No. 4 Lancers roll past No. 5 North Catholic
Neshannock (42) vs. North Catholic (7)
Written: Oct 20, 2012
By Andrew Petyak
New Castle News
It took only one counterpunch for Neshannock High to get the knockout blow last night.
A 65-yard touchdown pass from Ernie Burkes to senior receiver John Conglose was the devastating upper-cut delivered to visiting North Catholic in a 42-7 victory.
With the nonconference win, the Lancers, ranked fourth in Class A in the WPIAL according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, improved to 7-1 overall.
“I think we’ve scored on that play about five times this year,” Conglose said.
The slant was the lone play of a drive that broke a 7-7 tie in the first quarter. It also broke the spirits of the WPIAL Eastern Conference-leading Trojans (6-2), who came into the game ranked fifth in WPIAL Class A.
“I have confidence in all my receivers, but that certain play I knew he was going to be open,” junior quarterback Ernie Burkes said. “I knew he wanted the ball on that play. I found him, and I let him run with it.”
The touchdown was an answer to a scoring drive by North Catholic that lasted nearly seven minutes and featured four players taking snaps. Trojans running back Jarred Fragapan scored from four yards out.
“We knew they were going to do that with personnel,” Lancers coach Fred Mozzocio said. “They use multiple quarterbacks. They really took it to us the first drive.”
The game started with the Neshannock offense starting at its own 42. Burkes was the star, completing two passes for 30 yards and rushing for 16. Lancers sophomore Eli Owens scored on a 12-yard run.
With the Trojans tying the game on a drive in which they looked unstoppable, Mozzocio wasn’t surprised with how his team responded.
“That’s what we do,” Mozzocio said. “We can run it in-between the tackles if we need to. We can strike quick. That’s the problem other teams have when they go against us on defense.”
After that, it was all about the Lancers’ defense, forcing North Catholic to three-and-outs on its next two series. Sacks by juniors Gianni Oliva and Ralph Dovidio ended each drive.
“We made a couple of minor adjustments after that first drive with our defensive front and we took care of ourselves,” Mozzocio said. “We just started wrapping and running our feet after contact, so that was the big difference.”
Sandwiched in-between the defensive stops was a Lancers offensive series again led by Burkes. Burkes completed all three of his passes, including a 19-yard touchdown to senior receiver Alex Welker to make it 21-7 early in the second. Welker finished the game with 77 yards on four catches.
“I threw some poor balls and the wide receivers made some great plays on them,” Burkes said. Burkes finished the game completing 11 of 12 passes for 235 yards and two scores.
“He had an excellent game,” Mozzocio said of his quarterback. “He’s been focused. We’ve been working on the pass game, trying to get ready for the playoffs. We know we’re going to have to put the ball up at times and be effective through the air and he responded as he always does. Ernie’s a fierce competitor, and he did what we asked him to do tonight.”
When the Lancers got the ball after the Trojans’ second three-and-out, they went right back to work. Starting on the North Catholic 33 after a short punt, the running game went into motion with quick jabs. A four play drive ended with a second touchdown run by Owens to make it 28-7.
On the ropes, the Trojans attempted a last-gasp comeback before halftime, driving the ball to the Lancers’ 10 before Neshannock forced a turnover on downs with a key fourth down stop of star running back P.J. Fulmer, who was held to 37 yards on 13 carries.
“Our backs were against the wall on the goal line,” Mozzocio said. “It’s nothing new. Our defense did the same against Rochester. With their backs against the wall, they responded.”
North Catholic began the second half with a punt. The Lancers continued to roll on offense. A 12-yard pass from Burkes to Conglose put the ball on the Trojans’ 1. Oliva marched into the end zone the next play to make it 35-7.
The lead carried into the fourth quarter until another three-and-out by North Catholic gave the Lancers the ball on the opposing 39. After a 14-yard pass to senior Mike Sanfilippo, who also had an interception, the Lancers scored on a 24-yard run by senior Kienan Owens to make the score 24-7.
“We played our game and kept it rolling,” Burkes said. “We have got to give a lot of credit to the line for blocking the way they did.”
The defense continued to play lights-out in the fourth. The Lancers forced a turnover on downs the next drive helped by a sack of Trojans quarterback Adam Sharlow by senior linebacker Jeff Smolnik. Trojans quarterbacks completed only 14 of 25 passes for 135 yards and one interception.
“This is a great win,” Conglose said. “To win against a Pittsburgh school that is ranked number five in the WPIAL, that’s a good example of what we have to offer.”
Conglose led the team in receiving yards with 140 on five catches and a touchdown.
“We decided last week that we were starting the playoffs right now, and that’s the mind set we took coming in,” Mozzocio said. “These guys play together as a team. They don’t care who touches the ball, as long as we win football games they’re all happy.”
(Email: a_petyak@ncnewsonline.com)
NORTH CATHOLIC NESHANNOCK
15 First downs 17
133 Yards Rushing 159
53 Yards Lost 6
80 Net Rushing 153
25 Passes Attempted 12
14 Passes Completed 11
1 Passes Intercepted 0
135 Yards Passing 235
215 Total Yards 388
0 Fumbles-Lost 3
5-21.4 Punts-Average 0-0
1-5 Penalties-Yards 2-20
NORTH CATHOLIC .. 7 0 0 0 — 7
NESHANNOCK 14 14 7 7 — 42
Scoring plays
NESHANNOCK — Eli Owens, 12-yard run (Connor Richards kick).
NORTH CATHOLIC — Jarred Fragapan, 4-yard run (Samuel Newcamp kick).
NESHANNOCK —John Conglose, 65-yard pass from Ernie Burkes (Richards kick).
NESHANNOCK —Alex Welker, 19-yard pass from Burkes (Richards kick) .
NESHANNOCK — Owens, 6-yard run (Richards kick).
NESHANNOCK — Gianni Oliva, 1-yard run (Richards kick).
NESHANNOCK — Kienan Owens, 24-yard run (Richards kick).
|