Lancers light up Laurel
Neshannock (35) vs. Laurel (14)
Written: Sep 08, 2012
By Dan Irwin
New Castle News
Lightning was a problem all night for Laurel.
First, persistent storms in the area of Spartan Stadium delayed the start of last night’s WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference game against Neshannock for nearly two hours.
And when the contest finally got away, lightning immediately struck again in the form of a 94-yard opening kickoff return by the Lancers’ John Conglose. The shocker set the stage of a night of electrifying plays that lifted Neshannock to a 35-14 victory in a game that didn’t end until nearly 11:30 p.m.
The Lancers (2-0 in the conference and overall) extended their lead to 14-0 on their first offensive series, a drive highlighted by Elijah Owens’ 46-yard breakway and capped by Conglose’s 5-yard run.
Owens rolled up 161 yards on just 12 carries, including a 51-yard, third-quarter burst that set up what proved to be the winning touchdown two plays later.
That particular score, coming after Laurel had knotted the game at 14-all, came courtesy of quarterback Ernie Burkes’ 2-yard run. Like Owens, Burkes used the night to compile some big numbers of his own, rushing for 63 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries. His 37-yard TD romp early in the fourth quarter extended Neshannock’s lead to 28-14.
“We have some weapons; it’s no secret now,” first-year Neshannock coach Fred Mozzocio said. “We can score quickly, and we can hold the ball a little bit when we need to, we can go right at you. We can do a little bit of both.”
Lighting the fuse on Neshannock’s big-play offense — which also included a five-carry, 51-yard night by Alex Welker — is the Lancers’ no-huddle offense. Neshannock employed it for all but a handful of plays against Laurel (1-1, 1-1).
“We definitely can utilize it,” Mozzocio said. “We can create some match-up problems for teams and we try to exploit it, as you saw tonight, with some different matchups that we saw. Plus, we can check some plays at the line, and that helps us out.”
The Spartans countered Neshannock’s two early scores with a first-quarter, 7-yard run by Dalton Rosta and a third-quarter, 7-yard scamper by quarterback Josh Dando, who finished with 89 yards on 14 carries.
Dando’s game-tying score appeared to give Laurel momentum, and when two holding calls on Neshannock’s next possession left the Lancers facing some long-yardage situations, a tilting point seemed at hand.
That’s when Owens broke off his 51-yarder on a second-and-16 from his own 42. Burkes scored two plays later.
It was the first of three second-half Neshannock scores, the last coming with 2:26 remaining on Kienan Owens’ 2-yard run.
“That did hurt,” Laurel coach Jerry Holzhauser said of Elijah Owens’ big gainer. “We had some guys, we lost a few kids during the game, and we had some guys forced into action early.
“The inexperience has got to be out of us now. They’ve got to be veteran players for next week.”
(Email: d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com)
NESHANNOCK LAUREL
13 First downs 14
291 Yards Rushing 236
0 Yards Lost 15
291 Net Rushing 221
14 Passes Attempted 10
8 Passes Completed 4
0 Passes Intercepted 1
56 Yards Passing 37
347 Total Yards 258
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
3-39.7 Punts-Average 4-31
10-100 Penalties-Yards 7-40
NESHANNOCK 14 0 7 14 — 35
LAUREL 7 0 7 0 — 14
Scoring plays
NESHANNOCK — John Conglose, 94-yard kickoff return (Connor Richards kick).
NESHANNOCK — Conglose, 5-yard run (Richards kick).
LAUREL — Dalton Rosta, 7-yard run (Noah Wertz kick).
LAUREL — Josh Dando, 7-yard run (Wertz kick).
NESHANNOCK — Ernie Burkes, 2-yard run (Richards kick).
NESHANNOCK — Burkes, 37-yard run (Richards kick).
NESHANNOCK — Kienan Owens, 3-yard run (Richards kick).
|