Hooker paces ’Canes to rout of Chartiers Valley
New Castle (47) vs. Chartiers Valley (12)
Written: Sep 28, 2013
 By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News
Malik Hooker helped the New Castle High football team take charge last night.
Hooker scored three second-quarter touchdowns to help the Red Hurricane pull away for a 47-12 WPIAL Class AAA Parkway Conference victory over Chartiers Valley at Taggart Stadium.
The scoring barrage gives Hooker seven touchdowns on the season.
“Malik shined for us tonight and we need him to do that,” second-year New Castle coach Joe Cowart said. “At times, we need him to be the guy that when all else fails, we’re going to get the ball in his hands and he’s going to make something happen.”
Said Hooker of his outburst, “That’s what expected of me. It was nothing new. I just felt like, we started out slow and I had to come out and I had to give us that boost that we needed.”
Leading just 6-3 early in the second quarter, Hooker did just that. The Colts were lining up to kick off after Thomas Kovach booted a 24-yard field goal.
Hooker caught the kickoff at his own 3, weaved his way through traffic, and dashed 97 yards for a touchdown with 11:37 to go in the second quarter.
“That’s a credit to everyone that was blocking for me,” Hooker said of his kickoff return. “When you block like that, there’s no way you can’t take one to the house.”
The ’Canes (3-1 conference, 4-1 overall) forced a three-and-out by Chartiers Valley on the ensuing possession and took over at their own 39 after a punt.
Five plays later, quarterback Julian Cox found Hooker for a 28-yard touchdown pass and a 20-3 advantage with 7:54 to go in the half.
The Colts (1-3, 1-4) answered on a five-yard scoring run by Mike Roper to close the deficit to 20-9.
But Hooker helped New Castle seize the momentum again. Four plays after Roper’s touchdown, Hooker took a handoff from Cox, raced left down the sideline for a 54-yard touchdown and a 26-9 lead.
“Richie Mariacher, one of the bigger lineman on the team, he’s out there leading through the hole,” Hooker said. “From there, it was just speed and stamina.”
Said Cowart, “That was good vision by him on that play and we set the edge pretty well. We try to tell all of our backs to stick your foot in the ground, be one cut back. Don’t dance around. He did a nice job of sticking his outside foot in the ground. He had a seam and it was a big play for us.”
Hooker finished with two rushes for 72 yards and four receptions for 105 yards.
“He’s beginning to come into his own,” Cowart said of Hooker. “His ability is obviously off the charts. He’s beginning to now trust his technique.
“He knows where he has to be. His football IQ is growing every week. He gets the ball in space. He’s a special football player.”
Chartiers Valley piled up 182 of its 229 total yards in the first half. The Colts didn’t score in the second half.
“I was unpleased with our effort defensively in the first half. I think the key word there is effort,” Cowart said. “For whatever reason, our effort was poor. We’re not trusting our assignment and technique football type of deal.
“Our unit, when we’re at our best, is playing really fast with high energy and high speed, physicality. We were lacking in all departments in the first half. That’s hats off to Chartiers Valley. They had a good game plan. We certainly weren’t playing to our capabilities in the first half. The guys definitely changed that in the second half.”
The ’Canes put the game into a mercy rule with 4:23 to play in the game when Nick Treloar plowed in from two yards out to close the scoring.
New Castle returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Friday when it travels to Parkway rival Blackhawk.
(Email: rponiewasz @ncnewsonline.com)
CHAR VALLEY NEW CASTLE
10 First downs 20
77 Yards Rushing 347
26 Yards Lost 12
51 Net Rushing 335
26 Passes Attempted 13
9 Passes Completed 7
3 Passes Intercepted 0
178 Yards Passing 160
229 Total Yards 495
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
4-35 Punts-Average 2-38
4-40 Penalties-Yards 5-57
CHAR. VALLEY 0 12 0 0 — 12
NEW CASTLE 6 20 7 14 — 47
Scoring plays
NEW CASTLE — Jake McPhatter, 4-yard run (kick failed).
CHARTIERS VALLEY — Thomas Kovach, 24-yard field goal.
NEW CASTLE — Malik Hooker, 97-yard kickoff return (Khalil Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — Hooker, 28-yard pass from Julian Cox (Huddleston kick).
CHARTIERS VALLEY — Mike Roper, 5-yard run (kick failed).
NEW CASTLE — Hooker, 54-yard run (kick failed).
CHARTIERS VALLEY — Kovach, 25-yard field goal.
NEW CASTLE — Tevin McCaster, 1-yard run (Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — Stew Allen, 14-yard pass from Cox (Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — Nick Treloar, 2-yard run (Huddleston kick).
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