Neshannock pulls away for win
Neshannock (46) vs. South Side Beaver (21)
Written: Sep 07, 2015
By Joe Sager
New Castle News
The Neshannock High football team hoped the aging process would go quickly — and painlessly — for its young football team.
Lancers coach Fred Mozzocio witnessed it early and liked what he saw in the team’s 46-21 triumph Saturday in a Big Seven Conference battle at Bob Bleggi Stadium.
While Neshannock (1-0 conference, 1-0 overall) grabbed an early lead on the first of quarterback Frank Antuono’s five rushing touchdowns, it didn’t take long for the squad to face some adversity.
The Rams (0-1, 0-1) came back with a touchdown of their own to tie the game at 7 later in the opening stanza. An interception shortly after that score set up the team’s second TD to give the squad a 14-7 edge nine seconds into the second quarter — a 14-point swing in 2:03.
“We’re a very, very young and inexperienced football team right now. We’re just trying to find our way. We knew we had a tough opponent. South Side is coming off a great season last year. They had two great scrimmages, so we knew they were coming in here with a lot of momentum. What ensued was a fight for us, which was very good,” Mozzocio said. “We weathered the storm early. They came out firing on all cylinders as we knew that they would. Our youth showed early on; we made a lot of assignment errors. Then, as we corrected them, they sort of got their wits back to them and started taking over the football game. I was proud of them.”
The Lancers answered when Antuono scrambled on a fourth-and-2 play and reached the end zone from the 4 to tie the game at 14. An interception set up Antuono’s third score as he broke loose for a 45-yard TD burst and a 21-14 edge at halftime.
“It was good that we came out playing an experienced team like South Side Beaver who really turned it on at the end of last season,” Antuono said. “We’re a young team, so it was good to get in a heated situation like that with our young guys. We started clicking like we usually do.”
Antuono scored on a 4-yard run midway through the third and a 24-yard dash early in the fourth to help put the game out of reach.
“I wasn’t expecting (to score five touchdowns),” he said. “I’ll do anything I have to do to help our team win the football game.”
The junior led all rushers for 151 yards. He passed for 94 more.
“Frank is a workhorse,” Mozzocio said. “He can pass it or throw it. He does good things on defense, too.”
Robert Lindsey added two late touchdowns in the win. He finished with 132 yards on the ground.
Neshannock has another formidable test at 7 p.m. Saturday when it travels to Shenango for a big conference encounter.
“We’re going to run the gamut of the Big Seven these first three weeks. We know it’s going to be a hostile environment out there at Shenango,” Mozzocio said. “They are very large up front and they have a physical football team. They have great team speed and a great coaching staff. We know we’ll be in for a battle again.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
SOUTH SIDE BEAVER
AT NESHANNOCK
SS BEAVER NESHANNOCK
12 First downs 21
NA ards Rushing NA
NA Yards Lost NA
194 Net Rushing 341
16 Passes Attempted 14
8 Passes Completed 12
1 Passes Intercepted 1
28 Yards Passing 94
276 Total Yards 435
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
3-20.7 Punts-Average 2-36.5
2-9 Penalties-Yards 9-88
S.S. BEAVER 7 7 0 7 — 21
NESHANNOCK 7 14 6 19 — 46
Scoring plays
NESHANNOCK — Frank Antuono, 29-yard run (Caitlin Trotta kick).
SOUTH SIDE BEAVER — Cameron Smith, 4-yard pass from Robert Heberle (Brett Hubbard kick).
SOUTH SIDE BEAVER — Cole Campbell, 5-yard run (Hubbard kick).
NESHANNOCK — Antuono, 4-yard run (Trotta kick).
NESHANNOCK — Antuono, 45-yard run (Trotta kick).
NESHANNOCK — Antuono, 4-yard run (kick blocked).
NESHANNOCK — Antuono, 24-yard run (kick failed).
NESHANNOCK — Robert Lindsey, 4-yard run (kick blocked).
SOUTH SIDE BEAVER — Quae-Shawn Thompson, 55-yard run (Hubbard kick).
NESHANNOCK — Lindsey, 61-yard run (Trotta kick).
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