New Castle clinches playoff berth
New Castle (40) vs. Moon (6)
Written: Oct 11, 2008
 By JOE SAGER
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
MOON TOWNSHIP — On paper, last night’s game appeared to be the New Castle High football team’s easiest challenge of the season.
After all, Moon entered the contest winless on the campaign. The Red Hurricane was surging after knocking off ranked opponents in three straight weeks.
While those two facts gave New Castle some confidence heading into the matchup, they also caused some uneasiness among New Castle’s players and coaches since the game served as an ideal opportunity for a letdown.
Yet, New Castle set the tone from the first play last night and stormed to a 40-6 win over the host Tigers in WPIAL Class AAA Parkway Conference action.
“I was scared to death. All the coaches were. We didn’t know what to expect coming into this game,” New Castle coach Frank Bongivengo Jr. said. “We talked to the kids numerous times about it and hopefully they are showing the maturity level of what it takes to be a successful football team and a championship football team at some point.”
Indeed. With the triumph, the ’Canes (4-1 conference, 4-3 overall) remain atop the Parkway Conference standings. Blackhawk (3-1, 6-1) is second, while West Allegheny (3-2, 5-2) is third. Montour (2-2, 4-3) and Hopewell (2-2, 5-2) lurk in fourth. Blackhawk, Montour and Hopewell all have two conference games left, while New Castle has just one.
And, a win Friday at home against lowly Ambridge (1-3, 1-6) would secure the ’Canes at least a share of the Parkway Conference championship for the first time since 2002.
“The idea is awesome; New Castle hasn’t won it since 2002,” said New Castle quarterback Michael Bongivengo, who is Frank’s son. “We can’t go in too overconfident again. We have to stay humble and play the game and win it.”
The easy victory over the Tigers (0-4, 0-7) wrapped up a WPIAL playoff berth for the ’Canes at the very least. But, they are not satisfied with that.
“Anytime you win a conference championship in the Parkway Conference, it’s a great accomplishment. These kids may have the opportunity to do that on Friday,” Frank Bongivengo said. “We have to win Friday, no matter what. We’re not worried about anything else beyond that. We can only control what we can do on Friday and that’s what we’ll do — get ready to play Ambridge, which is a good football team.
“Satisfaction is not an option. The reason they are getting better and better every week is because this is the easiest team I have had to coach Monday-Thursday. They come out and they work every day,” he continued. “When we were sitting there at 0-3, their work ethic actually improved and it’s continuing to get better and better and that’s going to be a key all year. I have said it to the kids — great teams, they practice hard and they play hard and that’s why they are great football teams. That’s what they have to do.”
New Castle certainly looked like a great team last night as they did in the past three weeks when they knocked off Parkway Conference heavyweights Hopewell, West Allegheny and Montour in succession.
“Our confidence keeps getting higher and higher, but we’re staying humble; we’re not getting too overconfident with ourselves,” said Michael Bongivengo, who racked up 188 more all-purpose yards and two touchdowns last night. “We want to come out, put points on the board, win games and have fun doing it.”
The ’Canes seemed to be enjoying themselves at Tiger Stadium. Freshman Marcus Carter intercepted a pass on Moon’s first play of the game and New Castle methodically turned that into a touchdown for a quick 6-0 lead.
“They got the ball first and we intercepted it right away. We were able to punch it in eventually, but we were a little sloppy there at the beginning of the game, which I didn’t like very much,” the elder Bongivengo said. “We were able to regain our composure and put some points on the board.”
The guests certainly did that as they scored touchdowns on their first six possessions of the contest.
“That’s what you call ‘efficient’ and hopefully we can continue to be that efficient,” the coach said.
The ’Canes used a solid mix of their spread attack with some solid running to stifle Moon. Michael Bongivengo completed 14 of 19 passes for 149 yards and a pair of TDs. While he had another big game, six different New Castle players caught at least one pass, including TD receptions from Brandon Burley and Justin Fleo.
Keith Keene had another huge night running with the ball. He finished with 139 yards on eight carries with a pair of TDs. The bulk of his yards came on two long TD runs. On the first, he used a ridiculous juke move to break free for a 50-yard scoring burst. On the second, he cut through the Moon defense and unleashed a wicked spin move to break free and plowed the final 10 yards into the end zone for a 61-yard TD dash.
“We have people stepping up and making plays. We’re setting the tone early in games and that’s what we have to keep doing,” Michael Bongivengo said. “We have to keep driving, making plays and getting everyone involved in the game at key points. We’re playing great football now.”
NEW CASTLE MOON
17 First downs 10
226 Yards Rushing 127
13 Yards Lost 33
213 Net Rushing 94
19 Passes Attempted 8
14 Passes Completed 4
0 Passes Intercepted 1
149 Yards Passing 60
362 Total Yards 154
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 4-1
1-37 Punts-Average 3-33
7-40 Penalties-Yards 2-20
NEW CASTLE 12 21 7 0 — 40
MOON 0 0 0 6 — 6
Scoring plays
NEW CASTLE — Brandon Burley, 13-yard pass from Michael Bongivengo (kick failed).
NEW CASTLE — Bongivengo, 10-yard run (pass failed).
NEW CASTLE — Bongivengo, 6-yard run (Jay kick).
NEW CASTLE — Keith Keene, 50-yard run (Bongivengo run).
NEW CASTLE — Justin Fleo, 8-yard pass from Bongivengo (kick failed).
NEW CASTLE — Keene, 61-yard run (Jay kick).
MOON — Cam Grady, 7-yard run (kick failed).
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