Burkes’ big night puts Lancers in playoffs
Neshannock (53) vs. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (7)
Written: Oct 12, 2013
 By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News
It was quite a night for Neshannock High’s Ernie Burkes.
The senior ran for big yardage, carved up the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart defense with his arm and even affected field position with his kickoffs.
Burkes scored three touchdowns and threw for another in the Lancers’ 53-7 WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference victory over the visiting Chargers.
The win clinches a WPIAL playoff berth for the Lancers (6-1 conference, 6-1 overall), who are ranked No. 3 in the WPIAL in Class A by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and No. 7 in the state by the Patriot-News of Harrisburg.
“Ernie played an all-around football game for us,” second-year Neshannock coach Fred Mozzocio said. “I’ve said it a million times, we sort of just come to expect that from Ernie. We take it for granted.
“He does some great things for us. He’s the ignition to our team, all the way around. When he goes, we go. Sometimes it may not show up in the box scores, but he gets everything rolling for us. He’s the conductor and field general. He makes it all happen.
“We’re not worried about things like clinching,” Mozzocio added. “We’re just taking it game by game.”
The loss puts OLSH on the verge of playoff elimination. A win by Western Beaver (3-2, 3-3) in one of its last three conference games, or a Rochester victory over the Chargers next week, will eliminate OLSH.
Burkes ran the ball 16 times for 133 yards and three touchdowns. He completed 16 of 24 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown.
“It was all my teammates,” Burkes said of the help he received for his performance. “The receivers did a great job, they were running good routes and they caught the ball. I just made the reads I was taught to throw and I made the throw.
“Running-wise, my line just stepped up and made big holes for me and I just took it. Our line is very mature.”
Neshannock took a 24-0 lead with a 39-yard field by Jason Owrey with just 52.9 seconds left in the half. Burkes lined up to kick off, and pooched it to an open space and Tyler Perry recover on the OLSH 32. Perry scooped the ball up in stride and dashed into the end zone, but it was brought back to the 32 because it can’t be advanced.
The nifty kick led to another Owrey field goal, this one from 21 yards away, for a 27-0 lead on the final play of the first half.
“We practice stuff like that all the time with Ernie,” Mozzocio said. “He can kick it with his right foot, his left foot. Anything is possible.
“We do work on things like that all the time. We’re always looking for an edge.”
Neshannock led just 7-0 after one quarter. But the hosts opened it up in the second stanza behind the passing of Burkes.
Burkes was 10 of 15 through the air in the second quarter for 137 yards.
“I just came out and played my game,” Burkes said. “Whatever happens, happens. I can’t control what happens in the past, I just worry about what happens on the next play.”
Said Mozzocio, “He was on target. He’s been on target a lot this year.”
Eli Owens returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a score to put the Lancers up 33-0. They initiated the mercy rule with nine minutes to go in the third on a 15-yard scoring run by Burkes for a 40-0 buffer.
Neshannock returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday at North Catholic in a nonconference matchup. It could be a possible playoff preview down the line as the Trojans (7-0) are ranked No. 2 in the district in Class A and No. 5 in the state.
“We’re still an angry football team from the loss to Sto-Rox,” Mozzocio said. “We’re a very hungry football team. North Catholic is the WPIAL’s No. 2-ranked team and we’re No. 3. We take that personally.
“We’re looking to go down there and make a statement. We’ll be ready to play some football.”
(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com)
OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART AT NESHANNOCK
OLSH NESHANNOCK
8 First downs 21
162 Yards Rushing 242
33 Yards Lost 13
129 Net Rushing 229
5 Passes Attempted 24
2 Passes Completed 16
0 Passes Intercepted 0
68 Yards Passing 246
197 Total Yards 475
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 3-1
6-31 Punts-Average 1-29
1-5 Penalties-Yards 6-65
OLSH 0 0 0 7 — 7
NESHANNOCK 7 20 19 7 — 53
Scoring plays
NESHANNOCK — Ernie Burkes, 1-yard run (Jason Owrey kick).
NESHANNOCK — Jimmy Medure, 7-yard pass from Burkes (Owrey kick).
NESHANNOCK — Burkes, 5-yard run (Owrey kick).
NESHANNOCK — Owrey, 39-yard field goal.
NESHANNOCK — Owrey, 21-yard field goal.
NESHANNOCK — Eli Owens, 85-yard kickoff return (kick failed).
NESHANNOCK — Burkes, 15-yard run (Owrey kick).
NESHANNOCK — Gianni Oliva, 18-yard run (kick failed).
OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART — John Truskowski, 3-yard run (Greg Strong kick).
NESHANNOCK — Zack Scott, 80-yard run (Irvin Porras kick).
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