'Canes hope to even score against Mars
Written: Sep 30, 2016
  By Clayton Sauertieg
New Castle News
The New Castle High football team puts its undefeated WPIAL Class 4A Northwest Nine Conference record on the line when it hosts Mars on Friday night.
The Red Hurricane (4-0, conference, 4-1 overall) will have no shortage of motivation when it welcomes the Planets (3-1, 4-1) for homecoming in a rematch of last season's first-round playoff matchup that saw Mars prevail, 17-14.
"It's definitely a big game for us with both teams being as good as they are," New Castle coach Joe Cowart said. "There's big implications, so it's exciting for us and I'm sure they'll be up for it."
The 'Canes head into the game riding a four-game win streak, including a resounding 54-16 victory at conference foe Indiana last Friday. The two-headed rushing attack of quarterback Geno Stone and running back Lorenzo Gardner has proven to be one of the most dynamic combinations in the WPIAL, leading New Castle to a 38.2 points-per-game average.
"We need to control the clock and limit their possessions," Mars coach Scott Heinauer said. "With Stone and (Marcus) Hooker, and now Gardner, they have some dynamic athletes. So we need to control the ball and control the clock and if we do that, good things will happen for us."
Both Gardner and Hooker left last week's contest with ankle injuries, but Cowart said that he expects both to be ready for action.
"We'll be ready to go and we'll be amped up," he said. "But you don't want to be too amped up. Our senior leaders handle that pretty well, but a big play could happen right away and you don’t want that to be the determining factor in the game because you were too amped up."
The Red Hurricane is no stranger to big plays of its own, however, as Hooker is averaging 32.3 yards per catch this year while Gardner averages nearly 10 yards per carry. Cowart's team has shown the ability to control the line of scrimmage in its its two contests, scoring 54 points-per-game en route to victories in each.
"We want to try to get the ball into the hands of our skills guys," Cowart said. "But the game will be won in the trenches. We have to try to dictate the line of scrimmage, and if we can, we'll be in a good position."
Despite the comfortable victory, the 'Canes turned the ball over two times and committed 14 penalties in last week's game at Indiana. Both numbers are too high for Cowart, who said his team won't win this week if it continues to make those types of mistakes.
"Because of the fact that Mars is a mistake-free football team, if you cost yourself yards or lose out on offensive possessions, you really shoot yourself in the foot," he said. "We have to go out and play a cleaner football game if we want to win."
This game could prove vitally important for New Castle, as it heads on the road to take on conference leader and WPIAL powerhouse South Fayette next week. The three teams are currently the top three teams in the conference and playoff implications loom large.
"We're just focused on taking it one game at a time and we know what's in front of us," Cowart said. "I anticipate it will be a tight game and we have to make the most of our opportunities."
(email: csauertieg@ncnewsonline.com)
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