Shorthanded 'Canes unable to keep pace with Ambridge
New Castle (8) vs. Ambridge (23)
Written: Oct 17, 2015
By Joe Sager
New Castle News
Depth is a concern for any football team at this point in the season.
It was a huge worry for New Castle High last night, especially since 13 healthy players did not play.
Ambridge wore down the Red Hurricane in the second half to post a key 23-8 win in a WPIAL Class AAA Parkway Conference clash at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle (2-4 conference, 3-4 overall) was hampered by the loss of 13 players serving a one-game suspension following a pregame scuffle prior to last week’s game against Central Valley. Initially, seven ‘Canes and head coach Joe Cowart were ejected before the start of the game against the Warriors. That carried an automatic one-game suspension. New Castle later suspended six more players and assistant coach John Lambo for last night as well.
New Castle and Central Valley representatives will meet with WPIAL officials — as well as the officials from the Oct. 10 game — at 4:45 p.m. Monday at the WPIAL headquarters in Green Tree to determine any further disciplinary measures.
‘Canes offensive coordinator Don Holl assumed head coaching duties against the Bridgers (2-4, 3-4), just as he did against Central Valley. He refused to blame the absences for the defeat.
“I think anyone familiar with the history of this program, the teams that have been here and the kind of kids we have — we don’t make excuses. We have a sign on the wall that says ‘anytime, any place, anywhere’ and that’s the mentality here. That’s something we’ve all bought into,” he said. “Our guys knew the circumstances, but went out and played and wanted to win. Give credit to Ambridge; they outplayed us.”
Ambridge, which snapped a three-game skid, overcame an 8-7 halftime deficit with a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to keep its playoff hopes intact.
“With them having some guys out, it probably helped some of our younger guys,” Ambridge coach Dan Bradley said. “We played well enough to win and bad enough to lose. We were fortunate to come out on top.”
The Bridgers grabbed a 7-0 lead when Romnn Shell scored on an 11-yard jaunt late in the first quarter.
New Castle, which stopped Ambridge at the 1 earlier in the second quarter, made a furious run inside the final minute of the half to grab the advantage. Pat Minenok fired a 41-yard pass to Cameron Stone to give the ‘Canes some hope. After a couple short completions, a personal foul penalty against Ambridge gave New Castle the ball on its own 14 with 3.8 seconds left. Marcus Hooker made a diving catch of a Minenok pass with no time left on the clock. Minenok lofted a pass to Stone for the two-point conversion and an 8-7 halftime edge.
However, the guests went ahead, 15-8, late in the third on a Tariq Jones run.
The Bridgers were driving for another touchdown late in the fourth, but the ‘Canes forced a fumble and Minenok pounced on it at the New Castle 19. The ‘Canes drove to the Ambridge 15, but Jordan Taylor picked off a Minenok pass and returned it to the New Castle 15 with 3:00 left. Two plays later, Taylor ran in for the touchdown to secure the win.
The defeat muddies the ‘Canes’ playoff hopes. Ambridge, Hopewell, Moon and New Castle are all tied for the conference’s fifth playoff spot with two games left.
“All we can do is win next week and see what happens. It’s OK to get frustrated, but not’s not OK to take your eye off the goal, which is next week’s game,” Holl said. “That’s the beauty of the game — win or lose, you move on. We’re going to have a forward focus. For these guys, it’s disappointing. There were a lot of guys who worked their tails off to win the football game and, unfortunately, we didn’t get it done.”
AMBRIDGE NEW CASTLE
21 First downs 9
301 Yards Rushing 108
28 Yards Lost 9
273 Net Rushing 99
13 Passes Attempted 26
7 Passes Completed 14
1 Passes Intercepted 2
109 Yards Passing 162
382 Total Yards 270
3-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
1-41 Punts-Average 5-36.2
8-75 Penalties-Yards 7-50
AMBRIDGE 7 0 16 0 — 23
NEW CASTLE 0 8 0 0 — 8
Scoring plays
AMBRIDGE — Romnn Shell, 11-yard run (Micah Jarrett kick).
NEW CASTLE — Marcus Hooker, 14-yard pass from Pat Minenok (Cameron Stone pass from Minenok).
AMBRIDGE — Tariq Jones, 8-yard run (Jordan Taylor run).
AMBRIDGE — Taylor, 4-yard run (Nate Scott pass from Jones).
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