Winning: Lancers turn the corner against Sto-Rox
Neshannock (35) vs. Sto-Rox (34)
Written: Sep 15, 2012
  By Patrick E. Litowitz
New Castle News
Neshannock High ripped the “loser” label off its football program last night.
The Lancers rebounded from Sto-Rox’s first-half offensive assault — 28 points and more than 400 passing yards — for a 35-34 victory.
Neshannock moves to 3-0 in the WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference and 3-0 overall.
“This (win) has to do with the character of these kids here,” Lancer head coach Fred Mozzocio said. “The kids that everyone’s been doubting.
“We proved it for three weeks now, and I think we’ve made a big statement.”
Senior Alex Welker’s 8-yard touchdown run with 17.9 seconds remaining in the game capped the improbable comeback.
Facing a fourth-and-one at the Sto-Rox 8, quarterback Ernie Burkes faked a handoff to Eli Owens. Running from the right side of the field, Welker took the ball from Burkes and raced around the left end into the end zone.
“Everybody in the whole place thought we were going up the middle or off tackle to get the first down,” Mozzocio said.
“We pulled out the gadget play. It was all the kids.”
Vikings mentor Dan Bradley said Neshannock’s focus on discipline made the touchdown and game-winning score possible.
“They picked a great time to run it,” said Bradley, whose squad falls to 2-1, both in the conference and overall.
“They’re playing great football right now, and they’re going to be even higher after this one.”
Sto-Rox ignited its first-half offensive with four touchdown passes, three coming from junior quarterback Lenny Williams.
Williams, who completed 16 of 25 passed for 438 yards, hits strikes of 16, 23 and 15 yards to Brendan Blair, Javalle Kirkland and Elisha Bonner, respectively.
Blair finished the second quarter with a 45-yard pass to Ben Shackelford.
“As well as we played statistically in the first half, we didn’t play disciplined football,” Bradley said. “We left a lot of opportunities out there in the first half.”
The Vikings’ second offensive series of the game illustrated his point. Williams connected with Shackelford on a 60-yard pass. Shackelford fumbled on the Neshannock 10 and the Lancers recovered.
Sto-Rox also failed to convert on three of its two-point conversion attempts.
Burkes hit Kienan Owens on a 23-yard pass for a first quarter touchdown. Connor Richards kicked the first of five extra points.
With the prospects of his team being blown out, Mozzocio said he prepared for an unpleasant halftime talk.
“I wanted to get into their faces,” he said.
His assistant coaches suggested otherwise.
“They told me to hold back just a little bit, and let’s just compose them and focus,” he said. “We had a ‘deer in the headlights’ look in the first half and weren’t playing our game.
“We said, ‘Forget about the scoreboard. Let’s play Lancer football and do what we do best. We kept pecking away at (the lead).”
Eli Owens started the rally with a 5-yard run in the third quarter.
Sto-Rox fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Neshannock recovered the ball at the Vikings’ 24. Four plays later, Burkes collected six points on a 4-yard dash.
Williams gave Sto-Rox its final score with a 2-yard run with 35.3 seconds in the third quarter as the team stretched its lead to 34-21.
Welker, who caught seven passes for 101 yards, pulled in the first of his two touchdowns early in the fourth quarter.
Avoiding a blitz, Burkes moved to his right and hit an open Welker for a 64-yard score.
Almost 11 minutes later, Welker rushed for the game-tying touchdown as Richards nailed the victory with his extra point.
“All the praise goes to the kids,” Mozzocio said. “They want people to respect them.
“They want people to know they are now a football school.”
Neshannock travels to Shenango on Sept. 22.
(Email: plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com)
STO-ROX NESHANNOCK
16First downs20
116Yards Rushing 225
47Yards Lost15
69Net Rushing 210
27 Passes Attempted 33
18 Passes Completed 18
0Passes Intercepted 0
495Yards Passing 177
564Total Yards 387
2-2Fumbles-Lost 1-0
3-37.7Punts-Average 5-42.4
13-135Penalties-Yards 5-25
STO-ROX8 20 60 — 34
NESHANNOCK7 0 14 14 — 35
Scoring plays
STO-ROX — Brendan Blair, 16-yard pass from Lenny Williams (Javalle Kirkland pass from Williams).
NESHANNOCK — Kienan Owens, 23-yard pass from Ernie Burkes (Connor Richards kick).
STO-ROX — Kirkland, 37-yard pass from Williams (Wendall Miller pass from Williams).
STO-ROX — Elisha Bonner, 15-yard pass from Williams (pass failed).
STO-ROX — Ben Shackelford, 45-yard pass from Blair (pass failed).
NESHANNOCK —Eli Owens, 5-yard run (Richards kick).
NESHANNOCK —Burkes, 4-yard run (Richards kick).
STO-ROX — Williams, 2-yard run (pass failed).
NESHANNOCK —Alex Welker, 64-yard pass from Burkes (Richards kick).
NESHANNOCK — Welker, 8-yard run (Richards kick).
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