By TODD KRISE

t_krise@ncnewsonline.com

The news reached Frank Bongivengo Jr.’s headset in the fourth quarter.

Immediately, the New Castle High football coach called timeout and huddled his offense around him.

He told them sophomore running back Justin Fleo was 4 yards away from breaking the school’s all-time single-game rushing mark.

“We wanted to give him the record,” Bongivengo said.

So they did.

Fleo leaped past his offensive line and into the record books with 276 yards Friday, passing Greg Solomon, who rushed for 272 yards on Oct. 20, 1984.

Fleo’s performance — which also included four touchdowns — earned him the Lawrence County Athlete of the Week award, as selected by the New Castle News sports staff. The award is sponsored by Washington Centre Physical Therapy.

“I was happy,” Fleo said. “It was quite the accomplishment.”

Hold on a minute.

A sophomore broke one of New Castle High’s most prestigious records?

The same underclassman who was replacing last year’s county rushing leader, Keith Keene, who sat out the Red Hurricane’s impressive 33-7 victory over Blackhawk due to a staph infection in his left leg?

Heck, Fleo. who plays primarily in the slot position when Keene starts at running back, was starting only his third varsity game.

“Justin picked up the slack more than anybody probably ever expected,” Bongivengo said.

“I was nervous,” Fleo said. “I knew Keith was going to be out … and there were a lot of people in the stands.”

New Castle’s coaching staff, including Bongivengo, had its doubts.

“You always have some worries when you lose a kid like Keith,” Bongivengo said. “Keith was a big-play guy for us last year. You worry a little bit because you don’t know how the kids are going to react.”

And what about Fleo?

“You could see that he was ready to go,” Bongivengo said. “He was very, very focused. He had a great week of practice. We sort of threw him in there and said, ‘OK, you’ve got to learn this (Keene’s) position right now.’ ”

Fleo was more of a teacher than a student against Blackhawk. He scored four of the ’Canes’ five touchdowns, which helped New Castle defeat the Cougars for the first time since 1987.

The sophomore running back had a pair of 62-yard touchdown runs to go along with two 1-yard scores.

He credits his offensive line — Vinny Nerti, Joe Oliva, Will Humphrey, Joe Noviello, James Feeley and Dom Cook — for a bulk of his success.

“After every one of my touchdowns, I ran up and gave them a hug,” Fleo said. “I said, ‘Thanks for blocking.’ ”

Bongivengo said Keene will be reevaluated today and his playing status for Friday’s game at Hopewell is uncertain.

When Keene returns, the ’Canes will have a lightning-quick backfield at their disposal to go along with talented sophomore quarterback Johnny Matarazzo.

Keene, a senior, will be used as the primary back, while Fleo will share carries and line up in the slot to catch passes.

Keene and Fleo both run the 40-yard dash under 4.5 seconds and are easily the fastest players on New Castle’s team.

Those numbers compute into trouble for opposing defenses.

“Justin is almost 190 pounds,” Bongivengo said. “He can run with some power, he can run with a lot of speed. When he catches a seam, kids are going to have trouble catching him. I think he showed that against a good Blackhawk team. I expect much of the same thing.

“He and Keith are two pretty good guys to have carrying the football for you. They both run probably better than any two backs I’ve had the opportunity to coach.”