End of the road
Neshannock (14) vs. North Catholic (27)
Written: Nov 16, 2013
By Joe Sager
New Castle News
MARS — The recipe was simple for North Catholic last night — more and more and more Fulmore.
Trojans junior P.J. Fulmore represented the bulk of his team’s attack to lead North Catholic to a 27-14 win over Neshannock in a WPIAL Class A semifinal at the Mars Athletic Complex.
Fulmore carried the ball 48 times and racked up 200 yards and four touchdowns in the victory.
“Every play, he does amazing things. He’s an amazing athlete,” North Catholic coach Bob Ravenstahl said. “Words can’t describe his effort. He just has a will to win.”
A running back pressed into quarterback duties after starting passer Adam Sharlow was injured in the teams’ first meeting on Oct. 18, a 21-14 Trojans triumph, Fulmore took every snap in the Wildcat formation. He completed three of his five pass attempts for 40 yards and added a 37-yard kickoff return as well.
“He runs the ball hard. He is very hard to get your hands on; he has a low center of gravity,” said second-year Neshannock coach Fred Mozzocio. “Credit their offensive line; they did the job.”
Fulmore’s all-around effort propelled North Catholic (12-0) to its first WPIAL Class A championship game appearance. The Trojans meet Sto-Rox (12-0), a 24-19 winner over Clairton, for the district title at 11 a.m. Nov. 23 at Heinz Field.
“Words can’t describe the feelings for my team and myself, to be honest with you. It’s been a long time coming. We’re excited,” Ravenstahl said. “The kids played a heck of a game and Neshannock is a heck of a football team. I guess we just made more plays than they did.”
Fulmore and North Catholic set the tone on the game’s first possession. The Trojans marched 79 yards and Fulmore ran in from the 5 for a 7-0 lead.
The Lancers (9-3) answered in the second quarter. After Gianni Oliva pounced on Fulmore’s fumble, Neshannock got a boost from its own playmaker, Ernie Burkes, when the senior quarterback burst through the middle for a 52-yard touchdown to knot the game, coupled with Jason Owrey’s extra point, with 8:28 before halftime.
However, Lancers running back Eli Owens, Lawrence County’s leading rusher, took a helmet to a knee on that drive and limped off the field. He did not touch the ball the rest of the game and finished with four carries for seven yards. He did not return to the field on defense, either.
“We lost him on defense and offense. It definitely hurt us, but that has nothing to do with (the loss). We don’t make any excuses,” Mozzocio said. “Their offensive line did a good job and they controlled the football on us and they slowed us down when they had to.”
The Trojans seized momentum to start the third quarter. North Catholic squibbed the kickoff down the middle of the field. The ball bounced off a Neshannock player and the Trojans pounced on it at the Lancers’ 45.
“It really wasn’t planned that way. It was supposed to go through there and, unfortunately for them, it hit their kid and I guess we recovered, which is fortunate for us,” Ravenstahl said. “To be honest with you, we were working on some onside kicks all season, but we haven’t utilized them. But, we were prepared to get on the ball if it was there and it just happened to be that way.”
It was an unfortunate break for Neshannock. North Catholic turned it into Fulmore’s second TD of the night 13 plays later to grab a 14-7 edge with 6:07 left in the third.
“This is a crazy game; things happen and it’s a game of inches. That time, the inches happened when the ball just hit off his foot, so it was just an inopportune time and it could happen to anybody,” Mozzocio said.
The Trojans forced the Lancers to go three-and-out on their next possession. North Catholic promptly marched 70 yards in seven plays for Fulmore’s third TD and a 21-7 edge with 1:53 on the clock.
Neshannock retaliated with a strong drive and Robert Lindsey, subbing for Owens, bulled his way in from the 1 to trim the deficit to 21-14 with 11:25 to play.
Both teams traded punts and the Trojans nearly gave the Lancers a gift when a fair catch of a Burkes boot was muffed, but Fulmore pounced on the pigskin at the Neshannock 47. Nine plays later, Fulmore cashed in again for a TD. The PAT kick sailed wide left to make it a 27-14 edge with 4:44 to go.
Neshannock failed to get a first down on its next drive and punted to North Catholic, which was able to run out the clock.
“The only thing I could promise everybody coming into this game was that our kids were going to play 48 minutes and they were going to give 48 minutes of every piece of heart that they had, from the bottom, up. They did that,” Mozzocio said. “They left it all on the field. Sometimes, in this game, you just have to congratulate the other team. They beat us and it’s the second time this year. They are moving on and best of luck to them.”
For the Lancers’ seniors, this marked the second-straight WPIAL semifinal appearance in Mozzocio’s two years at the helm. They fell to Clairton, 37-7, last fall.
“These guys that are seniors, they laid it on the line for us two years straight,” Mozzocio said. “They put a tremendous amount of time and effort into this and it was an honor for me to coach them and an honor for me to say I am their coach. It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to move on.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
NESHANNOCK NORTH CATHOLIC
9 First downs 22
147 Yards Rushing 290
13 Yards Lost 25
134 Net Rushing 265
12 Passes Attempted 5
4 Passes Completed 3
0 Passes Intercepted 0
66 Yards Passing 40
200 Total Yards 305
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
6-38.2 Punts-Average 3-33
8-61 Penalties-Yards 0-0
NESHANNOCK 0 7 0 7 — 14
NORTH CATHOLIC 7 0 14 6 — 27
Scoring plays
NORTH CATHOLIC — P.J. Fulmore, 4-yard run (Mike Trarsovich kick).
NESHANNOCK — Ernie Burkes, 52-yard run (Jason Owrey kick).
NORTH CATHOLIC — Fulmore, 1-yard run (Trarsovich kick).
NORTH CATHOLIC — Fulmore, 3-yard run (Trarsovich kick).
NESHANNOCK — Robert Lindsey, 1-yard run (Owrey kick).
NORTH CATHOLIC — Fulmore, 5-yard run (kick failed).
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