’Canes’ gamble pays off in wild finish against Moon
New Castle (43) vs. Moon (42)
Written: Oct 19, 2013
 By Shawn Fox
New Castle News
MOON TOWNSHIP — It was fitting that last night’s Parkway Conference game between New Castle and Moon was played under a full moon.
The game, which saw the teams combine for over 800 yards of total offense, ended up being decided by a gutsy coaching decision.
New Castle’s Joe Cowart elected to go for two points after his team scored with 55.8 seconds remaining in the game, and the gamble paid off as the Red Hurricane posted a wild 43-42 victory at Tiger Stadium.
“We thought about it, yeah,” Cowart said. “The guys were confident and our coaches were confident that that was the right call. The guys were able to execute.”
Trailing 42-35 with less than five minutes remaining in the game, New Castle (5-2 conference, 6-2 overall) took over at its own 36-yard line. The ‘Canes drove to the Moon 22, thanks to six rushes from Tevin McCaster for 33 yards and a 14-yard pass from Julian Cox to Malik Hooker. On first-and-10 from the 22, Cox found Stew Allen in the end zone for the score to draw the ‘Canes within a point, 42-41.
“It was a phenomenal throw and an excellent catch,” Cowart said. “Stew Allen is the class of the Parkway at tight end, I think. The kid’s really made a name for himself this year. He made the play of the game tonight, no question about it.”
Following a timeout on the point-after try, Cox handed off to nose tackle Niles Holloway, who was lined up at fullback. Holloway bulled his way into the end zone for the apparent two-point conversion. However, Moon called a timeout just prior to the snap.
“They got us in a Bill Belichick timeout,” Cowart said. “Good for them, but bad for us. But, we were able to execute and get it in. It was exciting.”
With a second chance, the ‘Canes lined up in a similar formation. This time, Cox faked the handoff to Holloway and ran in for the conversion himself, touching off a wild celebration on the New Castle sideline.
“I was just able to squeeze in there,” Cox said. “Their guy made a nice break on me, and I made it to the pylon. Thank God.”
The Tigers (4-3, 5-3), however, weren’t finished. With less than a minute to go, they drove to near midfield. But Moon’s last-second comeback attempt was thwarted when Cox picked off an Aleksei Yaramus pass with less than 10 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
“I love my team so much because all year long we’ve had to overcome adversity,” Cox said. “This was just a great character-building situation. I loved how my team reacted. We came out and played full speed all four quarters.”
Cox, who received a pair of full-ride scholarship offers this week from Boston College and California University of Pennsylvania, led the way for the ‘Canes, throwing three touchdown passes and rushing for another. Cox connected with Hooker for a 71-yard score on the game’s first offensive play. That duo also combined for a 19-yard TD pass in the third quarter.
McCaster came off the bench in the second half to rush for 133 yards, including an 84-yard scoring run in the third quarter.
“Tevin’s banged up and we didn’t think he was going to play at all (last) night,” Cowart said. “He was able to get in there and was a difference maker for us in the second half.”
New Castle also got a special teams score as Levar Ware forced Noah Perry to fumble on a kickoff return, and Drew Allen scooped up the loose ball and raced 34 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Cole Blake was a one-man wrecking crew for the Tigers, rushing for a school-record 345 yards and five touchdowns on 30 carries. He scored on runs of 39, 68, 6, 3 and 36 yards.
“He was something special tonight,” Cowart said. “He was a handful.”
New Castle will host Hopewell on Friday in the regular-season finale.
“The fact that our backs were squarely planted on the wall tonight, and we fought our way back was an impressive thing to see from that group,” Cowart said. “We obviously have a ways to go to get better. But we did show some resiliency tonight.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
NEW CASTLE MOON
16 First downs 16
224 Yards Rushing 404
15 Yards Lost 9
209 Net Rushing 395
26 Passes Attempted 6
12 Passes Completed 2
1 Passes Intercepted 1
210 Yards Passing 36
419 Total Yards 430
2-0 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
2-48 Punts-Average 3-32
9-59 Penalties-Yards 11-77
NEW CASTLE 7 14 14 8 — 43
MOON 14 14 7 7 — 42
Scoring plays
NEW CASTLE — Malik Hooker, 71-yard pass from Julian Cox (Khalil Huddleston kick).
MOON — Cole Blake, 39-yard run (Marco DeBlassio kick).
MOON — Aleksei Yaramus, 26-yard run (DeBlassio kick).
NEW CASTLE — Cox, 2-yard run (Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — Drew Allen, 34-yard fumble recovery return (Huddleston kick).
MOON — Blake, 68-yard run (DeBlassio kick).
MOON —Blake, 6-yard run (DeBlassio kick).
MOON — Blake, 3-yard run (DeBlassio kick).
NEW CASTLE — Hooker, 19-yard pass from Cox (kick failed).
NEW CASTLE — Tevin McCaster, 84-yard run (Niles Holloway run).
MOON — Blake, 36-yard run (DeBlassio kick).
NEW CASTLE — Stew Allen, 22-yard pass from Cox (Cox run).
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