’Canes their own worst enemy in loss
New Castle (0) vs. West Allegheny (14)
Written: Oct 13, 2012
By John D’Abruzzo
New Castle News
IMPERIAL — Turnovers destroyed each and every opportunity that was presented to the New Castle High football team last night.
A pair of fumbles and one interception cost the Red Hurricane from finding the end zone and ended up helping West Allegheny to a 14-0 Parkway Conference shutout at Joe P. DiMichela Stadium.
“Undoubtedly, we left some plays out there on offense,” New Castle coach Joe Cowart said. “You still have to tip your cap to an excellent, excellent defense. Their defense is in a great category.
“This is a bitter pill, there’s no question about it.”
The Indians (5-1 conference, 6-1 overall), who clinched a WPIAL Class AAA playoff berth with last night’s win, stayed consistent with their wildcat offensive scheme en route to gaining 350 yards on the ground against the ’Canes. New Castle rushed for 212 yards.
After a scoreless first quarter, West Allegheny jumped on the board with a 55-yard run by junior Tory Delmonico with 6:52 left in the half. Delmonico led all rushers with a game-high 157 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries.
New Castle (2-4, 3-4) had a chance to tie the game on the next possession, but fumbled the ball midfield with 4:32 remaining in the second quarter.
After trailing 7-0 at the half, New Castle’s Levar Ware recovered a West Allegheny fumble on its opening drive during the third quarter. The ’Canes, however, couldn’t convert and ended up punting.
One play later, West Allegheny’s Chayse Dillion ran down the field for another 55-yard touchdown to give the Indians’ a 14-0 advantage. Dillion rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.
“They have some great running backs over there,” Cowart said. “But they also are very tremendous up front. This team blocks you and you stay blocked.
“For the most part, we came up with some timely stops defensively, but it’s hard to win when you have zero on the scoreboard.”
New Castle had yet another opportunity with a 15-play drive halfway through the third quarter. Eating up most of the final six minutes of the period, the ’Canes, however, turned the ball over with another fumble at the West Allegheny 30-yard line.
“Turnovers have really hurt us in the past,” longtime West Allegheny coach Bob Palko said. “You have to take care of the football against good teams and that was something we did tonight. That’s a tribute to the kids. They know that they have to do that and they executed.”
New Castle turned the ball over for a third time on its final possession of the game when West Allegheny’s Jake Cunningham intercepted a Julian Cox pass with 5:47 left in the contest.
“Those guys had a great scheme against what we were doing, and they did the right things to make us play left-handed; making us do something we’re uncomfortable doing,” Cowart said. “But we put the ball on the ground and we threw an interception. That’s really hard to overcome against a really good football team.”
Jalen Holmes paced New Castle’s offense with 120 rushing yards on 18 carries. Cox also rushed for 54 yards while completing 3 of 7 passes for 36 yards with one interception.
“We didn’t turn the ball over and we played pretty good defense,” Palko said. “We got them away from what they’re good at doing. They’re so athletic that it becomes so difficult to defend against them, but the kids rallied. We did the things we needed to do.
“To hold that team to no points was just a great defensive effort.”
Sitting in sixth place in the Parkway Conference, New Castle still has two games left to try to secure one of the five playoff spots out of the conference.
“It’s a continuous process,” Cowart said. “We’re now worried about tomorrow. Friday is behind us. We have to get better tomorrow and get better on Monday. We’re not worried about the next two games. We’re worried about getting better in practice tomorrow and then the next day and then the following day.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
NEW CASTLE W. ALLEGHENY
10 First downs 15
230 Yards Rushing 357
18 Yards Lost 7
212 Net Rushing 350
7 Passes Attempted 1
3 Passes Completed 1
1 Passes Intercepted 0
36 Yards Passing 6
248 Total Yards 356
2-2 Fumbles-Lost 2-2
2-33.5 Punts-Average 4-33.3
4-40 Penalties-Yards 6-50
NEW CASTLE 0 0 0 0 — 0
W. ALLEGHENY 0 7 7 0 — 14
Scoring plays
WA — Tory Delmonico, 55-yard run (Evan Pelcher kick).
WA — Chayse Dillon, 55-yard run (Pelcher kick).
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