'Sharks in a frenzy'
Neshannock (35) vs. Monessen (6)
Written: Nov 09, 2013
By Corey J. Corbin
New Castle News
HOUSTON — The Neshannock football team didn’t appreciate having to travel to Monessen’s back yard for the second year in a row.
The Lancers let out all their pent-up aggression by demolishing the Greyhounds, 35-6, in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals last night at Chartiers-Houston.
“We have a chip on our shoulder every week,” Neshannock coach Fred Mozzocio said. “It’s going to be there next week, too. We’re Neshannock and teams don’t take us seriously, so we’re always out with something to prove.
“This was a great win against a great football team. That is a very good football team and we came out from start to finish and executed. We just got after them.”
The Lancers (9-2) will meet Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (11-0), a 14-7 winner over Avonworth, in the WPIAL Class A semifinals Friday at a time and site to be determined. The Trojans edged Neshannock, 21-14, in Week 8.
Clairton (10-1) and Sto-Rox (11-0) will meet in the other semifinal matchup.
“It doesn’t matter who we play,” Mozzocio said. “We’re going to play all out football whoever it is. We’ll refocus. We’re going to enjoy this victory against a great, great football team. We’ll work to get ready for next week’s game.”
Neshannock wasted little time to exert their dominance with Ernie Burkes capping a 10-play, 53-yard drive on a 19-yard run for a 7-0 lead after Jason Owrey converted the first of his five extra points.
Burkes scored again on a 23-yard scamper around the right side of this offensive line on the Lancers’ next offensive possession.
“We came out and got after it on both sides of the football,” Mozzocio said. “I couldn’t ask for much more than what we got tonight. I’m very pleased.”
The Lancers turned a Jeff Sanfilippo interception into a 21-0 cushion on a 50-yard scoring strike from Burkes to tight end Steven Jeffries with 8:25 left in the second quarter.
Neshannock extended its lead to 28-0 on a perfect pass from Burkes to Jimmy Medure in the corner of the end zone from 21 yards out with just 42 seconds left in the half.
“Ernie Burkes is one of the best playmakers in the WPIAL, bar none,” Mozzocio said. “The kid can flat out play football. There’s not much else I can say about him.”
The Lancers enacted the mercy rule when Eli Owens scored on a 5-yard run on Neshannock’s first drive of the second half.
“It’s a big win,” Owens said. “We thought they were going to come out harder than they did, but it is what it is. We came out, played our game and just beat them. We always have to have a chip on our shoulder. If you don’t have a chip on your shoulder, you won’t play very good. If you think you’re above everyone, there’s no point in playing.”
Owens and Burkes both crossed the century mark on the ground with Owens posting a game-high 151 yards on 25 carries. Burkes finished with 100 yards on 11 attempts, while completing 6 of 10 passes for 87 yards.
“The offensive line is just amazing,” Owens said, crediting his line of Ralph Dovidio, Zach Barnes, Steve Senko, Adam Wawrzynski, Nate Nativio and Jeffries. “They work so hard in practice. They do what they do and open big holes for me. All I do is run. I just love them so much. They’re great. Every time I run the ball, there’s big holes.”
The Lancers finished the night with 375 yards of total offense with 288 yards coming on the ground.
“We were going at it all night,” Dovidio said. “We got to our blocks and kept moving our feet. We were doing our jobs and everyone was communicating. The communication was great. I love giving the running backs big holes to run the ball through.”
Neshannock shut down the vaunted Monessen offense, limiting the Greyhounds to just 151 yards of total offense. Monessen entered the game averaging over 41 points a game and didn’t score until the game’s final play when Clintell Gillaspie scored on a 34-yard scoring strike from Justice Rawlins.
The Lancers also forced five turnovers and recovered an onside kick.
“Our defensive front seven had constant pressure and shut down their run from the very start,” Mozzocio said. “They couldn’t run the football on us and we forced them to pass. Once we force teams to pass, we were getting after them. Our battle cry has been ‘sharks in a frenzy.’ We had them in the shark tank tonight.”
Gillaspie, who rushed for over 1,100 yards this year, managed just 33 yards on eight carries, while Javon Brown was held to 12 yards on six attempts.
“We were sharks in a frenzy,” Dovidio said. “We game planned all week for them. We did great. We really didn’t change much up. We just came out hard and did our assignments.
“We got after the run game from the start. They thought they could pound it down our throats, but we came out hitting hard and wrapped up. We did our assignments and did our jobs. We stopped them.”
*****
NESHANNOCK MONESSEN
14 First downs 6
311 Yards Rushing 86
23 Yards Lost 5
288 Net Rushing 81
10 Passes Attempted 21
6 Passes Completed 7
1 Passes Intercepted 4
87 Yards Passing 71
375 Total Yards 152
3-1 Fumbles-Lost 4-1
1-13 Punts-Average 3-29.3
8-70 Penalties-Yards 5-25
NESHANNOCK 14 14 7 0 — 35
MONESSEN 0 0 0 6 — 6
Scoring plays
NESHANNOCK — Ernie Burkes, 19-yard run (Jason Owrey kick).
NESHANNOCK — Burkes, 23-yard run (Owrey kick).
NESHANNOCK — Steven Jeffries, 50-yard from Burkes (Owrey kick).
NESHANNOCK — Jimmy Medure, 21-yard yard pass from Burkes (Owrey kick).
NESHANNOCK — Eli Owens, 5-yard run (Owrey kick).
MONESSEN — Clintell Gillaspie, 34-yard pass from Justice Rawlins (no conversion attempt).
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