A salute to Neshannock's senior class

By Andrew Koob

New Castle News

Their high school football careers are over.

But the 15 seniors who were the heart and soul of the Neshannock High football team leave something much more important than just their jerseys behind: a legacy and a new set of standards for future Lancers.

That’s what happens when a program goes from a borderline .500 team to a perennial league power in a matter of three years.

The Lancers’ senior class of Zach Barnes, Jordan Demarco, Seth Dueitt, Rocco Fazio, Johnathan Hites, Adrian Holmes, Billy Lytle, Dominic Martucci, Jimmy Medure, Eli Owens, Tyler Perry, Jeff Sanfilippo, Nick Sansone, Jacob Tyler and Adam Wawrzynski helped Neshannock post a 30-5 record and three trips to the WPIAL Class A semifinals since 2012, the beginning of coach Fred Mozzocio’s tenure.

Hites, still recovering from a back injury suffered last season, didn’t dress for the Lancers this season. A 16th senior, Hassan Alkhafaji, practiced with the team during the offseason, but moved to Texas before it began.

The overall play of Neshannock’s 2015 football players have earned them Lawrence County co-Athlete of the Week honors, an award sponsored by Washington Centre Physical Therapy and selected by the New Castle News sports staff.

“Starting in their sophomore year, it was about creating a program that every year we’re able to challenge for championships, both WPIAL and at the state level,” Mozzocio said. “They have been very instrumental in that. Hours of hard work, hours of dedication and the best part about it is that they continue to do it in the classroom. It’s something that themselves, their parents and the entire community should be proud of.”

The senior class has been together for years now, starting when they were third graders just a shade under a decade ago. That camaraderie has made it easier for everyone on and off the field and the results have shown throughout their high school careers.

“This team has been together since third grade, we’ve grown up together,” Barnes said. “We won a championship in eighth grade and I think that, through the years, we’ve grown and become a true football team, a brotherhood together.”

Neshannock’s latest game, a 48-42 overtime thriller against Clairton, shed light on just how close knit the group is. The seniors shined in a game that few thought would be competitive before kickoff and showcased just what kind of product the Lancers have put on the field all season long.

“Even though it hurts that we weren’t able to get the victory,” Perry said, “The one thing I can take away from this is that we really did gain the respect of not only Lawrence County, but of the WPIAL. There’s a lot of people who doubted us and we put them down quickly.”

The performance over the past three years from this graduating class has set the bar higher for future Lancers. No more is Neshannock an afterthought once the postseason rolls around. The Lancers are now a household name and, because of the recent success, younger players now have a goal in mind when they don the red and white for the varsity squad in the coming years.

“The young men below that are in ninth grade and 10th grade and even our Pop Warner clinics in the summer,” Mozzocio said, “they know who this group is and they know what their names are. It’s sort of building a tradition here at Neshannock where our young kids that are in elementary school playing in the Pop Warner programs now know who Jimmy Medure is, Rocco Fazio, Eli Owens. They’re going up to these guys, they see them in the community, they ask them for autographs and stuff like that. It’s something that now these young guys can look up to and say ‘I want to be like that some day. I want to be on that football field and be just like those guys’. That’s very important and that’s the legacy they leave.”

It wasn’t all about setting the bar high, however. Proving that the Lancers belonged among the best became a motivator, especially in a crucial matchup against on of the best teams in the playoffs, was always in the back of the players’ minds.

“It feels great to set the standard high for future generations of Neshannock football to come up and just to change the face of the program,” Tyler said. “We were never really a football school, but, over the past three years, we proved to Lawrence County and all of the WPIAL that we are one of the main football schools in the league.”

That mindset certainly wasn’t just for the finale. All year the Lancers have faced opposition from the outside.

“Coming from the start with all of these guys, we knew we were down because we lost our seniors and everyone was telling us that we weren’t going to be good,” Medure said. “We just channeled that out and got to work early. Throughout the season, everyone saw that it paid off and just that within itself is a reward for all the hard work we put in.”

Not everyone, however, has been a part of the bond that has lasted since the seniors were in elementary school.

Demarco, who transferred from New Castle, has only been a part of the group for the past year. The Lancers welcomed him with open arms and made the newest Neshannock senior feel right at home.

“Football really brought us together, we did a lot of things together,” Demarco said. “Went out to eat, go to concerts and just hung out together and I think that’s what really helped us this year. We stuck together through everything and saw the results coming from that.

“They all brought me in as if I was here my whole life. That helped a lot, we stuck together and we knew we weren’t playing just for ourselves, we were playing for each other.”

Mozzocio and staff are sad to see the group move on, but know that the players did all they could for the program.

“Every day you become so close with them and you spend so much time with them. You’re laughing but you’re pushing them. It’s been a great three years, it’s been an honor to be their coach and I think I have 16 friends here for the rest of my life with these guys.

“They’re a great group and they’ll be missed. But they certainly won’t be forgotten.”

(Email: A_Koob@ncnewsonline.com)