New Castle rolls past Blackhawk
New Castle (51) vs. Blackhawk (25)
Written: Oct 06, 2012
By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News
The offense is hitting its stride for the New Castle High football team.
And it’s coming at a pivotal part of the season.
Malik Hooker, Julian Cox and Jalen Holmes scored two touchdowns each for the Red Hurricane in a 51-25 Parkway Conference win over Blackhawk at Taggart Stadium last night.
New Castle (2-3 conference, 3-3 overall) reached at least 50 points for the second consecutive week. It’s the first time the ’Canes have done so since scoring 53 and 55 in back-to-back playoff wins in 2008.
“The boys are certainly buying into what we are doing offensively,” ’Canes coach Joe Cowart said. “We’ve changed some things around partially throughout the season.
“I think we’ve found an identity these last couple of weeks. The kids believe in it and they are buying into it. They’re executing at a high rate right now.”
The Homecoming Night win strengthens New Castle’s playoff hopes as well. The ’Canes are tied for the fifth and final playoff berth out of the conference with Ambridge (2-3, 2-4). But the Bridgers own a 17-6 decision over the ’Canes. Five teams from each conference in Class AAA make the playoffs, along with one wild card team in the classification.
“Right now, we’re not in that big of a hole because we’re back to .500 (overall),” said Cox, who is the quarterback. “We have our backs to the wall and it’s like who is going to punch back? Anything can happen.
“We don’t think we are out of it at all. We think if we can continue to play the way we are playing, anything can happen. We have big faith in our coaches and our team.”
Said Cowart, “They’re playing with urgency and desperation. Every week they are playing desperate and they’ve answered the bell two weeks in a row. At this point it’s a good thing to play that way, based on how we react. Hopefully the success continues.”
Hooker opened the scoring for New Castle on a five-yard run in the first quarter. He capped off the possession by adding the two-point conversion run for an 8-0 lead. Hooker then dashed in from 15 yards out in the second quarter and Holmes scored on a two-point run for a 16-6 lead.
Hooker took the snap on both scoring runs out of the wildcat formation. He finished with 61 yards rushing on seven carries.
“He’s a tremendous football player,” Cowart said of Hooker. “We’re trying every different way to get the ball in his hands. It’s nice to have a player like him.
“The wing and the wild is what we’re calling it. That’s who we are right now and we’ve had some success doing that.”
The ’Canes continued to roll in the second quarter, scoring 30 total points for a 38-12 halftime advantage. Holmes scored one of his touchdowns in the second stanza and he rolled up 141 rushing yards in the first half.
“I was looking at cutbacks and looking at how they were opening up the holes for me and the way they were blocking up the field,” Holmes said of his running ability. “It’s fun to score like we did (last night), especially at home.”
Holmes finished with 173 rushing yards on 21 attempts.
“Jalen is a workhorse,” Cowart said. “He’s what makes it go. He has the ability to not only grind you down but he’s capable of hitting the big play at any time.”
The ’Canes led 38-12 at the half, but the Cougars rallied. Blackhawk closed to within 38-25 after three quarters before Holmes and Cox helped seal the win.
Blackhawk’s Cole Chiappialle amassed 244 rushing yards on 17 carries with four touchdowns. The Cougars (1-4, 1-5) produced 378 yards of total offense.
“We certainly have some areas to shore up on the defensive side of the ball,” Cowart said. “We have found an identity on offense. We know what we are defensively, we just have to get better at it.”
(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com)
BLACKHAWK NEW CASTLE
17 First downs 20
268 Yards Rushing 383
23 Yards Lost 11
245 Net Rushing 372
26 Passes Attempted 5
13 Passes Completed 1
0 Passes Intercepted 1
137 Yards Passing 55
382 Total Yards 427
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
4-34.8 Punts-Average 2-35
2-15 Penalties-Yards 9-50
BLACKHAWK 6 6 13 0 — 25
NEW CASTLE 8 30 0 13 — 51
Scoring plays
NEW CASTLE — Malik Hooker, 5-yard run (Hooker run).
BLACKHAWK — Cole Chiappiale, 79-yard (run failed).
NEW CASTLE — Hooker, 15-yard run (Jalen Holmes run).
NEW CASTLE — Julian Cox, 4-yard run (Cox run).
NEW CASTLE — Holmes, 48-yard run (run failed).
BLACKHAWK — Chiappiale, 23-yard run (pass failed).
NEW CASTLE — Jake McPhatter, 55-yard pass from Cox (Paul Jones run).
BLACKHAWK — Chiappialle, 63-yard run (run failed).
BLACKHAWK — Chiappialle, 1-yard run (John Rebich kick).
NEW CASTLE — Holmes, 8-yard run (run failed).
NEW CASTLE — Cox, 9-yard run (Khalil Huddleston kick).
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