Neshannock primed for showdown with Riverside
Written: Oct 06, 2016
By Clay Sauertieg
New Castle News
Conference supremacy is on the line Friday as the Neshannock High football team plays host to Riverside.
The Lancers, led by an offense averaging 37.8 points-per-game, are coming off a convincing, 30-13 victory over WPIAL Class AA Midwestern Conference foe Laurel.
The opponent for Neshannock (3-0 conference, 5-1 overall) is a 4-0, 5-1 Panthers team that has been equally impressive, winning four straight games after falling to Steel Valley in Week 1 and allowing just 5.7 points-per-game in the process.
“Both teams are undefeated, so it’s shaping up to be the game of the year in the MAC,” Neshannock coach Fred Mozzocio said.
Mozzocio’s team is led by senior quarterback Frank Antuono, who has proven to be a dual threat in every sense of the word/ Antuono has thrown for 917 yards on the year while racking up an additional 456 yards on the ground.
“He’s done it to everybody,” said Riverside coach Ron Sciarro of Antuono’s play making ability. “We want our kids to be sound, aggressive and confident in what they’re doing when they go up against him.”
Sciarro added that his team has been excited all week for the chance to take on their “toughest test since week one.”
“Yeah, they’re excited. I told them that they did what they had to do to get to this point, but now they have to step it up,” he said.
Antuono has been a leader for a Neshannock program that has won at least nine games in every season in which Mozzocio has been at the helm.
“Frank’s a leader on our team, he can both run and pass and is a leader both on and off the field for our guys,” Mozzocio said.
He added that his team’s ability to beat opponents in a number of ways has been vital part of its ascent to the top of the conference.
“We have speed all around the field and a lot of different weapons,” he said. “It’s hard to key on one guy and that really opens some things up for everybody else.”
Neshannock has used that speed to top 40 points in half of their games this season, including a 50 point performance two weeks ago in a victory over East Allegheny. Mozzocio said that the work his team puts in each week in practice allows it to be successful when game time rolls around.
“These guys have been with me a long time, they know the program and what we expect day in and day out,” he said. “They come with their lunch pail and they’re out there working each and every day and it shows in the games.”
Should the Lancers come out victorious, they would see just sub-.500 South Side Beaver, Freedom and Mohawk standing in the way of an undefeated conference season. But Mozzocio says his team isn’t looking ahead.
“We’re concerned with getting better day in and day out,” he said. “So we’re taking it one game at a time and if we can handle our business each week, we should be in a good position at the end of the season.
(Email: csauertieg@ncnewsonline.com)
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