Shenango gets first conference win against Union
Union (6) vs. Shenango (12)
Written: Oct 20, 2008
By DAN IRWIN
d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com
A battle to avoid the basement isn’t quite the Senior Night scenario that Vince Sorbo would have picked.
Still, after Shenango High picked up its first WPIAL Class A Tri-County North win of the season with a 12-6 decision over Union on Saturday night, the senior guard wasn’t complaining.
“It feels like a million dollars,” he said. “I don’t know, I can’t really describe it.”
That sounds like a comment from a player whose team just won a championship. The Wildcats, though, snapped a five-game losing streak to improve to just 1-5 and 3-5 overall.
While enjoying the victory, Sorbo was looking beyond his team’s win total.
“We just want to help our team out,” Sorbo said of the eight seniors on Shenango’s roster. “If not now, then maybe a couple of years down the road.”
That’s just what second-year head coach Ryan Mayo envisions.
“I honestly believe we’re on the right track,” Mayo said. “Our seniors led us all year, in practice and on the field. They set the example for our younger kids.
“I know this is going to pay off in a year or two and when it does, these seniors will be a big part of the reason why.”
Despite the Senior Night activities, underclassmen made most of the highlight-reel plays for Shenango against Union (0-6, 1-7). Sophomore Anthony Kosciuszko rushed for 100 yards on 19 carries, including a 49-yard touchdown breakaway that proved to be the deciding score. He also caught a 25-yard TD pass from junior Joe Colavecchia. Meanwhile, junior Ricky Mathews ran for 61 yards on 14 carries, and intercepted Union quarterback Anthony Forletta at the Shenango 39 with 20 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Senior Brett Cassella, though, walked off with a couple game-changing moments of his own. First, he pounced on a fumbled Union pitch-out at the Scotties’ 9 yard line to set up — after two Wildcats penalties — the Colavecchia-to-Kosciuszko score. Later, he secured an onside kick after Union had scored on a 6-yard Jordan Izzo run with 1:42 left in the game.
“They were trying to trick us,” Cassella said of the two shifts the Scotties executed before kicking the ball. “I took a couple of steps to my left. I don’t know if I was supposed to or not, but it put me in perfect alignment with the ball, and when they kicked it, it just stuck in my chest — which is good, because I don’t have the best hands.”
Shenango still had to punt the ball back to Union one last time, but Mathews’ pick thwarted the Scotties’ comeback hopes.
The Scotties mounted their rally without senior quarterback and safety Mike Pelto, who left the game in the third quarter with a leg injury.
“When we get any injury, it’s major, because we have to make wholesale changes, and people are playing out of position,” said Union head coach Stacy Robinson, who also saw Nathaniel James taken to the hospital after the junior executed a hard hit on the opening kickoff of the second half.
“I give them credit, they all stepped up and were still out there trying to win the game. I tell these kids you’ve got to be warriors to play the game of football, and I think they played like warriors tonight.”
Shenango has a chance to finish the season on a high note when it travels to Laurel on Friday, with the opportunity to eliminate its backyard rival’s playoff hopes. Cassella, though, believes the ’Cats’ season will have been a good one, regardless of how that game comes out.
“I am really proud of this team,” he said. “We faced a lot of adversity this season, we weren’t winning a lot of games, but I’m happy this team stayed close the whole time. No one ever gave up.”
UNION SHENANGO
12 First downs 6
114 Yards Rushing 188
36 Yards Lost 36
78 Net Rushing 152
28 Passes Attempted 9
10 Passes Completed 2
2 Passes Intercepted 1
98 Yards Passing 32
176 Total Yards 183
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 4-2
5-21.2 Punts-Average 2-29.5
7-77 Penalties-Yards 11-102
UNION 0 0 0 6 — 6
SHENANGO 6 6 0 0 — 12
Scoring plays
SHENANGO — Anthony Kosciuszko 25-yard pass from Joe Colavecchia (Kick failed).
SHENANGO — Kosciuszko 49-yard run (Pass failed).
UNION — Jordan Izzo 6-yard run (Kick failed).
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