West Allegheny ends New Castle’s season
New Castle (7) vs. West Allegheny (31)
Written: Nov 14, 2009
By JOE SAGER
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
West Allegheny High’s Mike Caputo is a dominant force on the gridiron.
New Castle found that out in October when he rushed for 294 yards in a 28-21 victory.
Last night, Caputo did some more damage, but the Indians proved their “other” players are pretty good, too.
Quarterback Jared Buck and wide receiver Aaron McKinney, devastated the ’Canes in the Indians’ 31-7 triumph in a WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinal playoff battle at Newman Stadium.
Caputo, who entered the game as the WPIAL’s second-leading rusher with 1,777 yards on 237 carries, was “limited” to 174 yards and three TDs on 30 totes. Buck came through with one of the best performances of his career. The senior completed 10 of 17 passes for 196 yards and a TD. McKinney, a junior, was his favorite target as he hauled in eight aerials for 176 yards and a score.
“I thought we came out and made some plays. Our senior quarterback stepped up when he had to and made some plays, just like Aaron McKinney as well as our offensive line played. I am just really happy for these kids,” West Allegheny coach Bob Palko said. “We knew they were going to load up the box on us, which they did, so it was great to see the passing game come along. It was a total team effort. What a great football game and what a great football team. They’re a young team and I know Coach Bongivengo and New Castle will have an offseason to get ready to roll and I am sure they will be back.”
West Allegheny (9-2) moves on to face Thomas Jefferson, a 27-14 winner over Franklin Regional, at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals at a site to be determined. The Jaguars have won their last 48 games against WPIAL teams.
“We can’t say enough about TJ with the program and tradition they have and how well they’ve been doing,” Palko said. “We just have to heal up and see what we can do.”
Palko’s troops fared well against New Castle, which ended its season at 8-3. Caputo, taking direct snaps out of the Wildcat formation, ran all over the ’Canes in the first quarter for 94 yards on 10 carries. On his final haul of the frame, he scampered into the end zone for a 7-0 lead with 26 seconds left.
The ’Canes responded late in the second quarter. New Castle marched 45 yards and knotted the game at 7 when Johnny Matarazzo hit Justin Fleo for a 24-yard TD strike. Spenser Rapone added the PAT kick with 1:34 remaining in the half.
The score seemed to give the ’Canes momentum heading into the locker room. However, the Indians shifted it back emphatically before halftime.
West Allegheny opened up its passing game and marched 78 yards down the field in 1:21. Caputo rambled in from 7 yards out to give the Indians a 14-7 edge with 8 seconds on the clock.
“That was definitely a huge turning point,” New Castle coach Frank Bongivengo Jr. said. “We had the momentum and we were hoping we could get a stop, but they made a couple plays.”
Palko claims his troops were satisfied with carrying a 7-7 tie into halftime before connecting on a couple big passing plays to sustain their drive en route to the go-ahead TD.
“We were just trying not to give the ball back over to them,” he explained. “We had a big third-down play and then we hit a couple and we were out of trouble. I thought they had the momentum and I didn’t want to give the ball back to them. So, we were kind of being a little cautious, but things worked out.”
West Allegheny scored on the first possession of the third quarter, too. The Indians took to the air and Buck hit McKinney for a 41-yard scoring strike and a 21-7 advantage.
The ’Canes fumbled on their second offensive play of the third quarter. West Allegheny turned that into a touchdown as well. The Indians needed eight plays to cover 50 yards as Caputo launched into the end zone from the 2 with 3:07 left in the frame.
While New Castle limited Caputo to 32 yards on 13 carries in the second half, the ’Canes could not contain West Allegheny’s passing game. Aaron Fleck’s 42-yard field goal in the fourth quarter capped the scoring, but the game was out of reach at that point.
“I thought, for the most part, we did a great job on the run. They hit us for a couple passes over the middle and their quarterback threw some really nice balls — we thought we had some really good coverage and he made some good throws and they made some good catches. That hurt us. I give credit to West A. They played hard and well,” Bongivengo said. “For the most part, we felt like we did a real good job against (Caputo). Our defense played well enough for us to be in that game for a long time. Offensively, we sometimes stepped on our own feet. The kids played hard. They didn’t quit, especially when they had a chance to quit late in the game. They kept battling. I am proud of these guys. This group of seniors made it to the playoffs three years in a row. These guys worked hard for us and I am just so proud of this team.”
Senior Keith Keene led New Castle with 64 yards rushing on 12 carries. Matarazzo, the ’Canes’ sophomore slinger, established a program record for passing yards in a season. He finished the campaign with 2,128 yards to surpass Michael Bongivengo’s standard of 1,982 (according to the New Castle News’ stats) set last year.
New Castle graduates a bevy of talented players, but returns a solid core as well.
“I just couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” Frank Bongivengo Jr. said. “We are losing some great guys, but we have some great guys coming back. We’ll heal our wounds and, in a few weeks, we’ll get back in the weight room and get back to work and go on.”
NEW CASTLE WEST ALLEGHENY
11 First downs 18
77 Yards Rushing 234
29 Yards Lost 17
48 Net Rushing 217
24 Passes Attempted 18
15 Passes Completed 10
2 Passes Intercepted 0
152 Yards Passing 196
200 Total Yards 413
3-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
3-28 Punts-Average 2-43
7-55 Penalties-Yards 3-25
NEW CASTLE 0 7 0 0— 7
WEST A 7 7 14 3—31
Scoring plays
WEST ALLEGHENY — Mike Caputo, 3-yard run (Aaron Fleck kick)
NEW CASTLE — Justin Fleo, 24-yard pass from Johnny Matarazzo (Spenser Rapone kick)
WEST ALLEGHENY — Caputo, 7-yard run (Fleck kick)
WEST ALLEGHENY — Aaron McKinney, 41-yard pass from Jared Buck (Fleck kick)
WEST ALLEGHENY — Caputo, 2-yard run (Fleck kick)
WEST ALLEGHENY — Fleck, 42-yard field goal
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