By Andrew Koob

New Castle News

Robert Lindsey will do much more than just put you on your back. He’ll do it again and again until you won’t even want to look in his general direction.

Lindsey showed as much in a dominating 54-12 win over host Union, rushing a team-high 17 times for 80 yards and two scores of three and two yards, while adding a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown on defense.

“(The coaches) tell me everyday that I need to get north-south,” Lindsey said, “I have a big body and good legs, I want to punish everyone that tries to tackle me. Eventually, they won’t want to tackle me and that’s when I can break one.”

The performance earned Lindsey Lawrence County Athlete of the Week honors, an award sponsored by Washington Centre Physical Therapy and selected by the New Castle News sports staff.

That outburst was a showcase for Lindsey and a Neshannock team that feels it is getting overlooked as it heads into its fourth WPIAL postseason in as many years.

“We talk about it every day,” Lindsey said. “We know what we can do and we know who we can beat. We know how much we’ve been disrespected.

“You just shut everything off. We try to put a beating on everyone that comes across us and hit every other color (uniform) that we see. We just want to play and show everyone what we’re about.”

The “us against the world” mindset has been a rallying call for the Lancers as they’ve accumulated a 6-1 Big Seven record, 8-1 overall, which includes their current seven-game win streak.

Lindsey has been the go-to rusher on a team filled with players that can gain positive yards on the ground. The senior back is the Lancers’ top carrier with 121 totes and is just one carry behind Lawrence County’s leader in Union’s Jordan Best.

Lindsey is fourth on the county rushing leaderboard with 626 yards and 14 touchdowns, is eighth on the local receiving list with 35 catches for 367 yards and another score and is second on the overall scoring standings with 92 total points, sitting behind his quarterback, Frank Antuono.

“Rob’s our workhorse. He understands his role and he understands, for him, the yards aren’t going to come as easy,” Neshannock coach Fred Mozzocio said. “He sets everyone else up, that’s his role that he takes but, at the same time, he’s 225-230 pounds and I don’t think people enjoy tackling him very much.

“He’s done a great job of that and Rob, over his career, has always been in the shadows of some of the other players from the past. This year, I had to ask him to step up and take a huge role as far as leadership goes and he’s answered the bell and has done a great job with that.”

Despite his listed 6-foot, 215-pound frame that’s seemingly built to out-hit than out-run, Lindsey has shown a second gear that leaves defenders guessing as to how to slow down the running back.

“You look at Rob and you see his stature and you think he’s not very athletic. The next thing you know, he’s making cuts on the offensive side of the ball, picking off passes and rushing the quarterback on defense,” Mozzocio said. “He has over 30 catches this year, so he’s a dual threat out of the backfield. It makes us tough to defend as a team.”

Added Lindsey, “It surprises them, catches them off guard. When I get them off guard, I can just get past them.”

(Email: AKoob@ncnewsonline.com)