Lancers exact revenge on Rochester
Neshannock (52) vs. Rochester (20)
Written: Oct 05, 2013
  By Dan Irwin
New Castle News
In five previous Class A Big Seven Conference seasons, Neshannock High had never defeated Rochester.
Still, the first four of those losses — in which the Rams outscored the Lancers 142-7 — didn’t seem to bother this year’s Neshannock squad all that much.
But last year’s seven-point defeat — in which the Lancers squandered an early two-touchdown lead — that was an open sore.
“We needed revenge real bad,” senior linebacker Michael Rodriguez said after last night’s rematch at Bob Bleggi Stadium. “It ate at us. We hung onto that year-round. We were pretty bitter about it until now.”
What finally took the sting out of it was Neshannock’s 52-20 Homecoming rout of the Rams, in which the Lancers scored on the first play of the game — a 44-yard pass from Ernie Burkes to Rocco Fazio — and never looked backed.
Junior running back Eli Owens amassed 291 yards on 11 carries in only one half of play. It was the third 200-yard-plus outing of his career, and the second this year.
Owens scored on runs of 39, 22, 90 and 35 yards. The Lancers’ other first half scores — which gave them a 46-0 halftime lead and produced a second half played by both schools’ junior varsity squads under the mercy rule — came on a 17-yard fumble return by Jimmy Medure and a 65-yard burst by Gianni Oliva.
The Lancers’ starters totaled 452 yards total offense in the first half and limited the Rams (2-3 conference, 2-4 overall) to just 71 before taking the final two quarters off.
“There definitely was some motivation from last year,” Neshannock coach Fred Mozzocio said. “In the second half last year, they came out and dominated us out front. And our kids sort of felt disrespected with some of the comments in the paper last year. So we wanted to come out and make a statement, and I think we did right off the bat.
“One thing we preached all week: Come out and play Neshannock Lancer football and show them that we’re the most physical team in the Big 7. I think that was answered. The offensive line was just blowing open holes and we were running for touchdowns. We knocked them off the block the whole night.”
Senior offensive lineman Steven Senko recalled last year’s loss as well, but his memories go even beyond that.
“The feeling of beating Rochester, and the way we did it, it’s the greatest feeling,” he said. “When I came in ninth grade, when we would play Rochester, everyone just looked like they’d already given up.
“But in 11th grade, when coach Mozzocio came in, we knew that we could hang with them and beat them, but we just came up short. This year, we turned things around.”
The loss continued a rare tough season for Matsook, a 1981 Shenango graduate who, in 14 seasons as Rochester coach, has claimed four WPIAL and two PIAA crowns, as well as two state runner-up finishes. He’s never lost more than four games in a season, a total he’s now hit with three games — including Sto-Rox (5-0, 6-0) and Laurel (5-1, 4-1) — still to play.
Also, with last week’s 50-6 loss to Western Beaver, the Rams now have given up half-a-hundred two straight weeks after previously not having surrendered that many points in a game since 1993.
Scoring for Neshannock’s reserves was freshman quarterback Frank Antuono, whose 58-yard touchdown helped him rack up 98 yards on five carries.
Ishmal Tucker (2-yard run), Jared Waxler (63-yard run) and Nick Grossi (3-yard run) scored second-half TDs for the Rams.
(Email: d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com)
ROCHESTER NESHANNOCK
14 First downs 19
231 Yards Rushing 513
18 Yards Lost 15
213 Net Rushing 498
3 Passes Attempted 3
7 Passes Completed 8
0 Passes Intercepted 1
34 Yards Passing 81
247 Total Yards 579
5-3 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
5-39.2Punts-Average 0-0
9-71 Penalties-Yards 5-112
ROCHESTER 0 0 8 12 — 20
NESHANNOCK 27 19 0 6 — 52
Scoring plays
NESHANNOCK — Rocco Fazio, 44-yard pass from Ernie Burkes (Jason Owery kick).
NESHANNOCK — Eli Owens, 39-yard run (Owery kick).
NESHANNOCK — Jimmy Medure, 17-yard fumble return kick failed).
NESHANNOCK — Owens, 22-yard run (Owery kick).
NESHANNOCK — Gianna Oliva, 65-yard run (pass failed).
NESHANNOCK — Owens, 90-yard run (Owery kick).
NESHANNOCK — Owens, 35-yard run (kick failed).
ROCHESTER — Ishmal Tucker, 2-yard run (Brent Johnson pass from Chase Long).
ROCHESTER — Jared Waxler, 63-yard run (kick failed).
NESHANNOCK — Frank Antuono, 58-yard run (kick failed).
ROCHESTER — Nick Gross, 3-yard run (run failed).
|