’Canes unable to keep pace with Indians
New Castle (14) vs. Peters Township (30)
Written: Sep 20, 2014
By Andrew Koob
New Castle News
McMURRAY — New Castle was just a step too slow against Peters Township last night.
The Red Hurricane had its chances, but fell to the host Indians 30-14 in a nonconference matchup.
“There were some winnable moments of the game,” New Castle coach Joe Cowart said. “We’ve repeatedly shown that we’re not good enough to take advantage of those winnable moments, for whatever reason. And that starts from the top down. As a coaching staff, we have to do better and put our players in better position to win those big moments. Tonight just wasn’t our night.”
New Castle (0-4 overall) put the first points on the board after a swarm of ’Canes sacked quarterback Cory Owen for a safety.
Following the punt back to New Castle, tailback Trevais Williams broke a 49-yard run for what could have been a touchdown, but was called back due to holding.
After the penalty, that early momentum went away. The Indians (2-2) pounced and never looked back.
“At the beginning, we weren’t executing,” Peters Township coach Rich Piccinini said. “We challenged our guys at halftime and said we need to start blocking, tackling, executing and playing our game. We were just running around and not blocking, not passing so we challenged our guys and we got a much better effort in the second half.-
Peters Township scored the next 24 points until early in the fourth quarter when Geno Stone took a 12-yard run into the end zone. A failed two-point conversion and another Indians touchdown on the ensuing drive all-but sealed the ’Canes’ fate.
Owen, who currently has five Division I offers, struggled early in the game, throwing an incomplete pass on his only attempt of the quarter and rushing for 11 yards on three carries. His ability to extend plays, however, started to show as the game progressed.
The senior finished the game completing eight of his 18 pass attempts for 133 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 97 yards on eight carries.
“He was dynamic, we knew that he was dynamic on film,” Cowart said. “I thought in the first half, outside of one big play, we hemmed him in pretty well. The second half, we exhaled a little bit and he took advantage in those big moments for them. He made the play and that’s what a good player does and that’s what a good leader does, that’s what he did.”
Out of the break, the Indians went to the ground and pounded the ’Canes’ defense. Between four players, Peters Township rushed for 163 yards in the second half, including the kneel down to end the game.
“Their halftime adjustment was to physically challenge their men, the same as we did in our locker room,” Cowart said. “And with their adjustments they outdid us. They executed at a higher level than we did in the second half.”
Mental mistakes occurred often when the ’Canes were in striking position. While it only lost one fumble, New Castle put the ball on the turf six times and threw an interception in the second quarter.
After the first win of the season avoided New Castle yet again, Cowart is tasked with refocusing his team.
“We’re all exhausted from those conversations,” Cowart said. “As a coach and as kids, we live and die with these wins and losses, as trivial as that might be. We said we have a five-game season to play right now and that God put eyes on the front of our head for a reason. We can’t look back at 0-4, we have to look forward to the five games that we have left and we have to be the team we all dreamed about in the summer, be the team that we all worked for in the winter.
“Let’s forget the things that are happening and think about what we dreamed about and set our goals on and let’s go make it happen in the next five games.”
(Email: A_Koob@ncnewsonline.com)
NEW CASTLE P. TOWNSHIP
9 First downs 16
95 Yards Rushing 257
21 Yards Lost 18
74 Net Rushing 239
31 Passes Attempted 18
14 Passes Completed 8
1 Passes Intercepted 0
194 Yards Passing 133
268 Total Yards 366
6-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
7-29.6 Punts-Average 4-33.5
5-50 Penalties-Yards 5-35
NEW CASTLE 2 0 012 — 14
P. TOWNSHIP 0 10 14 6 — 30
Scoring plays
NEW CASTLE — Safety, Cory Owen sacked in end zone.
PETERS TOWNSHIP — T.J. Kpan, 15-yard run (Nick Gaudy kick).
PETERS TOWNSHIP — Gaudy 27-yard field goal.
PETERS TOWNSHIP — Kpan, 2-yard run (Gaudy kick).
PETERS TOWNSHIP — Tim Swoope, 20-yard pass from Owen (Gaudy kick).
NEW CASTLE — Geno Stone, 12-yard run (run failed).
PETERS TOWNSHIP — Michael McAleavey, 4-yard run (kick failed).
NEW CASTLE — Dayquan Fuqua, 25-yard pass from Pat Minenok (kick failed).
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