The (im)perfect season
New Castle (0) vs. Thomas Jefferson (42)
Written: Nov 19, 2016
  By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News
PITTSBURGH — Turnovers. Inability to capitalize on opportunities. And getting beat up front on both sides of the ball.
It all spelled doom for the New Castle High football team Friday night at Heinz Field.
Quinton Hill rushed for 248 yards on 39 carries with three touchdowns to lead Thomas Jefferson to a 42-0 win over the Red Hurricane in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game.
“Our big guys played big in every big game we had. We just weren’t able to play big enough tonight against a great team. That team is like playing against Secretariat,” said fifth-year New Castle coach Joe Cowart. “That’s a fantastic group that we went up against and the task was just a little too tall for us tonight.
“It’s emotional just to be here and to be on the biggest stage. You want to play better on the biggest stage. I take notes as the game goes on and the notes I took were that we just weren’t ready on the biggest stage and I wasn’t ready on the biggest stage to achieve the ultimate goal which is to raise the gold trophy, not the silver trophy.”
The seventh-seeded ‘Canes (8-5) were competing in their first WPIAL championship game since 1998, a 14-7 decision over North Allegheny in Class AAAA action.
The top-seeded Jaguars (12-0) advance into the state playoffs and will square off against Erie Cathedral Prep in the state quarterfinals next weekend.
New Castle managed just five first downs and 63 yards of total offense on 40 plays.
“We take a lot of pride in our defense,” Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak said. “I think it was a great team effort.”
The ‘Canes had great field position after the opening kickoff, starting at the Jaguars 42. But three plays netted three yards and they had to punt.
New Castle had a chance to pounce on the Jaguars early when Devin Sams blocked a punt on TJ’s opening drive of the game.
The ‘Canes took over at Thomas Jefferson’s 6. But New Castle quarterback Geno Stone was stopped for a two-yard loss on first down and a false start penalty pushed the ‘Canes back to the 12 on second down.
Stone was picked off at the goal line on second down by Virginia recruit Zane Zandier to thwart the early opportunity.
“We just couldn’t get on track offensively,” Stone said.
Said Cowart, “I thought TJ, throughout the course of the year, showed that resilience in the red zone. We saw that through the course of the playoffs quite a bit. People were able to move the ball inside the 20, but not really able to capitalize on moments. That’s a testament to how good they are defensively. We certainly felt we missed some opportunities early, which maybe makes it a different ballgame. We left some things on the table, certainly, but I am so proud of the young men and the fight they had throughout the season.”
The teams battled to a scoreless duel through one quarter. But Jaguars running back Quinton Hill was starting to take his toll on the New Castle defense.
Hill finished with 248 yards rushing on 39 carries and three touchdowns. He notched 57 of his rushing yards in the opening quarter and 66 more in the second stanza with a touchdown. His eight-yard touchdown run with 6:34 left in the second quarter opened the scoring and Thomas Campbell converted the first of his six extra points for a 7-0 margin.
The ‘Canes had a shot to get on the board late in the half when they took over at their own 30 with 1:01 to go. But Noah Palmer stepped in front of a Stone pass and corralled the aerial after juggling it and raced in for a 20-yard touchdown with 57 seconds left in the half.
“Any time you have a turnover for a touchdown, it’s a big play just because of the energy that it gives the opposing team,” Cowart said. “You don’t want to spot them one and it felt like we spotted them one walking into halftime.
“Certainly, it was a big moment, but not a killer. Championship-quality teams answer and we didn’t have enough answers. Tip your cap to a very well-coached football team with a bunch of very skilled players. It wasn’t a surprise they made a big play because they’ve done that throughout the course of the season. I think we were slightly surprised we weren’t able to answer where we had answers over and over again throughout the course of the playoffs.”
New Castle went into the half with no first downs and just 62 yards of offense on 23 plays. Thomas Jefferson had 14 first downs and 144 yards of offense.
“That’s the best football team we’ve played and we think we’ve played some good football teams throughout the course of the season,” Cowart said. “They were physically imposing.
“We didn’t do a good enough job on both sides of the ball taking the fight to them. Not only are they a big and physical team, but the speed at which they play is impressive with the size they have.”
The Jaguars took the second-half kickoff and marched 52 yards on nine plays, capped off by a one-yard plunge by Hill. The Campbell conversion pushed the deficit to 21-0 with 7:06 left in the third.
“These are young men playing a game,” Cowart said. “The big moments there in the pick six and the big drive to open the third quarter, those are the things that will be the difference in the night, without a doubt.
“You have to find something good and we just weren’t able to find something or capitalize on the things that we did throughout the course of the game.”
Said New Castle’s Giovanni Eggleston, “As a linebacker, both their offensive and defensive lines took control of the game. That’s where we lost.”
Stone finished 1 of 13 through the air for 18 yards and three interceptions. Marshane McElroy was on the receiving end of Stone’s first-quarter completion.
“Geno and I normally don’t have a tough time completing passes,” said ‘Canes senior Garrett Farah. “Their secondary was just really good.”
(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com)
NEW CASTLE T.J.
5 First downs 19
70 Yards Rushing 331
25 Yards Lost 5
45 Net Rushing 326
13 Passes Attempted 5
1 Passes Completed 3
3 Passes Intercepted 0
18 Yards Passing 58
63 Total Yards 384
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
7-26 Punts-Average 3-26
4-20 Penalties-Yards 5-57
NEW CASTLE 0 0 0 0 — 0
T. JEFFERSON 0 14 14 14 — 42
Scoring plays
THOMAS JEFFERSON — Quinton Hill, 8-yard run (Thomas Campbell kick).
THOMAS JEFFERSON — Noah Palmer, 20-yard interception return (Campbell kick).
THOMAS JEFFERSON — Hill, 1-yard run (Campbell kick).
THOMAS JEFFERSON — Hill, 2-yard run (Campbell kick).
THOMAS JEFFERSON — Zane Zandier, 5-yard pass from Bobby Kelley (Campbell kick).
THOMAS JEFFERSON — Shane Stump, 17-yard run (Campbell kick).
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