Neshannock pours it on late against East Allegheny
Neshannock (50) vs. East Allegheny (22)
Written: Sep 24, 2016
By Shawn Fox
New Castle News
The Neshannock High football team had two choices trailing 22-21 early in the third quarter: Pack it in or battle back.
The Lancers chose the latter.
Neshannock scored the final 29 points of the contest to post a 50-22 victory over East Allegheny in a non-conference matchup of two of the top teams in WPIAL Class 2A Midwestern Conference action at Bob Bleggi Stadium on Friday night.
“We went in the lockerroom at halftime and talked about re-establishing ourselves, and they came out with a gadget play and scored right away and went up on us,” Neshannock coach Fred Mozzocio said. “At that time, our kids just instead of just packing it in and pouting about it, they just took the game to another level.”
The Lancers’ comeback began midway through the third quarter. Following a shanked punt by Marc Edwards that traveled just 12 yards, Neshannock took over on the East Allegheny 26-yard line. Three plays later, Joey Nerti bulled his way into the end zone from 6 yards out for the score. Frank Antuono then hit Ty Sear with the conversion pass to give the hosts a 29-22 lead with 5:02 remaining in the third quarter.
“Joey’s getting better every week,” Mozzocio said. “He’s getting into football shape and he’s just starting to get a little better every week.”
Nerti gave Neshannock a 36-22 margin heading into the fourth quarter, as he broke free for a 72-yard TD run down the left sideline with 27.5 second remaining in the stanza. The junior running back finished with a game-high 122 yards rushing on just seven carries.
“I have to first thank my linemen,” Nerti said. “They helped me out a lot. I got good blocking, and just used my speed.”
Midwestern Conference-leading Neshannock (4-1 overall) clinched the victory with scoring runs by Sean Doran (2 yards) and Antuono (7 yards) in the fourth quarter for their second big non-conference victory of the season. The Lancers opened the season with a 42-14 victory over District 10 power Farrell.
“We want to play the best competition out there,” Mozzocio said. “We don’t back down from anybody. We’ll put ourselves against anybody and see what happens. We enjoy playing the top teams. That’s what the game is all about. If you don’t want to do that, you should be in football.”
The Lancers got off to a fast start against Three Rivers Conference-leading East Allegheny (3-2), opening up a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter.
Danny Welker got the Lancers on the board at the 8:15 mark of the first quarter when he caught a 3-yard TD pass from Antuono.
Jahi Rox answered for the Wild Cats on their next possession, as he hauled in an 18-yard scoring strike from Tamaine Underwood. Underwood finished the game by completing 15 of 28 passes for 198 yards. He was picked off three times — twice by Welker and once by Doran.
Neshannock went back to the air for its next score as Antuono connected with Seth Fehrs on a 37-yard TD strike to give the Lancers a 14-7 lead after one quarter.
Antuono scored from a yard out two minutes into the second quarter to increase the lead to 21-7.
But disaster struck on the Lancers’ next offensive possession, as Taivion Boynes picked off an Antuono pass and returned it 45 yards for the score.
“We had control of the game in the first half, but I got a little greedy and tried to hit a big one,” Mozzocio said. “It backfired on us. That was on me.”
The Wild Cats cut the deficit to 21-16 heading into the half, as Mike McAnalley booted a 31-yard field goal with 35.2 second remaining in the second quarter.
East Allegheny went into its bag of tricks to open the second half, as Underwood connected with T.J. Banks, who lateraled to Taivion Boynes for a 52-yard touchdown before the Lancers began their big second half.
“We practiced hard all week,” Nerti said. “We knew this was going to be a huge game for us for (WPIAL playoff) seeding. We practiced as hard as we could, and came out with the victory.”
Neshannock will travel to backyard rival Laurel next Friday night.
E. ALLEGHENY NESHANNOCK
14 First downs 11
144 Yards Rushing 270
37 Yards Lost 23
107 Net Rushing 247
28 Passes Attempted 11
15 Passes Completed 8
3 Passes Intercepted 1
198 Yards Passing 92
305 Total Yards 339
2-0 Fumbles-Lost 3-0
1-12 Punts-Average 2-39
6-55 Penalties-Yards 9-95
E. ALLEGHENY 7 9 6 0 — 22
NESHANNOCK 14 7 15 14 — 50
Scoring plays
NESHANNOCK — Danny Welker, 3-yard pass from Frank Antuono (Tristan Tuck kick).
EAST ALLEGHENY — Jahi Rox, 18-yard pass from Tamine Underwood (Mike McAnalley kick).
NESHANNOCK — Seth Fehrs, 37-yard pass from Antuono (Tuck kick).
NESHANNOCK — Antuono, 1-yard run (Tuck kick).
EAST ALLEGHENY — Taivion Boynes, 45-yard interception return (pass failed).
EAST ALLEGHENY — Boynes, 52-yard pass from Underwood (pass failed).
NESHANNOCK — Joey Nerti, 6-yard run (Ty Sear pass from Antuono).
NESHANNOCK — Nerti, 72-yard run (Tuck kick).
NESHANNOCK — Sean Doran, 2-yard run (Tuck kick).
NESHANNOCK — Antuono, 7-yard run (Tuck kick).
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