Neshannock back on track after rout of New Brighton
Neshannock (49) vs. New Brighton (0)
Written: Sep 17, 2016
By Shawn Fox
New Castle News
NEW BRIGHTON — What a difference a week made for the Neshannock High football team.
After dropping a mistake-filled game against Quaker Valley, the Lancers were looking to right the ship Friday night against New Brighton.
It’s safe to say they did just that.
Seven different Lancers found the end zone, as Neshannock routed the host Lions, 49-0, in a WPIAL Class 2A Midwestern Conference game at Oak Hill Stadium.
“We needed that,” Neshannock coach Fred Mozzocio said. “We needed to get back to playing Neshannock football, and I thought we did that tonight. We have a lot of weapons and were able to spread the wealth.”
Neshannock (2-0 conference, 3-1 overall) wasted little time in taking control of the game.
On the Lions’ second play from scrimmage, Ty Sear recovered a fumble at the New Brighton 23-yard line.
Frank Antuono made the turnover hurt, as he raced 23 yards up the middle on first down for the touchdown. The point-after kick failed, but the Lancers held a 6-0 lead less than a minute into the contest.
“Last week we made a lot of mental mistakes and we just weren’t clicking,” Antuono said. “We lost that game (Quaker Valley). We knew that this week in practice we had to come out and give 110 percent. We knew we had to come out here strong tonight and bounce back.”
After forcing the Lions to punt on their next possession, Neshannock put together a five-play, 82-yard drive to score again. Antuono connected with Chris Scott on a 45-yard TD strike to cap the drive on fourth-and-9 from the 45. Danny Welker ran in the conversion to hike the Lancers’ lead to 14-0 with 6:12 remaining in the first quarter.
New Brighton, which fell to 0-3 in the conference and overall, put together its best drive of the game following the Antuono-to-Scott touchdown.
The Lions drove 47 yards to the Neshannock 14, but on fourth-and-goal, Seth Fehrs intercepted Ronald Debo’s pass in the end zone to snuff the drive.
The Lancers increased their lead on the ensuing possession, as Joey Nerti turned a screen pass from Antuono into a 40-yard touchdown. The kick failed, but Neshannock had a 20-0 lead after one.
It was more of the same in the second quarter, as the Lancers poured it on.
Following a New Brighton punt, Neshannock found the end zone once again, as Antuono hooked up with a wide-open Sear for a 30-yard touchdown on fourth down. Jackson Hall’s kick made it 27-0 with 8:20 to go before the half.
Neshannock went back to the ground game for its next score, as Sean Doran was a one-man drive. The senior running back broke free for a 55-yard gain on first down from the Lancers 35, then capped his drive by scoring from the 10. Antuono and Sear combined on the conversion pass, as Neshannock opened up a 35-0 lead with 4:11 remaining before intermission.
Billy Presnar scored from 5 yards out with five seconds left in the second quarter to cap an eight-play, 44-yard drive that gave the Lancers a 42-0 lead heading into the lockerroom.
Neshannock closed out the scoring on the first play in the second half. Backup quarterback Jared Staph fumbled the snap, but picked up the loose ball and raced 55 yards to paydirt. Hall’s kick set the final.
The Lancers’ starters did not play in the second half.
Neshannock held a 465-132 edge in total offense for the game, with 355 of those yards coming in the first half.
Doran led the Lancers’ rushing attack, which piled up 314 yards, with 89 yards on just four carries.
Antuono bounced back from his five-interception game against the Quakers, by completing 4 of 8 passes for 151 yards and three scores. Sear was his top target with two catches for 66 yards.
The Lancers will host East Allegheny (3-1) on Friday. East Allegheny is in first place in the WPIAL Class 2A Three Rivers Conference.
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
NESHANNOCK NEW BRIGHTON
13 First downs 8
329 Yards Rushing 94
15 Yards Lost 64
314 Net Rushing 30
10 Passes Attempted 17
4 Passes Completed 8
0 Passes Intercepted 3
151 Yards Passing 102
465 Total Yards 132
3-2 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
3-19.7 Punts-Average 4-25.5
2-20 Penalties-Yards 2-16
NESHANNOCK 20 22 7 0 — 49
NEW BRIGHTON 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring plays
NESHANNOCK – Frank Antuono, 23-yard run (kick failed),
NESHANNOCK – Chris Scott, 45-yard pass from Antuono (Danny Welker run).
NESHANNOCK – Joey Nerti, 40-yard pass from Antuono (kick failed).
NESHANNOCK – Ty Sear, 30-yard pass from Antuono (Jackson Hall kick).
NESHANNOCK – Sean Doran, 10-yard run (Sear pass from Antuono).
NESHANNOCK – Billy Presnar, 5-yard run (Hall kick).
NESHANNOCK – Jared Staph, 55-yard run (Hall kick).
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