Neshannock has no answers for Avonworth
Neshannock (6) vs. Avonworth (35)
Written: Sep 06, 2008
By JOE SAGER
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
PITTSBURGH — The Neshannock High football team searched for a way to stop Khiry Watts last night.
But Watts made certain that the Lancers left Avonworth’s Lenzner Field empty-handed — with their first loss of the season, 35-6, in nonconference action.
Watts, a slippery 5-foot-10 senior running back, rushed for 190 yards on 24 carries to lead the Antelopes to the victory.
“He was a difference-maker,” Neshannock’s Chris Kirkwood said. “With the way we run our defense, we should be able to contain that. That’s definitely something we’re going to have to work on when we compete in our conference.”
He’s right. Neshannock had trouble containing Watts, who is attracting interest from numerous NCAA Division I programs, including Pitt. Also a standout sprinter, Watts broke loose for three touchdowns on the night and was rarely corralled once he broke to the outside with the ball.
“We couldn’t stop them, really, initially,” Neshannock coach Pat Cuba said. “They moved the ball — that running back is a great running back. You have to tackle him. When he gets to the outside, the jets kick in and you just can’t let that happen.”
With Watts leading the way, Avonworth (2-0) moved the ball easily against the Lancers (1-1) early in the contest. The Antelopes scored on their first four drives.
“We had opportunities, but we just blew them. They moved the ball on us; they have a good offense and a lot of seniors,” Cuba said. “They have a good football team, but we have a good football team, too. We just didn’t play the way we are capable of playing. I think we’ll get better and be better next week.”
While Avonworth scored the first four touchdowns of the contest, the Lancers had chances to keep the game close.
On their first possession after falling behind, 7-0, Neshannock seemed poised to strike back, but was stopped on a fourth-down running play that gave the Antelopes the ball on their own 27. Four plays later, the hosts made it 14-0 when Tyler Fantigante hit Gene Williams for a 45-yard TD strike.
Two more times, the Lancers fought back and moved the ball. However, they came away without any reward, including a fumble on their own 9 with 5:48 remaining in the first half.
Down 28-0, Neshannock gained some momentum heading into halftime. Kirkwood fielded a short screen pass from Josh Brown. He turned upfield, broke a couple tackles, weaved to his left, slipped past a couple more Antelopes and tip-toed the sideline into the end zone for a 66-yard touchdown.
“Chris did a great job running. He is a hard-nosed kid,” Cuba said. “He’s done a great job for me all year. He’s very smart and I can’t say enough good things about him.”
Kirkwood gave the Lancers another spark when he recovered a fumble on the 10 on Avonworth’s first drive of the second half. Once again, though, Neshannock was unable to capitalize.
“We didn’t catch any of the breaks and it shows by the score, but I think if we come out next week and get back to the basics — tackling and all that stuff — I think we can make some damage in the conference,” Kirkwood said.
Despite the loss, Cuba knows his Lancers will learn from the defeat.
“The kids didn’t quit. It would have been easy to go in at halftime and fold. We got tired at the end when they scored that last touchdown,” he said. “We were down inside the 25 a couple times where we should have done something. I will take the blame; I didn’t have them prepared to play. We’ll be better prepared next week.”
Brown led Neshannock with 111 yards rushing. He completed 4 of 10 passes for 86 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Kirkwood added 45 yards rushing on 10 carries.
The Lancers open Big Seven Conference play Saturday at Shenango.
NESHANNOCK AVONWORTH
12 First downs 20
170 Yards Rushing 289
8 Yards Lost 7
162 Net Rushing 282
10 Passes Attempted 8
4 Passes Completed 5
1 Passes Intercepted 0
86 Yards Passing 99
248 Total Yards 381
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
2-39 Punts-Average 1(-1)
2-30 Penalties-Yards 3-25
NESHANNOCK 0 6 0 0 — 6
AVONWORTH 14 14 0 7 — 35
Scoring plays
AVONWORTH — Khiry Watts, 6-yard run (Jacob George kick).
AVONWORTH — Gene Williams, 45-yard pass from Tyler Fatigante (George kick).
AVONWORTH — Watts, 9-yard run (George kick).
AVONWORTH —Tim Werley, 2-yard run (George kick).
NESHANNOCK — Chris Kirkwood, 66-yard pass from Josh Brown (kick failed).
AVONWORTH — Watts, 32-yard run (George kick).
|