'Canes stumble; playoff berth on line in finale
New Castle (27) vs. Ringgold (41)
Written: Oct 21, 2016
  By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News
Turnovers proved costly Friday night for the New Castle High football team.
A pair of fumbles in the last 7:03 proved to be the difference as Ringgold came away with a 41-27 non-conference win over the Red Hurricane at Taggart Stadium.
The Rams' Tyrese Youngblood scooped up a Matt Senchak fumble and raced 35 to the end zone to break a 27-all deadlock with 7:03 to play.
Ringgold forced another Senchak fumble on New Castle's next drive and put the game away on a Brenden Small 6-yard scoring run with 2:37 to go in the game.
Senchak was subbing for Lorenzo Gardner, who missed the game with an ankle injury. Senchak finished with a team-best 68 rushing yards on 12 carries.
"Turnovers will come at the least opportune time," 'Canes coach Joe Cowart said. "Matt Senchak is as good as it gets as a football player. He was in a role that he was unfamiliar with. All he was doing was his best to make a football play.
"I don't blame Matt at all. That kid is a heck of a football player wit a bright future. It was unfortunate that the ball didn't bounce our way tonight."
Youngblood's score came just two plays after New Castle took over after forcing a turnover. Ringgold faced second-and-goal from the 'Canes 2, but quarterback George Martin was picked off by Marcus Hooker and he returned it to the New Castle 33.
"I thought they were going to run me out of here on a rail after that," Rams coach Nick Milchovich said with a laugh. "We have good kids here and good athletes; we're not afraid to throw the ball. You can argue that call, but I'm not afraid to throw the ball.
"Our backs were against the wall and Tyrese just made a play for us."
The playoff suspense will linger another week for New Castle (5-4). Montour (4-3 Northwest Nine Conference) defeated Blackhawk, 38-14, to remain alive in the hunt for the postseason. A Cougars win would have clinched a playoff berth for the 'Canes (5-2 conference).
New Castle can secure a playoff berth with a win at Blackhawk (4-3, 5-3) on Friday or a South Fayette (7-0, 9-0) victory over Montour.
"It's good to play important football games at this time of the year," Cowart said. "Our kids are used to that. Our kids have a resolve about them.
"We'll need to play our best football game. Blackhawk is an excellent football team. We'll have to play a lot better than we did tonight in order to win."
There are just two conferences in the WPIAL 4A ranks, with four teams reaching the playoffs from both leagues.
The potential of the game being a playoff preview didn't alter how either coach handled the matchup.
"We coached and prepared to win a football game," Cowart said. "We didn't coach and play well enough to win a football game. It's a sickening, sickening feeling."
Said Milchovich, "They're too good of a team to hold anything back. We went into this game with guns blazing. We were trying to win a football game. We have a lot of respect for New Castle. New Castle is a very athletic football team."
The 'Canes missed out on a golden opportunity for points in the middle of the third quarter. Ringgold, leading 21-14, was setting up to punt back at its 41. But the ball was snapped over Martin's head and he picked it up near the Rams 20.
New Castle was swarming in, looking to drop Martin for a huge loss and take over deep in the opponents territory. But Martin scrambled around and hooked up with Brian Vandusen for a 23-yard gain and a first down.
"That was a fantastic play by Martin," Cowart said. "It was just one of those wild, wacky plays that happen. He stuck with it and his guys got open downfield and he made a really nice play."
Martin, who isn't the team's regular punter, was on to boot the ball away. Milchovich noted the play wasn't designed as a fake.
Geno Stone opened the scoring for the 'Canes when he returned a punt 63 yards for a first-quarter touchdown. That score had Milchovich wanting to avoid Stone touching the ball, which is why he put Martin back to punt.
"We just do a rugby kick where we'll snap it, run pass routes and make you sit (there) and then we'll punt it away," he said. "We certainly didn't want to punt it to Geno Stone. That was our goal to keep it away from their guys, they're dangerous."
New Castle executed just eight plays from scrimmage in the second quarter. Ringgold was leaning on its ground game, led by Small. Small finished with 25 carries for 165 yards and four touchdowns.
Small had nine rushing attempts in the second period for 96 yards as the visitors played keepaway.
"Part of that is our efficiency on the offensive side of the ball," Cowart said. "We've been hit or miss throughout the year. We have to do our job offensively and keep our defense off the field."
(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com)
RINGGOLD NEW CASTLE
17 First downs 10
203 Yards Rushing 122
42 Yards Lost 3
161 Net Rushing 119
21 Passes Attempted 15
12 Passes Completed 7
0 Passes Intercepted 1
252 Yards Passing 83
413 Total Yards 202
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 2-2
3-35.6 Punts-Average 3-36
11-110 Penalties-Yards 7-60
RINGGOLD 0 14 13 14 — 41
NEW CASTLE 7 0 14 6 — 27
Scoring plays
NEW CASTLE — Geno Stone, 63-yard punt return (Brayden Cartwright kick).
RINGGOLD — Brenden Small, 27-yard run (Matt Cannon kick).
RINGGOLD — Small, 36-yard run (Cannon kick).
RINGGOLD — Max Maciejewski, 61-yard pass from George Martin (Cannon kick).
NEW CASTLE — Marcus Hooker, 9-yard run (Cartwright kick).
RINGGOLD — Small, 5-yard run (kick failed).
NEW CASTLE — Hooker, 6-yard run (Cartwright kick).
NEW CASTLE — Stone, 17-yard run (kick blocked).
RINGGOLD — Tyrese Youngblood, 35-yard fumble return (Cannon kick).
RINGGOLD — Small, 6-yard run (Cannon kick).
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