Lancers hit hard, but drop game
Neshannock (0) vs. Rochester (27)
Written: Oct 23, 2010
By DAN IRWIN
d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com
It’s been years since Neshannock High has been to the WPIAL playoffs.
The Lancers’ 27-0 Big Seven Conference loss last night to Rochester guaranteed that won’t change in 2010. Neshannock, which needed to win its final two games to have a chance to move on, instead fell to 2-4 in conference play and 4-4 overall.
The Rams, meanwhile, remained undefeated (6-0, 8-0) and wrapped up the conference crown.
Still, Neshannock coach Pat Cuba believes not everything about his team is as it long has been.
“The kids hit hard,” he said. “That’s something different this year. We’re actually playing better on that part of it, the physical part of it.
“Physically, we made them (the Rams) work, and they earned every play. They started getting us with counters the second half. We were lined up to take the power away and they started running counters, and we had to readjust and take care of that. We did somewhat.”
The Rams put up 268 rushing yards against the Lancers — Nick Tapia had 96 of them on 11 carries — but scored only one of their four touchdowns on the ground. That was Devon Glass’ 1-yard run midway through the fourth period.
Other than that, Rochester went to the air to find paydirt, on Jasson Adamson passes of 35 yards to Kaylan Kenny, 8 yards to Troy Belcastro and 25 yards to Tapia.
“The kids were so geared into the running game that they didn’t even think about the passing game sometimes,” Cuba said.
Offensively, the Lancers had hoped that the one-back sets they trotted out for much of the first half might spread out the Rams’ defense and open up some ground-gaining opportunities. Rochester, though, never wavered, posting its fifth shutout of the season and giving up just 98 yards rushing.
“First half, we did a lot of one-back, trying to open something up,” noted Cuba, whose team was led by Erik Welker’s 83 yards on 10 carries. “I think we actually ran the ball better when we had two backs in the backfield.
“I thought maybe we could throw against them with one-back and run against with the two-back. But let’s face it, they’re a good football team. They have athletes, they’re physical. But we didn’t back down.”
Despite the lopsided win, the Rams’ offense never matched the consistency of their “D.” Rochester was penalized 12 times for 75 yards, all on offense. Nine of those infractions were dead-ball fouls.
“We were sloppy,” conceded Rochester head coach Gene Matsook, a Shenango High graduate. “We had a lot of penalties tonight that kept pushing us back, which I wasn’t very pleased with. But we did what we had to do. Our goal tonight was to beat Neshannock and win the Big Seven Conference, and we did that.
“Was it a great game? No. It was probably a C-plus game. We’ve got to continue to get better, and we’ve got to get some of these penalties out of the way. They’ve been a little bit of a thorn in our side over the last two or three weeks. Jumping offsides before the play starts — those are unforced errors, and we cannot do those things.”
Neshannock will wrap up its season a week from today at Shenango, but may have to do so without tight end/linebacker Bryan Scheidemantle, who left the game in the first quarter with an injured right leg.
“It was his knee,” Cuba confirmed. “I don’t know how bad it is yet, but right now, it doesn’t look good.”
ROCHESTER NESHANNOCK
16 First downs 6
285 Yards Rushing 133
17 Yards Lost 35
268 Net Rushing 98
8 Passes Attempted 6
4 Passes Completed 3
0 Passes Intercepted 0
83 Yards Passing 20
351 Total Yards 118
2-0 Fumbles-Lost 4-0
4-36.5 Punts-Average 8-28.5
12-75 Penalties-Yards 2-16
ROCHESTER 7 13 0 7 — 27
NESHANNOCK 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring plays
ROCHESTER — Kaylan Kenny, 35-yard pass from Jasson Adamson (Jonathan Johnson kick).
ROCHESTER — Troy Belcastro, 8-yard pass from Adamson (Johnson kick).
ROCHESTER — Nick Tapia, 25-yard pass from Adamson (Kick failed).
ROCHESTER — Devon Glass, 1-yard run (Johnson kick).
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