’Cats stumble in Commesso’s debut as coach
Shenango (0) vs. Sto-Rox (42)
Written: Aug 31, 2013
By John D’Abruzzo
New Castle News
STOWE TOWNSHIP — Mike Commesso knew his first game as a head football coach wasn’t going to be easy.
The first-year Shenango High mentor, however, believed his Wildcats would put forth a stronger effort and not the 42-0 WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference rout they suffered last night against Sto-Rox.
“I did expect it to be better,” said Commesso, a Mohawk graduate and former Hopewell Area assistant coach. “As a coach, you always expect the unexpected. You think maybe if we control the clock and get a break here and there we can pull out that upset.
“None of those things happened for us.”
Commesso also didn’t expect to see Lenny Williams on the field at Sto-Rox Memorial Stadium, but there he was.
Williams, the Vikings’ star quarterback, wasn’t expected to play during the first game of the season. A Division I prospect, Williams suffered a severe cut on his non-throwing hand the first week of August while trimming hedges at his summer job. Williams chipped a bone and caused nerve and tendon damage to his left hand and wasn’t expected to play until at least Week 2 against South Side Beaver.
“We thought he was out, so that was a bad surprise for us,” Commesso said. “He’s a difference-maker, without a doubt.”
Williams completed 11 of 13 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 21 yards and a touchdown. Williams moved up to No. 7 on the WPIAL’s all-time career passing yards list, surpassing Pine-Richland’s Jake Long (5,830 in 2005) with 5,859 career yards.
“Everyone was saying three or four weeks,” Sto-Rox coach Dan Bradley said. “But no one talked to me and they didn’t talk to Lenny. He was cleared last week, so we played him.”
Sto-Rox jumped right on the scoreboard with a 1-yard touchdown run from senior running back Brendan Blair. That first score was set up following a 58-yard opening kickoff return by Craig Johnson, followed by a 36-yard reception by Javell Kirkland.
Blair rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns, while Mallory Claybourne added 94 receiving yards on five catches. Claybourne, a transfer from Perry Traditional Academy, also scored on a 69-yard punt return with 1:17 left in the first quarter.
“That’s a good football team, but on our part we didn’t block well, we didn’t tackle well and we turned over the ball,” Commesso said. “That’s never a good mix.”
Shenango mustered just five first downs and 89 yards of total offense against the Vikings, who entered the season ranked No. 2 in Class A by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“We played well, but we still have to take care of some pre-snap mistakes with linemen issues,” Bradley said. “We’ll work on that. Overall, I thought we had a good performance, both offensively and defensively.”
Following a 36-yard touchdown reception by Johnson in the closing minutes of the second quarter, Sto-Rox took a 35-0 lead into the half and invoked the mercy rule starting in the third quarter.
“We’re so young,” Commesso said. “As far as coming together as a team we’re not there yet. We have a lot of work to do to get to that point, team-wise, fundamental-wise and attitude wise.”
Shenango senior quarterback Brian Tanner led the Wildcats by completing 4 of 5 passes for 38 yards. Senior running back Anthony Prestopine added 21 rushing yards.
“It wasn’t what we were hoping for,” Commesso said. “We have to get better at the fundamentals, blocking and tackling. We have to rededicate to those things and stay together.
“That’s a really good football team. We’re not going to face quality opponents like that every week. We have to regroup.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
SHENANGO ST0-ROX
5 First downs 14
95 Yards Rushing 148
44 Yards Lost 13
51 Net Rushing 135
7 Passes Attempted 13
4 Passes Completed 11
1 Passes Intercepted 1
38 Yards Passing 227
89 Total Yards 362
4-3 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
4-38.8 Punts-Average 0-0
4-30 Penalties-Yards 9-80
SHENANGO 0 0 0 0 — 0
STO-ROX 21 14 0 7 — 42
Scoring plays
STO-ROX — Brendan Blair, 1-yard run (Elisha Bonner kick).
STO-ROX — Blair, 15-yard run (kick blocked).
STO-ROX — Mallory Clayburn, 69-yard punt return (Javell Kirkland pass from Lenny Williams).
STO-ROX — Amair Newning, 6-yard pass from Williams (kick failed).
STO-ROX — Craig Johnson, 36-yard pass from Williams (Kirkland pass from Williams).
STO-ROX — Williams, 9-yard run (Bonner kick).
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