’Cats clinch home playoff berth with win
Shenango (45) vs. Riverside (21)
Written: Oct 18, 2014
By Kayleen Cubbal
New Castle News
The Shenango High football team won on the road to win the opportunity to come back home last night.
The Wildcats clinched second place outright in the Big Seven Conference and a chance to host a first-round playoff game with a 45-21 rout of Riverside. It was the fourth-straight win for Shenango.
“It’s awesome to get second place and a home game for our fans and our community,” Shenango second-year coach Mike Commesso said. “It was just a great night for our team.”
The Panthers had no answer for Shenango’s Tyler Root last night.
The junior tailback rushed for 274 yards on 14 carries, including 190 yards on 10 carries by halftime. The ’Cats amassed 485 yards on the ground.
The Wildcats scored on their first two possessions, on scampers of 60 and 74 yards around left end by Root, followed by Dylan Kleckner point-after kicks. Just 6:15 into the game, Shenango was up 14-0.
“It’s ironic that Root’s touchdowns came on the same play,” Commesso said. “He had a good night following his blockers. He is just so explosive and we were able to take advantage of that.”
Riverside pulled to within 14-7 after a pass from Jason Dambach was deflected into the hands of Logan Sheridan for a 66-yard touchdown hookup.
Kleckner added a 31-yard field goal to put the Wildcats up 17-7. Marcel Cleckley’s 1-yard run made it a game again at 17-14, before the Wildcats got some breathing room with a 1-yard run by Evan Kendall on the last play before the half.
“In the first half, we were having so much success on the ground, I didn’t want to change the momentum by throwing,” Commesso said. “Give our line credit, in the last few weeks, we were able to do what we wanted to do, which is run the ball. The line has just done a tremendous job.”
Shenango took the second-half kickoff and mounted a 15-play, 55-yard drive that ate up 7:40 on the clock, ending with an 8-yard run by Vince Turco.
The Wildcats closed out the scoring with an 80-yard burst by Root near the end of the third quarter and an 18-yard jaunt by Hunter Waskin in the fourth.
Dambach was limited to 8 of 23 through the air, including 7 of 12 in the first half. His last 10 passes fell incomplete.
“Our defensive plan was designed to pressure Dambach and keep him uncomfortable,” Commesso said. “He’s good enough that he did make some plays, but our kids did a good job of keeping the pressure on.”
Shenango closes out the regular season Friday night with a nonconference game at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.
(Correspondent Gaylord Muny contributed to this story)
SHENANGO RIVERSIDE
13 First downs 6
464 Net Rushing 110
5 Passes Attempted 23
3 Passes Completed 8
0 Passes Intercepted 0
21 Yards Passing 167
485 Total Yards 277
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
2-37.5 Punts-Average 5-38
4-30 Penalties-Yards 5-50
SHENANGO 14 10 14 7 — 45
RIVERSIDE 7 7 7 0 — 21
Scoring plays
SHENANGO — Tyler Root, 60-yard run (Dylan Kleckner kick).
SHENANGO — Root, 74-yard run (Kleckner kick).
RIVERSIDE — Logan Sheridan, 66-yard pass from Jason Dambach (Cortney Harden kick).
SHENANGO — Kleckner, 31-yard field goal.
RIVERSIDE — Marcel Cleckley, 1-yard run (Harden kick).
SHENANGO — Evan Kendall, 1-yard run (Kleckner kick).
SHENANGO — Vince Turco, 8-yard run (Kleckner kick).
RIVERSIDE — Sheridan 70-yard run (Harden kick).
SHENANGO — Root, 80-yard run (Kleckner kick).
SHENANGO — Hunter Waskin, 18-yard run (Kleckner kick).
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