New Castle rolls past Hopewell
New Castle (42) vs. Hopewell (21)
Written: Oct 26, 2013
By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News
Offensive firepower was the name of the game again last night for the New Castle High football team.
The Red Hurricane not only moved the ball on the ground, it took to the air to pile up yards as well.
It all added up to a 42-21 WPIAL Class AAA Parkway Conference win over Hopewell at Taggart Stadium.
The win secures third place in the conference outright for New Castle (6-2 conference, 7-2 overall). The WPIAL will announce the playoff pairings at a meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the DoubleTree Hotel in Green Tree.
“We’re so excited to be in the tournament,” second-year ’Canes coach Joe Cowart said. “We haven’t been there in a few years (2009) and we’re excited about it. We know it’s us and 15 other teams that are going to be vying for a district championship and a handful more for the state championship.
“Those are our goals. We want to be in the mix in those tournament-style situations. Hopefully we make the best of it.”
New Castle, which is averaging 36.8 points a game, amassed 420 yards of total offense. All but 100 of those yards came in the first half when the hosts built a 35-0 second-quarter lead. The win avenged a 42-16 Vikings victory last season.
’Canes quarterback Julian Cox was 6 of 12 through the air for 159 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, all in the opening half.
“We came out on our toes tonight. We didn’t come out flat-footed,” Cox said of the offensive effort. “We ran crisp routes and coach believed in me. We made plays.
“Hopewell beat us last year pretty good. To get a win like that is huge. It’s a huge confidence boost. We know we have some things we have to work on.”
Cox connected with Stew Allen for the game’s first score, a 42-yard strike. He later added scoring passes of 32 and 59 yards to Jake McPhatter.
“We knew early in the year, Julian really began to understand and learn the offense a bit better,” Cowart said. “He’s really been seeing things well throughout the year; he’s been playing tremendous.
“I think he is the best player in our conference. He proved that again tonight. When plays are there to be made, he makes them. Not only the big plays, but the smart plays and the third-down conversions, all of those things. He’s just been a great player all year.”
McPhatter finished with 100 receiving yards on just three catches.
“Jake ran good routes,” Cox said. “He ran a nice wheel route and a nice post route. Credit to him because I didn’t make the best throw to him on the wheel route and then he made a nice play.
“Jake is a playmaker. You give him any chance. Any bit of room and he’ll do something big.”
McPhatter suffered an ankle injury in the Week 5 win over Chartiers Valley and missed the next two games.
“Jake is dynamic. We knew that throughout year,” Cowart said. “He got dinged up, had some ankle injuries. He’s about 100 percent, at least it looked like that to me tonight.
“He’s about as healthy as he’s been in a long time. He proved it by tearing the top off the defense.”
Tevin McCaster led the ’Canes with 125 yards rushing on 19 carriers and a touchdown.
Hopewell avoided the mercy rule by tallying a late first-half touchdown and another score early in the third quarter to close to 35-14.
Pat Minenok (9-yard run) and Malik Hooker (25-yard run) accounted for the other New Castle scores.
Including last night’s win, New Castle has outscored the opponent by an average of 40.5-35.5 in the last four games. The ’Canes are 3-1 during those shootout contests.
Cowart knows the defense will have to play a big role for his team to succeed in the postseason.
“I think we took a step forward. But we still have more steps to take,” he said. “We want to play a championship style on that side of the ball. We’re not quite there yet, but lucky for us, we have another week to try and get there.”
(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com)
HOPEWELL NEW CASTLE
12 First downs 18
244 Yards Rushing 266
18 Yards Lost 5
226 Net Rushing 261
8 Passes Attempted 13
4 Passes Completed 6
0 Passes Intercepted 1
48 Yards Passing 159
274 Total Yards 420
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
5-27.8 Punts-Average 3-22.3
9-70 Penalties-Yards 6-50
HOPEWELL 0 7 7 7 — 21
NEW CASTLE 14 21 7 0 — 42
Scoring plays
NEW CASTLE — Stew Allen, 42-yard pass from Julian Cox (Khalil Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — Tevin McCaster, 3-yard run (Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — Jake McPhatter, 32-yard pass from Cox (Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — McPhatter, 59-yard pass from Cox (Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — Pat Minenok, 9-yard run (Huddleston kick).
HOPEWELL — DiMontae Bronaugh, 4-yard run (Michael Michalko kick).
HOPEWELL — Bronaugh, 18-yard run (Michako kick).
NEW CASTLE — Malik Hooker, 25-yard run (Huddleston kick).
HOPEWELL — Tyler Ishman, 2-yard run (Michalko kick).
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