New Castle routs Mohawk
New Castle (45) vs. Mohawk (6)
Written: Oct 25, 2008
  By RON PONIEWASZ JR.
rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com
The New Castle High football team is rolling at the right time.
Last night, the Red Hurricane gained even more momentum.
New Castle racked up 459 yards of total offense in cruising to a 45-6 nonconference win over Mohawk at Taggart Stadium.
The win is the sixth in a row for the ’Canes after three losses to start the season.
“We’re going in with good momentum,” New Castle coach Frank Bongivengo Jr. said. “We were pretty efficient on offense tonight and we’ve been able to score quickly.”
The ’Canes will open the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs at home Friday against a team to be determined at Monday’s pairings meeting.
Blackhawk topped Ambridge last night 38-10 and will get the top seed out of the Parkway Conference because of its head-to-head win over New Castle. The teams tied for the conference crown.
“That part is disappointing, but hey, they beat us,” Bongivengo said. “If we would have beat them it would have been the other way around.
“Unfortunately it’s not, so we’ll live with whatever we get at this point. Eventually you’ll have to play all the good teams in the playoffs.”
The Warriors (4-5) capped a tough first season back in the Midwestern Athletic Conference with the first meeting ever with the ’Canes.
“Apparently it was pretty tough getting my team ready for this game,” Mohawk coach Jason Long said. “We can’t make excuses.”
New Castle was able to move the ball at will on the ground and it started up front. Bongivengo acknowledged the solid effort of Jared Fleo, Vince Pavia, Dom Cook, William Humphrey, Joe Oliva and James Feeley.
“I credit the offensive line,” Bongivengo said. “They’ve really begun to pick up their game and give us some holes to run in.
“Those guys deserve a lot of credit. They’re a big reason why we’re where we are.”
Said Long, “I thought they whooped us pretty good up front. They got into us and they made some nice plays offensively and defensively.”
Senior quarterback Michael Bongivengo turned in another impressive effort. The coach’s son had two rushing touchdowns, including a dazzling 95-yard scamper down the right sideline that he cut up and dashed across the field to the end zone.
“It was a really nice run,” the coach said. “He broke a couple of tackles and some of our guys hustled down the field to make blocks.”
Bongivengo also tossed two touchdown aerials, one coming from 67 yards on a screen toss to Keith Keene. Bongivengo rushed for 94 yards and passed for another 188.
“Michael Bongivengo is a player,” Long said. “You can tell he’s a leader out there and that’s what you want out of your quarterback.”
Keene amassed 114 yards on 11 attempts and surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season. He now has 1,068 yards to rank ninth on the school’s single-season rushing list.
“Keith Keene is unbelievable,” the elder Bongivengo said. “He seems to get better and better every week.”
The Warriors turned the ball over three times and they couldn’t run effectively to the outside against the ’Canes’ speedy defenders. Mohawk notched 156 yards of total offense, 112 of which came on the ground.
“I expected us to play much better,” Long said. “I expected our kids to show up and play with character and physicality that I know they are capable of playing with. They’ve shown that all year.
“It was just one of those days. New Castle is certainly a good football team.”
Chuck Trott posted the Warriors’ lone score on a one-yard run with 1:32 left in the contest. Trott led Mohawk in rushing with 50 yards on seven attempts.
MOHAWK NEW CASTLE
12 First downs 17
161 Yards Rushing 306
49 Yards Lost 35
112 Net Rushing 271
12 Passes Attempted 12
5 Passes Completed 7
2 Passes Intercepted 1
56 Yards Passing 188
168 Total Yards 459
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 3-0
5-26.4 Punts-Average 1-36
3-20 Penalties-Yards 2-17
MOHAWK 0 0 0 6 — 6
NEW CASTLE 14 13 12 6 — 45
Scoring plays
NEW CASTLE — Michael Bongivengo, 1-yard run (run failed).
NEW CASTLE — Keith Keene, 10-yard run (Brandon Burley run).
NEW CASTLE — Keene, 67-yard pass from Bongivengo (Jajuan Jay kick).
NEW CASTLE — Bongivengo, 95-yard run (kick failed).
NEW CASTLE — Jay, 6-yard pass from Bongivengo (run failed).
NEW CASTLE — Justin Fleo, 7-yard run (kick failed).
NEW CASTLE — Fleo, 13-yard run (kick failed).
MOHAWK — Chuck Trott, 1-yard run (run failed).
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