’Canes keep playoffs in sight with crucial victory
New Castle (41) vs. Moon (31)
Written: Oct 22, 2011
By Joe Sager
New Castle News
MOON TOWNSHIP — It is said defense wins championships.
The New Castle High football team hopes offense can get it into the postseason.
The Red Hurricane rallied in the second half last night to post a 41-31 WPIAL Class AAA Parkway Conference victory at Moon’s Tiger Stadium.
“It wasn’t even close to being pretty. We’ll take it,” New Castle coach Frank Bongivengo Jr. said. “I told the kids at halftime that I was disappointed in them. I was disappointed in our effort, aggressiveness and our toughness. I told them it was in their hands and we were going to find out what they are made of in the second half. I think they came out and played hard in the second half.
“We have to play defense; it comes down to that. We have to get stops on defense. We move the ball and we did what we wanted to do on offense. But, you can get behind the 8-ball when you have to score every possession. I am proud of the kids for responding in the second half.”
The ’Canes (3-3 conference, 4-4 overall) were able to score the first three touchdowns of the second half to take control.
“Obviously, we didn’t play as good as we wanted to. But, we played a good second half to get the win,” said New Castle quarterback Johnny Matarazzo, who passed for four touchdowns and ran for another. “We just came out and played better defense. We can’t give up 24 points in any half. We didn’t get many offensive touches in the first half. I think the defense really shored up in the second half and got us the ball.”
Victory was crucial for New Castle’s playoff hopes. The team is locked in a three-way tie with Blackhawk and Hopewell for the conference’s fourth and final WPIAL playoff berth.
“We talked about it all week — we have to take care of our business and win two games and see what happens from there,” Bongivengo said.
The ’Canes appeared poised to take control of the game as they scored on their first drive. Matarazzo found Marcus Carter for the first of his three TD catches on the night.
Yet, in the second quarter, the Tigers (1-5, 2-6) roared back. After Garrett Mort scored on a 1-yard run, Moon tallied 17 points in the final 6:19 of the first half. Anthony Colianni turned a draw into an 80-yard TD run and Mort took a pass 80 yards to the house.
Carter responded with his second TD catch, but the Tigers tacked on Umar Moore’s 34-yard field goal as time expired to post a 24-14 halftime advantage.
“I think we came out pretty hard in the second half and we did what we had to do to win the game,” Carter said.
He was right as he hauled in a 34-yard scoring strike from Matarazzo just 3:37 into the third quarter to trim the deficit to 24-20.
“Johnny felt my heat when I came out in the second half. I was frustrated we were losing to this Moon team,” Carter said. “But, I was able to get that touchdown and we were ready to go. John and I just have that chemistry to come out and do what we have to do to win.”
On Moon’s ensuing possession, New Castle’s defense produced a stop and the ’Canes marched 87 yards for the go-ahead touchdown on a 4-yard Jalen Holmes jaunt.
Again, the New Castle defense responded. It came up with its biggest play of the night after that score. Terrell Cleckley intercepted a pass in ’Canes territory and returned it to the Moon 38. Four plays later, Matarazzo found Paul Jones for an 18-yard TD and a 34-24 lead early in the fourth.
“That was a great read by Terrell,” Carter said. “If you give us good field position, we’re going to score.”
Colianni’s 1-yard run brought the hosts within 34-31 with 5:35 remaining. However, the ’Canes were able to sustain a drive. They capped it with Matarazzo’s 1-yard plunge with less than a minute to play.
Now, New Castle can focus on Blackhawk, which visits Taggart Stadium on Friday.
“We’re happy to still be alive. At the same time, we know this is a team we should have handled and we didn’t really play that well,” Matarazzo said. “We’re looking forward to a showdown with Blackhawk.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
NEW CASTLE MOON
24 First downs 19
176 Yards Rushing 229
11 Yards Lost 21
165 Net Rushing 208
25 Passes Attempted 23
17 Passes Completed 12
1 Passes Intercepted 2
266 Yards Passing 228
431 Total Yards 436
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 3-0
1-42 Punts-Average 2-26
5-46 Penalties-Yards 11-90
NEW CASTLE 7 7 13 14 — 41
MOON 0 24 0 7 — 31
Scoring plays
NEW CASTLE — Marcus Carter, 16-yard pass from Johnny Matarazzo (Khalil Huddleston kick).
MOON — Garrett Mont, 1-yard run (kick blocked).
MOON — Anthony Colianni, 80-yard run (Mitch Matey pass from Caleb Jakiel).
MOON — Mont, 80-yard pass from Jakiel (Umar Moore kick).
NEW CASTLE — Carter, 18-yard pass from Matarazzo (Huddleston kick).
MOON — Moore, 34-yard field goal.
NEW CASTLE — Carter, 34-yard pass from Matarazzo (kick failed).
NEW CASTLE — Jalen Holmes, 4-yard run (Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — Paul Jones, 18-yard pass from Matarazzo (Huddleston kick).
MOON — Colianni, 1-yard run (Moore kick).
NEW CASTLE — Matarazzo, 1-yard run (Huddleston kick).
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