’Canes throw their weight around against Ambridge
New Castle (37) vs. Ambridge (13)
Written: Sep 14, 2013
By Joe Sager
New Castle News
AMBRIDGE — To play in one of the WPIAL’s toughest conferences, you have to be tough.
New Castle flexed its muscles last night with a 37-13 victory over Ambridge in a WPIAL Class AAA Parkway Conference battle at Moe Rubenstein Stadium.
Despite being outsized, the Red Hurricane (1-1 conference, 2-1 overall) commanded the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball for a majority of the evening.
”Our offensive line played phenomenal. We were really, really good up front offensively and defensively. If we can win the line of scrimmage, we can have some success. With the skill guys we have, they have the ability to make big plays. It all starts up and front and those boys up front established themselves,” New Castle coach Joe Cowart said. “In this league, if you can’t be physical, you don’t have a chance. The group we played is maybe the most physical team in our league, next to West Allegheny. We needed to step up and play hard, physical football against a good, physical football team. I am pleased with that.”
New Castle asserted itself right away against the Bridgers (0-2, 0-3). The ’Canes scored on their first drive, forced and recovered a fumble on defense and found the end zone again on their second drive to post a 14-0 advantage. Tevin McCaster raced 20 yards for the team’s first score, while Julian Cox ran 25 yards for the second TD.
New Castle made a strong statement on its third scoring drive. After an Ambridge punt left the ’Canes at their own 1-yard line, the team marched 99 yards on nine plays for another McCaster touchdown and a 21-0 lead late in the second quarter.
“We’re trying to get in our players’ heads just to play the next play and keep moving and don’t worry about the mountaintop, just keep climbing. I think our guys did a good job of that,” Cowart said. “When you can go 99, that shows your guys are executing and you’re staying away from negatives. That was a big point in the game.”
Jake McPhatter’s 40-yard reception on a broken play kept the drive alive. After a fumbled snap, Cox scrambled and lofted a bomb to McPhatter, who was called down at the Ambridge 1.
“That first play of the drive was huge because we got out of our end and it gave us a little boost,” McPhatter said. “On that catch, it was a missed snap. I just ran. He just threw it up and I made that play. We got the ball in the end zone and did what we had to do.”
New Castle got a safety just before halftime when a bad snap on a punt caused the Bridgers’ punter to run out of the back of the end zone. The pushed the ’Canes’ edge to 23-0 at intermission.
McPhatter gave New Castle a 30-0 lead late in the third quarter with another long scoring strike from Cox. This time, McPhatter jumped and reached back over a defender to snag the ball in the end zone for a 36-yard acrobatic TD.
“I didn’t even think I was going to do that,” said McPhatter, who finished with three catches for 81 yards. “I am thankful I was able to.”
Ambridge got on the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter on a Stephon McGinnis run. Malik Hooker answered with a 7-yard TD run of his own to give the ’Canes a 37-7 lead. McGinnis scrambled for a 16-yard TD as time expired.
“It starts with one. You have to take your first step in the conference and get your first conference win,” Cowart said. “Our first conference game was a disappointment, but I thought we came out and put a better effort on the field against a good football team.”
New Castle stays on the road Friday with a visit to Montour.
“We are on a roll now. That’s two (wins in a row) now,” McPhatter said. “We have a big dog in the conference next in Montour and we’re going to prepare for them all week. We’ll be ready for them.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
NEW CASTLE AMBRIDGE
15 First downs 12
272 Yards Rushing 127
9 Yards Lost 34
263 Net Rushing 93
10 Passes Attempted 23
6 Passes Completed 9
1 Passes Intercepted 0
131 Yards Passing 162
394 Total Yards 255
3-1 Fumbles-Lost 8-1
3-39 Punts-Average 4-27
8-50 Penalties-Yards 2-15
NEW CASTLE 14 9 7 7 — 37
AMBRIDGE 0 0 0 13 — 13
Scoring plays
NEW CASTLE — Tevin McCaster, 20-yard run (Khalil Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — Julian Cox, 25-yard run (Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — McCaster, 1-yard run (Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — Safety, Ambridge punter ran out of end zone.
NEW CASTLE — Jake McPhatter, 36-yard pass from Cox (Huddleston kick).
AMBRIDGE — Stephon McGinnis, 1-yard run (Cory Mueller kick).
NEW CASTLE — Malik Hooker, 7-yard run (Huddleston kick).
AMBRIDGE — McGinnis, 16-yard run (kick failed).
|