Hopewell outslugs ’Canes in battle royal
New Castle (27) vs. Hopewell (35)
Written: Sep 26, 2009
 By JOE SAGER
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP – Two games into the season and Hopewell High’s newly renovated Tony Dorsett Stadium already needed an upgrade.
A new set of chains.
The Vikings’ original set lasted about three quarters before needing replaced. Miraculously, the guys working the chains survived all four quarters as Hopewell and New Castle combined to rack up 834 yards and 62 points in the Vikings’ 35-27 triumph in a pivotal WPIAL Class AAA Parkway Conference clash.
The loss ends New Castle's regular season winning streak at nine games.
The squads entered the battle with two of the top defenses in the district. However, the offenses shined in this encounter.
“We knew we were going to be in for a dogfight and that’s what it was,” New Castle coach Frank Bongivengo Jr. said. “In the end, they just made some more plays than we did.”
Hopewell sophomore sensation Rushel Shell set the tone when he returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. Shell appeared to be stopped on the play but emerged from a sea of jerseys and sprinted to the end zone.
“All I knew was that I was in a pile, and, once I came out of it, I saw I was one-on-one with another guy and I knew I could beat him,” he said. “New Castle is one of the best teams in Class AAA and beating them makes us feel like we could beat anyone right now.”
Shell, who tallied three touchdowns on the night, had the biggest impact against the Red Hurricane’s defense as he rushed for 144 yards on 20 carries. Those totals are deceiving, though, as 93 of those yards came on two long TD scampers (56 and 37 yards).
“He broke a couple nice runs, but I thought, for the most part, we did a pretty good job of containing him,” Bongivengo said. “With a good back, you miss a couple of tackles and he’s in the secondary. That’s what happens.”
New Castle (1-1 Parkway, 3-1 overall) tied the score at 7-all late in the first when Jajuan Jay hauled in a 22-yard TD strike from Johnny Matarazzo.
The fireworks came just before halftime. The squads scored 28 points in the final 4:39 to head to the locker room tied at 28-all.
Matarazzo plunged in from the 1 to give the ’Canes a 14-7 lead. Yet, Mark Ross snagged a 51-yard scoring strike from Matt Hundenski 1:29 later.
Again, Matarazzo put New Castle up, 21-14, when he scrambled 26 yards to the end zone with 1:39 left on the clock. But, Hopewell (2-0, 4-0) responded with Shell’s 56-yard scoring jaunt with 37.4 seconds before halftime.
“You walk away from this with your head up, and you just realize they made an extra play than we did. It wasn’t like we didn’t have our opportunities to put the game away,” Bongivengo said. “We let them come right down the field at the end of the first half and score. We just had too many mental mistakes but that’s something we’ll work on and get cleared up.”
The ’Canes struggled in the second half. Matarazzo, who completed 12 of 15 passes in the first half, failed to connect on his first four in the third quarter and New Castle’s running game sputtered, too.
“We came out in the second half sort of flat, for whatever reason, and they took advantage of it,” Bongivengo said. “Lack of concentration — whatever you want to call it. I don’t know what the difference was, but, for whatever reason, it happened. We’ll regroup and go back to work on Monday. It’s not over. It’s a long season, but I was a little disappointed in our effort.”
The Vikings took advantage. Hundenski scooted in from the 1 for a 28-21 lead with 4:22 remaining in the quarter.
After that, the ’Canes embarked on a long drive and were poised to tie the game. However, Malcolm Lay intercepted Matarazzo’s pass at the 5. Nine plays later, Shell raced 37 yards for his 13th TD of the season with 5:24 remaining.
Undaunted, Matarazzo, a sophomore, needed five plays to get New Castle in the end zone. After an incompletion, he connected on three straight passes for 76 yards and pitched the ball to Keith Keene for a 4-yard TD run with 4:15 to go. Hopewell blocked the extra point to maintain a 35-27 lead.
“On the interception, (Matarazzo) just made a bad read, that’s all, and he tried to force it. That stuff happens through the course of a game,” Bongivengo said. “He regrouped and took us back down the field for the score.”
The ’Canes were in position to get another possession late in the game as Hopewell faced a third-and-33 from its own 19, thanks to a pair of penalties and a 6-yard rushing loss. However, Hundenski floated a 35-yard pass that somehow found its way into the hands of Ross along the near sideline for a first down with 2:06 to play.
“That was a killer. I don’t know what happened — some people said he was out of bounds when he came down with the ball. Either way, we have to make that play,” Bongivengo said. “We have to knock that ball away. We had them third-and-forever and we’d get good field position and have a chance to go down, score and tie the game up. But, unfortunately, he made the play.”
The Vikings ran out the clock to secure the victory in front of the jampacked crowd.
NEW CASTLE HOPEWELL
24 First downs 17
173 Yards Rushing 285
6 Yards Lost 13
167 Net Rushing 272
30 Passes Attempted 8
17 Passes Completed 4
1 Passes Intercepted 1
287 Yards Passing 108
454 Total Yards 380
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 2-0
3-38 Punts-Average 5-38
4-30 Penalties-Yards 5-47
NEW CASTLE 7 14 0 6 — 27
HOPEWELL 7 14 7 7 — 35
Scoring plays
HOPEWELL — Rushel Shell, 89-yard kickoff return (Ryan Carson kick).
NEW CASTLE — Jajuan Jay, 22-yard pass from Johnny Matarazzo (Spenser Rapone kick).
NEW CASTLE — Matarazzo, 1-yard run (Rapone kick).
HOPEWELL — Mark Ross, 51-yard pass from Matt Hundenski (Carson kick).
NEW CASTLE — Matarazzo, 26-yard run (Rapone kick).
HOPEWELL — Shell, 56-yard run (Carson kick).
HOPEWELL — Hundenski, 1-yard run (Carson kick).
HOPEWELL — Shell, 37-yard run (Carson kick).
NEW CASTLE — Keith Keene, 4-yard run (kick blocked).
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