'Canes capture must-win verdict over Colts
New Castle (28) vs. Charters Valley (9)
Written: Oct 24, 2015
 By Shawn Fox
New Castle News
BRIDGEVILLE — This was a game the New Castle High football team really needed.
After spending the past two weeks dealing with the suspensions of 13 players, head coach Joe Cowart and assistant coach John Lambo as the fallout from a pregame scuffle Oct. 9 against Central Valley, the Red Hurricane was looking to revive its WPIAL Class AAA playoff hopes.
Mission accomplished.
The ‘Canes ended their two-game losing streak and kept their postseason aspirations alive last night with a 28-9 Parkway Conference victory over home-standing Chartiers Valley.
“I think you have to eliminate those other things from your thinking,” New Castle offensive coordinator Don Holl said. “Certainly, there was a lot of emotion and a lot of excitement getting those guys back. It’s been a little bit of a tough ride the last two weeks. We work for a great head coach. He does a great job with us, and I know everyone in that locker room — coaches and players — wanted to get this thing going back in the right direction first and foremost for him and for the pride of our program and to restore sort of the luster on it.
“That said, we kind of removed a lot of things and told them it’s the playoffs now. We were focused on being 1-0 this week. We have a lot of guys with toughness and grit and they found a way to battle and win the game.”
New Castle, which improved to 3-4 in the Parkway and 4-4 overall, is battling Ambridge for the Parkway’s fifth and final Class AAA playoff berth. The Bridgers, who defeated Blackhawk, 34-8, last night, are also 3-4 in the conference and 4-4 overall. However, Ambridge owns a 23-8 victory over the ’Canes this season.
For New Castle to clinch the final playoff spot, it will have to defeat Hopewell at home and hope Ambridge loses at Char Valley. Both games are scheduled for Friday night.
“We’ve got to put this game behind us,” New Castle junior Giovanni Eggleston said. “We have to come out next week playing fast and physical with all the focus we can have.”
The ‘Canes wasted little time in grabbing the lead against the Colts (4-3, 4-4).
New Castle took the opening kickoff and drove 50 yards in four plays, with Pat Minenok hooking up with Marcus Hooker on a 45-yard scoring strike. Hooker appeared to be stopped at the 30-yard line, but broke through a host of Char Valley tacklers and raced into the end zone. Brayden Cartwright added the point-after kick to give the ‘Canes a quick 7-0 lead a little over a minute and a half into the contest.
Minenok completed 16-of-24 passes for 155 yards in the game. He also was intercepted by Anthony Onomastico.
The interception gave the Colts the ball at the New Castle 37 early in the second quarter. Char Valley drove to the ‘Canes 3-yard line, but the New Castle defense stiffened from there. Aided by the holding penalty, the ‘Canes allowed just four yards in the next three downs, and the Colts had to settle for a 30-yard field goal from Noah Zajicek. Zajicek’s boot came at the 6:54 mark and cut New Castle’s lead to 7-3.
“That stop was very important for us,” said Eggleston, who had a sack and a fumble recovery in the game. “It was big for us to hold them to a field goal there.”
Geno Stone gave the ‘Canes a lift heading into the locker room as he returned an Onomastico punt 70 yards for a TD with 30 seconds remaining in the first half.
“I hadn’t gotten a return all year, and I had faith in Pat (Minenok) blocking for me,” Stone said. “I just started running around, and broke free.”
Stone added another happy return midway through the third quarter, as he stepped in front of a Reed Bruggeman pass and raced 80 yards for the score. Minenok connected with Eggleston on the conversion pass to hike New Castle’s lead to 22-3.
“I ended up having a great read on it, picked it off and took it to the house,” Stone said.
Char Valley was able to answer on its next possession, as Steve Alauzen scored on a 38-yard run. The conversion run failed, leaving the ‘Canes with a 22-9 lead with 1:46 remaining in the third quarter.
Alauzen, a sophomore, led all rushers with 162 yards on 24 carries. He was injured on the conversion run and did not return to the game.
New Castle closed out the scoring as Nick Treloar scored from a yard out with 4:48 left in the game to cap a 10-play, 43-yard drive that took over six minutes off the clock.
“We’re going to celebrate this one,” Holl said. “We’ve got a lot of guys excited about the way this came out tonight. We’re going to look at the film (today), and we’re going to turn the page. We’ll close the book on this one, and it becomes Hopewell week.
“All we can do is be 1-0 next week.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
NEW CASTLE CHAR VALLEY
9 First downs 13
78 Yards Rushing 259
37 Yards Lost 35
41 Net Rushing 224
24 Passes Attempted 14
16 Passes Completed 5
1 Passes Intercepted 1
155 Yards Passing 27
196 Total Yards 251
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 3-1
4-34.3 Punts-Average 7-25.1
5-35 Penalties-Yards 3-24
NEW CASTLE 7 7 8 6 — 28
CHAR VALLEY 0 3 6 0 — 9
Scoring plays
NEW CASTLE – Marcus Hooker, 45-yard pass from Pat Minenok (Brayden Cartwright kick).
CHARTIERS VALLEY – Noah Zajicek, 30-yard field goal.
NEW CASTLE – Geno Stone, 70-yard punt return (Cartwright kick).
NEW CASTLE – Stone, 80-yard interception return (Giovanni Eggleston pass from Minenok).
CHARTIERS VALLEY – Steve Alauzen, 38-yard run (run failed).
NEW CASTLE – Nick Treloar, 1-yard run (kick failed).
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