’Canes ‘start over’ with a win
New Castle (35) vs. Ambridge (7)
Written: Sep 10, 2011
By Joe Simon
New Castle news
There were plenty of problems for New Castle to fix after a shocking loss in the season opener.
Yet Red Hurricane coach Frank Bongivengo made sure to address one specific area first.
“That game is over, and really, it doesn’t mean a thing,” said Bongivengo of the message he told his team. “This, for us, was Week 1. And they understood it.”
The ’Canes’ comprehension was obvious last night.
They rolled past Ambridge, 35-7, in their Parkway Conference opener, dominating nearly every phase of the game in a matchup that started much like last week’s loss to Butler, but ended much differently.
New Castle (1-0, 1-1) scored the first two touchdowns, just like it did last week, with a 5-yard run by Jalen Holmes and an 11-yard touchdown pass from Johnny Matarazzo to Marcus Carter. But the Bridgers (0-1, 1-1) struck back with a long touchdown drive to steal the momentum, just as Butler did last week. Ambridge’s Kody Nichi took a screen pass 53 yards, making several New Castle players miss along the way, for a score.
This time, however, the ’Canes didn’t allow the game to spiral out of control.
Matarazzo hit Carter again, this time on a 46-yard bomb down the right sideline with 11 seconds remaining in the half to stun the Bridgers.
“It deflated us,” Ambridge coach Neil Tkatch said. “You fight back, you get the big score on the screen pass and you think you’re going in (at the half) 13-7, and you give one up with 11 seconds left. That hurts.”
Carter and Matarazzo weren’t done. They added a third TD strike midway through the third quarter to put the ’Canes up 28-7. For the second time, Carter beat an Ambridge defender to the corner of the end zone on a great route. He faked a slant to the inside, and then turned the defender around by breaking hard to the outside.
“That something me and Johnny work on a lot at practice,” said Carter, who made four catches for 80 yards and three touchdowns. “We always come out during pregame, run our routes and get our timing down. Me and Johnny have been playing for a long time and we have chemistry together.”
Matarazzo did more than just pass. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior ran for 83 yards. Matarazzo, not known for his speed or agility, confused the Bridgers several times by faking a handoff to Holmes and then running around the end. He didn’t outrush Holmes, who ran for 140 yards and two TDs as he returned from an ankle injury, but his role in the rushing game made Ambridge think twice about who had the ball.
“All offseason, my coaches were preaching that we need to keep teams honest on the zone-read,” Matarazzo said. “Tonight, it really paid off. They were biting hard on the zone. The offensive line did a great job leading me up in there, too. It was really pretty nice because the holes were big. It’s an added dimension.”
All the offense didn’t overshadow a great performance by the ’Canes’ defense. They held Ambridge to 100 yards rushing a week after being gouged in the running game. Stopping the run was another point of emphasis Bongivengo made sure to get across.
“Defense is a team effort,” he said. “We preach to the kids, ‘If you do your job, we’re going to be OK.’ Unfortunately, last week, a lot of guys weren’t doing their job. We put it together a little bit better this week, and hopefully that’s a sign of things to come because if we’re able to play defense like that and get the ball back that often with three and outs, it’s going to play a big role in the Parkway Conference.”
New Castle gets another taste of the Parkway on Friday at home against Central Valley, the returning WPIAL Class AAA champs.
“We have to go beat the big boys,” Bongivengo said. “They were WPIAL champs last year, and you have to beat teams like that to make it through the Parkway Conference and get to the playoffs, so I think our kids will be ready and focused.”
(Email: j_simon@ncnewsonline.com)
NEW CASTLE AMBRIDGE
16 First downs 7
260 Yards Rushing 117
18 Yards lost 17
242 Net Rushing 100
14 Passes Attempted 6
9 Passes Completed 2
0 Passes Intercepted 0
148 Yards Passing 82
390 Total Yards 182
2-2 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
2-36.5 Punts-Average 5-34.8
12-105 Penalties-Yards 7-65
NEW CASTLE 0 21 14 0— 35
AMBRIDGE 0 7 0 0— 7
Scoring plays
NEW CASTLE — Jalen Holmes, 5-yard run (Khalil Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — Marcus Carter, 11-yard pass from Johnny Matarazzo (kick failed).
AMBRIDGE — Kody Nichi, 53-yard pass from Nick Santiago (Santiago kick).
NEW CASTLE — Carter, 46-yard pass from Matarazzo (Matarazzo run).
NEW CASTLE — Carter, 15-yard pass from Matarazzo (Huddleston kick).
NEW CASTLE — Holmes, 9-yard run (Huddleston kick).
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