699 and counting
New Castle (7) vs. Central Valley (31)
Written: Sep 01, 2012
By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News
History is on hold for the New Castle High football team.
At least for another week.
Jordan Whitehead rolled up 156 yards rushing with a score and Central Valley capitalized on Red Hurricane miscues for a 31-7 season-opening Parkway Conference win at Taggart Stadium last night.
New Castle was bidding for its 700th career victory.
“I thought they handled that stuff well,” first-year ’Canes coach Joe Cowart said of his team chasing the feat. “I thought, overall, we left a lot of football plays on the field. But we’re enthused by some things we saw. It’s early yet.
“We tell our guys, this season is a marathon. But it’s full of sprints. This was our first sprint and we lost this one. Now we have to gear ourselves up for next week and get better.”
The ’Canes committed two turnovers, both in the first half. The Warriors turned those mistakes into a 14-0 halftime lead.
Central Valley needed just two plays to go 15 yards for the first score, and one play for a nine-yard score.
“I thought at halftime, we left plays out there,” Cowart said. “We gave them two short fields, unfortunately. For us to be a good football team, we have to take care of the ball, just like anyone, and we didn’t do that.”
Despite a 14-point deficit, New Castle had a chance to cut into that margin before the half. The ’Canes marched 79 yards to the Central Valley 1. But on fourth-and-goal, New Castle quarterback Anthony Richards was stuffed at the line on a quarterback and the ’Canes were turned away.
“I thought we let them get a little momentum right before the half,” Warriors coach Mark Lyons said. “Thank God, we had a good defensive stand right before the half. Who knows if they score there, with a little bit of momentum, they will get some confidence for the second half.”
Said Cowart, “It’s a different ballgame if we get in there. But we say as a staff, we can’t chase ghosts. It didn’t happen. We need to, as a group, respond better to being down 14-0 at the half.”
Central Valley took command of the game early in the second half, going 49 yards in eight plays for a score. Randy Keefer’s one-yard plunge gave the Warriors a 21-0 advantage.
“That’s what we want to do,” Lyons said of the second-half start. “We always want to take that second-half kickoff and put a nice drive together. Hopefully impose our will a little bit.”
New Castle allowed 307 total yards, 202 of which came on the ground.
“Our defense was on the field a lot,” Cowart said. “For us to win football games, we need to keep our defense off the field, by maintaining drives on offense. We put those guys in a bad position. I thought their fight and resolve was an A-plus, but the end product, wasn’t good enough.”
Malik Hooker hauled in a 43-yard touchdown pass from Jake McPhatter with 1:12 to go in the third period and Khalil Huddleston’s conversion boot cut the margin to 21-7.
The duo hooked up twice for 77 yards. Hooker finished with the two catches, and McPhatter was 2 of 4 through the air for 77 yards. Both plays were deep balls that Hooker went up and got in traffic.
“Jake is a guy that is so multi-purpose for us,” Cowart said. “This guy has the ability that when we put him anywhere, he’s going to make a play for us.
“The throw and catch to Malik, a couple of them actually, were great ones. I thought Malik Hooker really introduced himself to the Parkway Conference by making some highlight reel plays.”
Anthony Richards, making his first varsity start at quarterback, was 3 of 7 for 32 yards with an interception.
New Castle returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday against Riverside in nonconference action. The ’Canes will be seeking history, and answering the dilemma of who will be under center as well.
“Jake will be in the mix, but we have a couple of other guys coming back that will play quarterback for us, too,” Cowart said. “Pat Minenok has a hamstring (injury), he’s going to be back. Julian Cox’s one-game suspension is over. He’s going to play for us next week. It was going to be two games, but he’s earned his way back for us.
“We’re going to get an extended look at quite a few guys. Jake certainly proved himself to be a valuable asset there. We feel comfortable at that position.”
Cowart said his team won’t overlook the Class AA Panthers.
“I know Riverside traditionally has an excellent and tough football team,” he said. “They are going to give us everything we can handle at their place. Our boys better be geared up to play football. If 700 happens next week, then we’re doing the right thing to make it happen.”
(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com)
CENTRAL VALLEY NEW CASTLE
20 First downs 8
224 Yards Rushing 139
22 Yards Lost 26
202 Net Rushing 113
15 Passes Attempted 12
11 Passes Completed 5
1 Passes Intercepted 1
105 Yards Passing 109
307 Total Yards 222
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
0-0 Punts-Average 3-37
4-47 Penalties-Yards 1-15
CENTRAL VALLEY 7 7 7 10 — 31
NEW CASTLE 0 0 7 0 —7
Scoring plays
CENTRAL VALLEY — Ricky Zuk, 2-yard run (Elliot Taylor kick).
CENTRAL VALLEY — Jordan Whitehead, 9-yard pass from Nate Climo (Taylor kick).
CENTRAL VALLEY — Randy Keefer, 1-yard run (Taylor kick).
NEW CASTLE — Malik Hooker, 43-yard pass from Jake McPhatter (Khalil Huddleston kick).
CENTRAL VALLEY — Robert Foster, 2-yard run (Taylor kick).
CENTRAL VALLEY — Taylor, 26-yard field goal.
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