’Cats return thrill of victory to home field
Shenango (17) vs. South Side Beaver (6)
Written: Sep 14, 2013
By Dan Irwin
New Castle News
It had been over two years since Glenn “Pop” Johnston Stadium had hosted a victory.
That drought came to an end last night, though, when Shenango High held off South Side Beaver, 17-6, in a Class A Big Seven Conference matchup. It was the Wildcats’ first winning effort on Frank Bongivengo field in 10 tries since Sept. 3, 2011.
Shenango (1-2) also ended a five-game losing streak dating back to last season, and notched the first win for new head coach Mike Commesso.
“It feels great,” Commesso said of the triumph. “You gotta get that first win out of the way so you can relax and enjoy it.”
Shenango led 10-0 at halftime, thanks to a 15-yard TD run by Anthony Prestopine and a 22-yard Kurtis Schotsch field goal. However, a couple of key errors ended up keeping the Rams in the game and helped them to pull within four points after a 22-yard Mason Wilcoxen touchdown run late in the third period.
Shenango appeared to be on its way to a first-quarter score until Ryley Ferrari lost the football after catching a 6-yard Brian Tanner pass at the South Side 11. Ferrari later ended up leaving the game with an ankle injury.
In the third quarter, the ’Cats appeared to have thwarted the Rams’ drive that ultimately led to Wilcoxen’s TD when Brenton Booher intercepted South’s Side’s Jake Berger. However, a roughing-the-passer call negated the turnover, and the Rams went on to pull to within 10-6 with 2:08 left in the stanza.
“Give South Side credit, but we had that ball intercepted and we could have shut them out,” Commesso said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times. I thought we could have scored a few more points (Shenango also had to settle for Schotsch’s field goal after having a first-and goal at the 8), but we didn’t.”
What the Wildcats did do was turn to a grind-it-out offensive attack that saw Tyler Welsh carry 28 times for 93 yards. Prestopine added 62 on 10.
“When you’re in a tight game like that and it’s wet outside, you’d like to open it up a little bit, but it seemed like every time we tried to open it up, something bad would happen,” Commesso said.
“So when you have the lead, you try to protect it, so yeah, we did try to grind it out a little bit more tonight.”
The grist mill didn’t stop when South Side scored. Shenango took the ensuing kickoff and marched 70 yards in 12 plays, finishing things off with Tanner’s 10-yard scramble to paydirt.
“We just kept playing our game,” Tanner said of the Rams’ potential momentum-turning score. “We knew we were getting the ball back, and we had to take advantage of our opportunities when we get them.”
As for his touchdown, “I dropped back, and the guy came up on my right. My line did a great job blocking back side, so I ran back side, and Booher had a great block for me, and I just ran it in behind him.
“Our offensive line did an absolutely amazing job tonight, and I’m very proud of them.”
Shenango’s defense wasn’t too shabby, either, limiting South Side to just 134 total yards.
“The defense really gave us a shot in the arm tonight, because we couldn’t put up the points we wanted to put up, and they just kept shutting them down,” Commesso said.
“If we can cut down on the mistakes and turnovers, I really think we can be a pretty good football team in this conference.”
(Email: d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com)
SOUTH SIDE SHENANGO
7 First downs 12
138 Yards Rushing 171
29 Yards Lost 10
109 Net Rushing 161
8 Passes Attempted 9
4 Passes Completed 4
1 Passes Intercepted 1
25 Yards Passing 61
134 Total Yards 222
4-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
4-24.3 Punts-Average 2-24
10-68 Penalties-Yards 4-50
SOUTH SIDE 0 0 6 0 — 6
SHENANGO 0 10 0 7 — 17
Scoring plays
SHENANGO — Anthony Prestopine, 5-yard run (Kurtis Schotsch kick).
SHENANGO — Schotsch, 22-yard field goal.
SOUTH SIDE BEAVER — Mason Wilcoxen, 22-yard run (pass failed).
SHENANGO — Brian Tanner, 10-yard run (Schotsch kick).
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