junior right guard Steve Senko said. “We’re taking one game at a time, though.”

He isn’t alone. The Lancers remain humble and focused with their recent success, including last week’s 35-34 win over conference heavyweight Sto-Rox, which turned more than a few heads.

“We’re just using that as another momentum builder,” junior center Nate Nativio said. “But, we’re always just thinking about the next game. Shenango is our next game and we’re thinking about practicing and working toward them.”

FIREWORKS

When New Castle assistant Fred Mozzocio was hired as the Lancers’ new head coach in January, he brought with him four assistants from the Red Hurricane staff: Frank Bongivengo Sr., Ron DePorzio, Ryan Firmi and Mark Hasson. Those five have coached together for many years. Another assistant has New Castle ties — Gary Schooley, a former ’Canes head coach, works with the Lancers’ defense. Bongivengo, of course, is the longtime former Shenango head coach.

“We can just basically look at each other during a practice or game and know what each person is thinking and what we want to do. It’s a good relationship,” Mozzocio said. “It’s like an extended family. When we’re not here together, we’re usually hanging out together with our families. It’s a great group of guys to work with.”

The coaches brought with them the spread offense they learned from New Castle native and former University of Kansas head coach Mark Mangino. New Castle used that offense with great success over the past few years. It has paid immediate dividends for the Lancers. They’ve racked up 125 total points in three games. Neshannock tallied just 105 in nine games last year.

“We picked up this offense from Coach Mangino. He gave us the opportunity to go down to Kansas two years in a row and participate in spring drills with him and go on the field and have full access and we took full advantage of it,” Mozzocio said. “The success we had at New Castle, we saw what we did in the Parkway Conference. Nobody stopped us and we thought it’d be a great fit here, knowing the athletes we have. You don’t have to have the big, strong 260-pound linemen to run this offense. You just have to be very smart and have some athletes who can spread the field.”

Neshannock’s personnel proved to be a perfect fit for the spread offense.

“It’s pretty much the same thing we had at New Castle. We’ve all worked together to develop it,” Mozzocio said. “That’s the great thing about our staff. There are no egos on our staff just like our kids don’t have egos. We all have strengths and weaknesses. We all know each other very well.”

Speed is one of Neshannock’s biggest assets. This offense allows the Lancers to utilize it more. The Lancers are able to get their speedsters in open space, where the emphasis is on the player to make a play.

“Everyone thinks the spread offense is a passing offense where you have to throw the ball down the field. You don’t always have to do that,” Mozzocio said. “It might be 5- or 10-yard patterns that you’re running, but you’re getting a lot of yards after the catch.”

The players certainly enjoy it.

“Since we have a lot of speed, it’s a lot of fun because everybody gets to touch the ball,” senior wide receiver Alex Welker said. “We’re ending up gaining a lot more yards.”

LINE PLAY

While the spread helps give Neshannock’s speedsters some open space, it benefits the guys blocking on the line — Steven Jeffries (tight end), Ralph Dovidio (left tackle), Adam Wawrzynski (left guard), Nativio (center), Senko (right guard) and Zack Barnes (right tackle) — as well.

“The spread offense is great. We distribute the ball around to everyone and we can block in the open field instead of just driving people back,” Senko said. “We’re not the biggest team, but we’re stronger and faster, so we can get out there and make blocks. It’s a lot easier than it was before when we were in an offense where we needed big guys to make plays.”

The linemen adjusted quickly to the new offense.

“It’s really different. Our keys are so different. Everything’s changed. We’ve all pretty much caught onto it real well, in my opinion,” Nativio said. “You have to keep that ball moving. I am so proud of the whole line. The whole line is doing a good job. Everyone is contributing.”

Dovidio is happy to see the team’s hard work pay off.

“The whole team bought in. We have a lot of skill players touching the ball and they’re doing a good job,” he said. “We’re working as a team. A lot of young guys on the line are stepping up for us. We’re still learning, but we pretty much have all the assignments down pat now. You have to really go 100 percent every play and give it your all.”

The Lancers committed themselves to putting in extra work during the offseason.

“It started from Day One. Coach told us what was expected of us. We’ve been working since January. That’s the big difference from last year. We’ve been working so much harder in the offseason. It’s paying off now,” Senko said. “The team really got together this year. We’ve all been playing together for many years, but the coaches really incorporated us into one family.”

Mozzocio, who was an assistant at Shenango and Neshannock (2001-04) as well as New Castle, is thrilled with how the team responded to the coaching change.

“When I came back here in January, it was a great thing to discover how enthusiastic the kids were and how they wanted to learn and grasp the new offense and defense,” he said. “We have a lot of fun doing it as well. We’re inside watching film of the first half of last week’s game, where we made numerous mistakes, and we’re correcting people, but at the same time we’re keeping the mood a little light in there and joking while we’re teaching and things like that. It’s just been a great experience so far working with these guys because everything we tell them, they try to do to the best of their ability.”

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