New Castle ends streak against Blackhawk

By RON PONIEWASZ JR.

rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com

Finally!

New Castle High’s football losing streak against Blackhawk is over.

Sophomore running back Justin Fleo rolled up a school-record 276 rushing yards on 20 carries to lead the Red Hurricane past the Cougars last night at Taggart Stadium in a Parkway Conference matchup, 33-7.

The previous mark was held by Greg Solomon when he rushed for 272 rushing yards on 21 attempts on Oct. 20, 1984 in a 24-17 win over North Allegheny.

New Castle’s last win over Blackhawk came in 1987, a 25-0 verdict at Taggart Stadium. The ’Canes (1-0 conference, 3-0 overall), ranked No. 4 in the WPIAL in Class AAA by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, suffered 15 straight losses to Blackhawk in that span.

“It’s a great thing to get the monkey off your back,” New Castle coach Frank Bongivengo Jr. said. “It’s been a lot of years and they do a great job at Blackhawk.

“They’ve been able to make more plays than us during that stretch and tonight we were able to make more plays than them. Our kids played with a great amount of confidence. It was a great win.”

With 1:47 left to play, New Castle players doused Bongivengo with a water bucket to celebrate the victory.

“They got me,” Bongivengo said with a smile. “They were excited breaking that streak.

“I guess I’ll have to start paying more attention. I almost caught them and got out of the way.”

Blackhawk (0-1, 1-2) took the opening kickoff and marched 72 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown. Christian Mulig punctuated the drive on an 8-yard run for a 7-0 buffer with 5:36 left in the first quarter.

“That first series they took it to us a little bit,” Bongivengo said. “After that, our kids just said ‘hey coach, just let us go’ and that’s what we did.

“We lined it up in a base defense and we matched it up. We ran to the football. The only thing I didn’t like was there were a couple times we hit them and didn’t wrap up.”

Fleo led the comeback for the ’Canes. On New Castle’s second drive, he found the end zone on a 1-yard run up the middle. An illegal motion penalty on the extra point pushed the ball five yards back and Spenser Rapone’s attempt was blocked.

Fleo gave New Castle the lead for good in the second quarter on a 62-yard touchdown scamper. His jaunt culminated a four-play, 98-yard drive.

“They have a bubble boy that they always blitz with,” Fleo said. “Our line picked it up perfectly all night; the holes were there.”

The ’Canes dug out of trouble on the second play of the drive with the ball still at the 2. Quarterback Johnny Matarazzo dropped back and launched the ball to Marcus Carter who hauled in the pass for a 42-yard gain.

“I know I’ve got two guys out there on the ends that can make the plays at any time and on any part of the field,” Bongivengo said. “You just want to get it out there and let the guys go make a play.

“Marcus made a heck of a play. He came back on that ball and got it. It was a great catch and a great throw. We know what Johnny can do and he’ll continue to get better and better.”

Blackhawk’s offense amassed 70 yards, four first downs and a touchdown in the first 12 minutes. From there, New Castle’s defense put down the clamps. The ’Canes allowed just 57 yards, three first downs and no points in the final 36 minutes. The Cougars managed just one yard on 12 offensive plays in the third quarter.

“I think our defense is playing pretty good right now,” Bongivengo said. “As long as they are running to the ball and putting hats on the ball, good things are going to happen.

“We missed a couple of tackles that we need to make, next week (against Hopewell) that could turn into touchdowns.”

New Castle returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday when it travels to Hopewell. The Vikings (1-0, 3-0) are ranked No. 2 in the WPIAL in Class AAA by the Post-Gazette.

BLACKHAWK NEW CASTLE

8 First downs 15

132 Yards Rushing 360

43 Yards Lost 27

89 Net Rushing 333

5 Passes Attempted 7

18 Passes Completed 12

0 Passes Intercepted 1

38 Yards Passing 130

127 Total Yards 463

2-1 Fumbles-Lost 2-2

9-34.3 Punts-Average 3-27

3-16 Penalties-Yards 7-47

BLACKHAWK 7 0 0 0 — 7

NEW CASTLE 6 13 14 0 — 33

Scoring plays

BLACKHAWK — Christian Mulig, 8-yard run (Phillip Pritchard kick).

NEW CASTLE — Justin Fleo, 1-yard run (kick blocked).

NEW CASTLE — Fleo, 62-yard run (run failed).

NEW CASTLE — Darrian Rice, 40-yard pass from Johnny Matarazzo (Spenser Rapone kick).

NEW CASTLE — Fleo, 1-yard (Rapone kick).

NEW CASTLE — Fleo, 62-yard run (Rapone kick).