Player: Marshane McElroy Position: WR/DB Height: 6' 0" Weight: 185 lb Academic: Senior School: New Castle

By Clayton Sauertieg

New Castle News

New Castle High football coaches had been waiting for Marshane McElroy to have a breakout performance.

Friday night, they got their wish.

“Marshane has played a bunch for us the last two years and he’s really hitting his stride as a senior,” New Castle coach Joe Cowart said. “He finally put it all together last week with a really big game and we’re really happy for him and excited to see what he does going forward.”

The 6-foot, 175-pound wide receiver was too much for the Red Hurricane’s opponent, Knoch, to handle. McElroy racked up 120 yards of total offense and three touchdowns to lead his team to a 42-14 victory.

“It’s exciting, I’ve been waiting for a while to have a breakout game and I’m glad I could help the team to a great win,” McElroy said.

A great win it was for the ‘Canes, as they were able to right the ship following consecutive losses to Mars and South Fayette. McElroy played a key role in that process, particularly with quarterback Geno Stone missing snaps due to a lingering ankle injury.

In the third quarter of New Castle’s game with the Knights, McElroy spent time filling in at quarterback for Stone and scored two of his three touchdowns on the night. With the game still within reach at that point, McElroy dashed for matching 18-yard touchdown runs to turn the tide in the ‘Canes’ favor once and for all.

“Coach tells us to run everything at full-speed all the time because you never know when your opportunity’s going to come. So I was just waiting for my time to come and when it happened I just did the best I could,” he said of his standout performance.

Despite being possibly the best deep threat on New Castle’s roster, McElroy had found the end zone just one time this season prior to Friday’s game. But with his team in a tight spot and its signal caller hobbled, he was ready to step up.

“Marshane’s been a jack-of-all-trades type of guy for us,” Cowart said. “He’s played some quarterback, some running back, some wide receiver. He played linebacker for us last year. He’s played defensive back. So he’s been everywhere for us and really become a leader and we’re so excited about the success he’s been having his senior year.”

Cowart added that McElroy “may be the best of the athletes” on his team, one which touts multiple major-college caliber players in Stone and junior wideout Marcus Hooker.

“That’s the thing, he needs to believe that,” Cowart said. “He’s certainly our fastest guy. I mean he can really run and when he’s playing fast and physical he can be a really good football player for us.”

McElroy’s 10 receptions for 186 yards show his ability to change the game in the blink of an eye. His 18.6 yards-per-catch average is good enough for fifth in the county among players with at least 10 receptions on the year, while his 7.6 yards-per-rush places him sixth among those with at least 10 carries on the season.

“I love it any time I can make a big play,” McElroy said. “They (his teammates) all get more excited and more energy whenever it happens and you can kind of feel things change.”

With the ‘Canes sitting at 5-3 on the year, just one victory away from their first winning season since 2013, McElroy will be sure to have plenty of more opportunities to make big plays like he did Friday night.

“Marshane can be a game-changer for us,” Cowart said. “At any moment he can get the ball and the big play can happen at any time.”

(Email: csauertieg@ncnewsonline.com)