WPIAL PLAYOFFS: New Castle to battle West Allegheny
Written: Nov 12, 2009
 By RON PONIEWASZ JR.
rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com
Bob Palko isn’t exactly looking forward to this one. Palko, of course, is the successful head coach of the West Allegheny High football team, which is blocking New Castle’s path to a second straight appearance in the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals.
It doesn’t seem to help that the teams play each other in the Parkway Conference and the Indians (8-2) won the regular season battle, 28-21.
It is, in fact, with much trepidation that Palko approaches kickoff at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at North Allegheny High School.
“They’re a scary team; the same scary team we played the first time,” Palko said of the ’Canes. “They’re doing a little bit more in every aspect of the game.
“They’re not the team you want to play.”
West Allegheny is 6-2 against New Castle (8-2) since 2002 when the Indians joined the Parkway Conference. The ’Canes own victories of 31-8 (2002) and 35-17 (2008) during that span. This is the first postseason game between the teams during this stretch.
“I don’t think a rematch really favors anybody,” New Castle coach Frank Bongivengo Jr. said. “We’ve been facing each other for a long time and we know what each other likes to do.
“Nobody has a step up on the other. I think it’s an even playing field.”
West Allegheny, ranked No. 3 in the WPIAL in Class AAA by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, ran through New Castle’s defense in the previous encounter, rolling up 318 of its 348 offensive yards.
Mike Caputo, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior running back who transferred from Blackhawk, registered 294 yards rushing on 39 carries with two touchdowns. The Indians had 50 offensive plays in the game.
“Caputo is a great runner,” Bongivengo said. “He’s one of those kids that doesn’t get knocked backwards. Even when he’s stopped for no gain he picks up three yards.”
Caputo ranks second in the WPIAL in rushing behind Hopewell’s Rushel Shell with 1,777 rushing yards on 237 attempts with 24 touchdowns. He also has nine catches for 144 yards.
West Allegheny lines Caputo up in shotgun a lot where he will take a direct snap and take off. All but a handful of his runs against New Castle came in that fashion.
“They run what they run and they run it well,” Bongivengo said. “They did that a little bit in every game. But in our game and every one since our game he’s primarily been the quarterback.”
When the Indians do go with a quarterback, they utilize Jared Buck. Buck, a 6-3, 185-pound senior, is 51 of 93 for 841 yards with 12 touchdowns and an interception.
“Buck is a versatile quarterback,” Bongivengo said. “He can do more than just throw. He likes to sit in the pocket and he has a very good arm, very accurate.”
West Allegheny is surrendering 15.6 points a game.
“Against us, they like to bring a lot of people and a lot of heat,” Bongivengo said. “The pressure they bring makes you change your blocking schemes.”
New Castle’s Johnny Matarazzo has not disappointed in his first season under center. Matarazzo, a 6-3, 215-pound sophomore quarterback, leads the county in passing with 1,979 yards, 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has connected on 117 passes in 177 attempts.
“Johnny is a good football player,” Palko said. “He’s listed as a sophomore but he’s grown up a lot.
“He’s playing as good of football as he ever has.”
Michael Bongivengo, the coach’s son who is earning a redshirt at Seton Hill, set New Castle’s single-season passing record with 1,982 yards last year, according to the New Castle News statistics. That mark is in jeopardy, as is Michael’s record of 20 scoring aerials set last season.
The ’Canes’ Keith Keene ranks third in the county in rushing with 908 yards on 143 attempts. Keene, a 5-8, 167-pound senior running back, has 13 touchdowns.
“Keene is still the same tough runner we faced the first time,” Palko said. “He’s tough to tackle.”
New Castle is averaging 30.6 points a contest, including six games of 33 points or more.
“That team as a whole is dangerous,” Palko said. “They’re a very tough team to match up against.
“Lucky us, we get to try and match up against them again.”
Defensively, the ’Canes are allowing 16.3 points a game, which includes two shutouts.
“They will play base and they are coming after people more,” Palko said. “They can do that because they can lock you down man to man.”
Penalties continue to haunt Bongivengo’s team. New Castle has committed 34 penalties in the last four games, including eight last week against Greensburg Salem. The ’Canes also fumbled six times in the playoff opener, losing two.
“We have to stay away from the penalties and we have to get West Allegheny into three-and-outs,” Bongivengo said. “It’s simple, we have to avoid mistakes.”
New Castle is traveling a similar playoff path as the 2008 team did. Last year, the ’Canes lost in the regular season to Indiana, before avenging that setback with a 55-49 decision in the WPIAL quarterfinals.
The ’Canes would like to follow that blueprint in tomorrow’s quarterfinal matchup. A win would set up a meeting with the Thomas Jefferson-Franklin Regional winner. Thomas Jefferson ousted New Castle in the semifinals a season ago.
“We know that’s the same scenario we fell into last year,” Bongivengo said. “We were fortunate that we avenged that loss last year and we’re hoping that’s a sign of things to come.”
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