Shenango defense takes it up a notch
Shenango (35) vs. Rochester (6)
Written: Sep 19, 2015
By Shawn Fox
New Castle News
ROCHESTER — Shenango High football coach Mike Commesso isn’t one for fiery halftime speeches.
But whatever he said to his team during the intermission Friday night certainly worked.
The Wildcats limited host Rochester to just 37 yards of offense in the third and fourth quarters combined on the way to a 35-6 victory in a WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference game at Rochester Stadium.
“The defense responded in the second half,” Commesso said. “Our defensive coordinator made some adjustments at halftime that really helped. They did a better job in the second half, for sure. They did a better job of tackling.”
Shenango (3-0 conference and overall) limited the Rams to just one first down in the second half, which came at the 7:43 mark of the fourth quarter. Rochester ran 19 plays in the second half, averaging just 1.9 yards per play.
“We contained them a little better in the second half,” Shenango senior Hunter Waskin said. “They were killing us running up the middle in the first half. We executed much better in the second half.”
The Wildcats’ second-half clamp down broke open a close game after two quarters.
Rochester (0-3, 0-3) took the game’s opening kickoff and drove 76 yards in eight plays to get on the board first. Montrail Strozier capped the drive by breaking free on a 35-yard run. Tyreek Sherod’s point-after kick was off the mark, but the hosts had a 6-0 lead less than four minutes into the contest.
“We came out a little bit flat in the first half,” Shenango senior Tyler Root said. “They put up a quick six on us, which is not really like our defense. But, we came together in the second half, stayed together, made it happen and figured it out. I think the first quarter kind of gave us a wake-up call.”
Strozier gouged the Wildcats for 106 yards rushing in the first half, but managed just an additional 5 yards in the second half.
Shenango took the lead for good on its second possession of the game. Root, who rushed for 98 yards on 13 carries in the game, capped a four-play, 70-yard drive by scoring on a 17-yard run. Dylan Kleckner added the first of his five PAT kicks to give the Wildcats a 7-6 lead with 2:34 remaining in the first quarter.
“I don’t know what to attribute our slow start to,” Commesso said. “I think teams are determined to not let us run the football. Our identity is run first, and they’re going to try to take that away. Rochester was really stacking the box. We opened them up a little bit with the pass in the second half. By the fourth quarter, we wore them down a little bit and got some big runs.
Waskin, who finished with a game-high 118 yards rushing on 12 carries, scored on a 25-yard run late in the second quarter to give the Wildcats an eight-point lead at intermission. Waskin also caught a pair of Kendall aerials for 59 yards.
While the defense was stymieing the Rams in the second half, the Wildcats’ offense found another gear in the final 24 minutes.
Kendall, who completed 5 of 11 passes for 123 yards in the game, connected with Ricky Lanigan on a 38-yard scoring strike to open the second half and hike the Wildcats’ lead to 21-6.
Shenango got touchdown runs from Waskin (31 yards) and Root (53 yards) in the fourth quarter to set the final.
“After going in at halftime in a such a close game, we figured we should have had a bigger lead,” Root said. “We just told each other we had to pick it up and get it done.”
Shenango will travel to Avonworth on Friday for a non-conference game.
“It feels great to be 3-0,” Waskin said. “We’ve just got to keep it going. The big thing is to take care of our non-conference games and keep the momentum going.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
SHENANGO ROCHESTER
17 First downs 7
286 Yards Rushing 147
7 Yards Lost 20
279 Net Rushing 127
11 Passes Attempted 15
5 Passes Completed 5
0 Passes Intercepted 0
123 Yards Passing 43
402 Total Yards 170
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
3-32.7 Punts-Average 6-34.2
2-20 Penalties-Yards 8-75
SHENANGO 7 7 7 14 — 35
ROCHESTER 6 0 0 0 — 6
Scoring plays
ROCHESTER — Montrail Strozier, 35-yard run (kick failed).
SHENANGO — Tyler Root, 17-yard run (Dylan Kleckner kick).
SHENANGO — Hunter Waskin, 25-yard run (Kleckner kick).
SHENANGO — Ricky Lanigan, 38-yard pass from Evan Kendall (Kleckner kick).
SHENANGO — Waskin, 31-yard run (Kleckner kick).
SHENANGO — Root, 53-yard run (Kleckner kick).
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