A costly brawl
New Castle (0) vs. Central Valley (35)
Written: Oct 10, 2015
  By Andrew Koob
New Castle News
Even before the opening kickoff Friday night, the New Castle High football team was playing from behind.
The game never had a chance to get under way, as a brawl between the Red Hurricane and visiting Central Valley ensued after the Warriors’ introduction to the field for the Parkway Conference matchup.
After the dust finally settled, a total of seven players in Geno Stone, Marshane McElroy, Sydney Pecore, Nick Treloar, Giovanni Eggleston, Eddie Turney and Trevais Williams, along with New Castle head coach Joe Cowart, were ejected.
There were no ejections or penalties levied upon Central Valley.
“Obviously there was an altercation in the middle of the field,” Central Valley coach Mark Lyons said. “The officials saw it one way, that’s not for me to judge. At this point, I don’t want to respond until I look at the film. I know our guys are taught with class, we don’t want to disrespect anyone.”
The New Castle coaching staff and athletic administration declined to comment regarding the altercation.
With five ‘Canes starters sent away from the game, Central Valley made quick work of shorthanded New Castle in a 35-0 win at Taggart Stadium.
“We had a lot of guys playing out of position,” New Castle assistant coach Pat Cain said. “We lost a few starters, but guys stepped up. Playing out of position, playing both ways, it’s tough. It wears on you as the game goes on, but they fought. We continued to fight and we’re proud of that.
“We were excited, we were excited to come out of the locker room from the start. We were definitely upset by losing those guys, we felt like we shouldn’t have. But we had to go with the guys we had and the guys that we had did a great job, worked their butts off. We couldn’t be more proud of those guys.”
Added Cowart, “I couldn’t be more proud of the group of young men for standing up for their community and standing up for their school.”
New Castle assistant coach Don Holl took over head coaching duties in Cowart’s absence.
On the field, New Castle (2-3 Parkway, 3-3 overall) had trouble generating any offense. The ‘Canes totaled just 30 yards rushing and 163 overall yards.
“We wanted to keep their athletes off the field, we wanted the keep the ball away from their athletes,” Lyons said. “The best way to do that is to make sure the ball was in our hands and limit their big plays.”
Central Valley (4-1, 5-1) kept the ball on the ground for most of the game, amassing 229 yards on the ground. Sophomore Danny Santia paced the Warriors, rushing for 126 yards with a 15-yard score in the second quarter.
The mercy rule went into effect late in the third quarter after an Aria Tatalovich six-yard score pushed the Central Valley lead to 35. New Castle quarterback Pat Minenok threw the last of his four interceptions on the ensuing drive.
Per PIAA rules, the seven players and Cowart will not be available for New Castle’s homecoming game next week against Ambridge.
(Email: AKoob@ncnewsonline.com)
C. VALLEY NEW CASTLE
17 First downs 10
235 Yards Rushing 63
6 Yards Lost 33
229 Net Rushing 30
9 Passes Attempted 23
5 Passes Completed 13
0 Passes Intercepted 4
118 Yards Passing 133
347 Total Yards 163
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
1-34 Punts-Average 2-22.5
4-35 Penalties-Yards 6-70
CENTRAL VALLEY 7 14 14 0 — 35
NEW CASTLE 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring plays
CENTRAL VALLEY — Deante Bradley, 4-yard catch from Chris Callaghan (Brendan Jugan kick).
CENTRAL VALLEY — Danny Santia, 15-yard run (Jugan kick).
CENTRAL VALLEY — Kurt Reinstadtler, 63-yard catch from Callaghan (Jugan kick).
CENTRAL VALLEY — Nick Mowad, 2-yard run (Jugan kick).
CENTRAL VALLEY — Aris Tatalovich, 6-yard run (Jugan kick).
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