No doubt about it
Neshannock (54) vs. Union (12)
Written: Oct 31, 2015
  By Andrew Koob
New Castle News
Two playoff-bound football teams met at Socs Roussos Stadium, finishing the regular season before shifting focus to the WPIAL playoffs.
It didn’t even take the full 48 minutes to see that Neshannock made its case as a legitimate threat to take the Class A district crown with a 54-12 win over host Union on Friday in a bout between two of the four Big Seven teams destined for next week’s WPIAL postseason.
The Lancers (7-1 Big Seven, 8-1 overall) dominated the ground game and kept pounding the ball, only going to the air four times out of a total of 51 offensive plays.
Neshannock totaled 402 yards rushing, led by quarterback Frank Antuono’s 135-yard, two touchdown performance on the ground. Robert Lindsey took the majority of the carries, totaling 17 totes for 80 yards and two rushing scores, while Jonah Vitale added 94 yards and another touchdown.
Antuono also completed all four of his passes, tossing 66 yards and two scores, a 28-yarder to tight end Ty Sear and a 20-yard score to wide receiver Andrew Cipriano. Both of those touchdowns came in the second quarter.
“Any of those three guys can hurt you, Danny Welker can do that on the outside as well at receiver,” Neshannock coach Fred Mozzocio said. “We have weapons all over the field, even our younger guys are stepping up now. We didn’t get to use some of the outside guys as much tonight because our offensive line was doing a pretty good job on the line of scrimmage.”
As soon as the Lancers got the ball, they wasted little time in putting points on the board. Following a Union three-and-out to open the game, Antuono and Lindsey combined to navigate a six-play, 55-yard scoring drive that ended in an Antuono 14-yard running touchdown.
Lindsey got the next two scores, the first on a 3-yard run followed by a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown just two plays later.
Vitale capped the first-quarter scoring with a four-yard rush, giving Neshannock a 29 point advantage in the first 12 minutes.
“We knew we had to come out, click on all cylinders tonight and try to get this game under control,” Mozzocio said. “That’s what we did, I’m awfully proud of my senior class, they led a very young football team to an 8-1 regular season record and I couldn’t be prouder of those guys.”
Neshannock was just as efficient on the other side of the ball, holding the Union offense to just 157 total yards, 61 coming in the final quarter. The Scotties (4-3, 5-4) didn’t get on the scoreboard until the first play of the second quarter, when Garrison Bell slipped a tackle and took a Joe Gunn pass 42 yards for a score.
That play, along with a three-yard K’Hari Huddleston touchdown run with the reserves on the field, were the only bright spots in an otherwise-sloppy Scotties showing that featured almost as many Union fumbles (five) as first downs (six).
“You have to give the other guys credit, they worked hard year-round, they execute, they look like they enjoy playing football,” Union coach Stacy Robinson said. “That’s a credit to them, their community and their coaches. They come after you and they’re relentless, they don’t give up.
“I thought we would perform well, I’m disappointed but I’m the head coach, so I have to take a big responsibility for not having my kids ready to play. But, on the other hand, they were good and it was like the remnants of Hurricane Patricia came here tonight.”
The loss snapped a three-game Union winning streak and sends them into the postseason picture as the Big Seven’s fourth and final playoff team.
Neshannock enters the postseason as the Big Seven’s No. 2 team and on a seven-game winning streak, one that features five wins with a winning margin of 20 or more points.
“I think that our body of work over the last few years speaks for itself,” Mozzocio said. “We have one loss on our resume, a good loss to a good Shenango team. If we’re not one of the top-rated teams in the seeding, I’ll be very surprised. I think our boys earned a top seed and hopefully we get out due here moving forward.
“Right now, we’re going to go back to Lancerville and we’re ready to Whip and Nae-Nae.”
(Email: AKoob@ncnewsonline.com)
NESHANNOCK UNION
15 First downs 6
405 Yards Rushing 76
3 Yards Lost 9
402 Net Rushing 67
4 Passes Attempted 16
4 Passes Completed 7
0 Passes Intercepted 2
66 Yards Passing 90
468 Total Yards 157
2-0 Fumbles-Lost 5-3
0-0 Punts-Average 1-31
7-54 Penalties-Yards 5-23
NESHANNOCK 29 19 6 0 — 54
UNION 0 6 0 6 — 12
Scoring plays
NESHANNOCK — Frank Antuono, 14-yard run (Esa Barhoum kick).
NESHANNOCK — Robert Lindsey, 3-yard run (Antuono run).
NESHANNOCK — Lindsey, 42-yard interception return (Barhoum kick).
NESHANNOCK — Jonah Vitale, 4-yard run (Barhoum kick).
UNION — Garrison Bell, 42-yard pass from Joe Gunn (kick failed).
NESHANNOCK — Lindsey, 2-yard run (kick failed).
NESHANNOCK — Ty Sear, 28-yard pass from Antuono (kick blocked).
NESHANNOCK — Andrew Cipriano, 20-yard pass from Antuono (Caitlin Trotta kick).
NESHANNOCK — Antuono, 19-yard run (kick failed).
UNION — K’Hari Huddleston, 3-yard run (kick failed).
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