Shenango beats Riverview in thriller
Shenango (14) vs. Riverview (7)
Written: Aug 31, 2008
 By DAN IRWIN
d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com
OAKMONT — There are lots of reasons why a football field is 160 feet wide.
Anthony Kosciuszko may be one of them.
Eight times — mostly on between-the-tackles carries — the Shenango High tailback was stopped for either no gain or a loss in the Wildcats’ opener against Riverview here Saturday.
On one occasion, though, Kosciuszko split out as a flanker, and on another, he took a pitch around right end from quarterback Joe Colavecchia. Each play resulted in a long touchdown, and the ’Cats made them stand up for a 14-7 nonleague win.
Kosciuszko’s first score came with 3:56 left in the first half, one play after a botched Raiders punt gave Shenango possession at the Riverview 49. Colavecchia fired a perfect first-down strike to Kosciuszko, who beat single coverage for the score.
“The guys up top said that their free safety was screwing down on the second linebacker,” Shenango head coach Ryan Mayo said. “So we knew we had one-on-one on the outside. Anthony is typically our tailback, but he’s one of our better athletes, so I put him out there and he made a great play.”
Shenango held that 7-0 lead until the first play of the second half.
Aaron Grymes’ 27 yard kickoff return had given the ’Cats the ball at their own 37. When the ball was snapped, Colavecchia turned and appeared ready to pitch the ball to the left — only to discover that everyone else was going right. The junior QB recovered quickly, though, and pitched back the other way to Kosciuszko, who eventually cut inside a block by wide receiver Scott McBride and outraced the safety 63 yards to the end zone.
“Give me the outside,” said Kosciuszko, who had 104 yards on 17 carries. “I’m not bragging, but I’m quick, and I’ve got some great blocking. My fullback, Ricky Mathews, he’s coming inside, he’s scraping backers and everything. My line, I got (right guard Vince) Sorbo pulling, and I got wide receivers like Grymes and McBride.
“They’re the key to my success.”
Mayo admits he’ll take points any way he can get them, but he’s not entirely comfortable relying on two big plays to provide the bulk of his team’s offense. Kosciuszko’s scores covered 112 yards; overall, Shenango managed just 170.
“There was way too much penetration from tackle to tackle, and we couldn’t run the plays the way they’re designed to run,” he said. “We’re going to have to look at the film and see how we can fix that.
“We want to be able to move the ball downfield offensively. We don’t want to have to rely on one or two big plays to get our points.”
Shenango’s defense, meanwhile, limited Riverview to just 183 total yards and made two huge second-half plays to help preserve the win. The first was a fourth-and-1 stop of Raiders fullback Nick Buchser at the Wildcats’ 26 on the series following Kosciuszko’s TD run.
The latter occurred with 2:10 left in the game and the Raiders driving again, right after having cut Shenango’s lead in half on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Terrel Craighead to Tom O’Leary. Craighead hit Jeff Scampone for a nine-yard gain into Wildcats territory, but a swarming Shenango defense knocked the ball loose, and Brett Cassella fell on it at the Shenango 47.
“I didn’t cause it, and I’m not sure who did,” Cassella said, “but when I saw it come free, I jumped on it and covered it up. No one else was getting that ball.”
From there, Shenango was able to run out the clock for the win.
“We made some mistakes, but we’re starting five sophomores on defense and four on offense,” Mayo noted, “so we need to get those out of the way and get prepared for the Big Seven. I think we made a step in the right direction today.”
SHENANGO RIVERVIEW
9 First downs 10
142 Yards Rushing 133
38 Yards Lost 22
104 Net Rushing 111
8 Passes Attempted 14
5 Passes Completed 6
0 Passes Intercepted 0
66 Yards Passing 72
170 Total Yards 183
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
6-40.3 Punts-Average 3-33
4-30 Penalties-Yards 7-55
SHENANGO 0 7 7 0 — 14
RIVERVIEW 0 0 0 7 — 7
Scoring plays
SHENANGO — Anthony Kosciuszko, 49-yard pass from Joe Colavecchia (Mark Alberti kick).
SHENANGO — Kosciuszko 63-yard run (Alberti kick).
RIVERVIEW — Tom O’Leary 10-yard pass from Terrel Craighead (Alex Cosentino kick).
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