Despite changes, goals remain the same for Neshannock

By: Bill Hartlep
Thursday, August 22, 2024 | 6:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Friday.

New head coach, new conference, lots of new faces.

The 2024 season brings about plenty of change for Neshannock football, but the goal remains the same.

“I hope to be able to bring a championship back to this place,” said new head coach Michael Bongivengo, a special teams coach with the Lancers last season who replaces Fred Mozzocio, now the athletic director and football coach at New Castle.

Always in the hunt but yet to capture a WPIAL championship, Neshannock returns talented starters in key areas all over the field who helped the Lancers win the Class 2A Midwestern Athletic Conference title last season at 7-0. They finished 9-2 overall after a first-round loss to Beaver Falls.

Neshannock will drop down to Class A, via the PIAA’s two-year enrollment realignment cycle, to compete in the rugged Big Seven Conference this season.

“Overall, moving down, we know it was coming with the sophomore class, it’s pretty small with boys in the school,” Bongivengo said. “We’re just attacking it head on and putting our best product the field week in and week out. That’s our focus.”

He’ll have a few veterans to lean on against the likes of WPIAL runner-up South Side, Laurel, Rochester and others. Back is junior quarterback Jino Mozzocio, who threw for nearly 1,000 yards and 11 TDs last season.

“The biggest thing I’ve noticed from him since last season is he really wants to be a student of the game,” said Bongivengo, who worked with Mozzocio before he started at Neshannock. “He’s attacked what we’re doing on offense as a leader. He leads by example.

He’ll be joined in the backfield by junior running back Anthony Eakin, who ran for 823 yards and nine scores last season.

“Another one of those guys in that junior class that got a lot of playing time and experience on both sides of the ball,” the coach said. “He’s really trying to learn why the linemen do this and that so he can make the proper cuts and work in our scheme. He wants to take his game to the next level.”

Top targets include leading receiver Dom Cubellis, a senior, and juniors WR Brady Frasso and Ethan Beaman, as well as senior Braden Montgomery and junior Ashton Allison at tight end.

Cubellis, Frasso and Eakin will also anchor the secondary, while Montgomery, Allison and Beaman will be linebackers.

“They have that mindset that they want to leave a legacy here and they’re pushing each other to be great, do the little things right that make you a champion,” Bongivengo said. “They want to be the best versions of themselves they can on the field.”

Allison had 80 tackles, an interception, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery as a sophomore.

“He’s our heartbeat on defense,” Bongivengo said. “He brings the juice day in and day out. Ashton is a kid who really wants it. He’s put a lot of time in on his body in the weight room. We’re excited to see what he can do and build off that sophomore season he had last year.”

Up front, Bongivengo expects a lot from junior Joey Veronesi and senior Tony Perrotta, who was an all-conference offensive lineman in 2023. Juniors Dante Canciello, Santino Soubra and Michael DiSanti and senior Connor Flannery, who came out after a two-year hiatus, will also be part of the rotation.

“We want to be a physical team who competes week in and week out. Our goal is to compete for the three championships, in order, conference, WPIAL and state championship,” Bongivengo said.

“We know it’s a grind week in and week out. We have to come in with our hard hats on because those teams will compete every game. We want to compete every time we step on the field.”

Neshannock

Coach: Michael Bongivengo

2023 record: 9-2, 7-0 in Class 2A Midwestern Athletic Conference

All-time record: 305-333-15

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.23 Mohawk, 7

8.30 at Union, 7

9.6 Ellwood City, 7

9.13 Rochester*, 7

9.20 at Northgate*, 7

9.27 Shenango*, 7

10.5 at Burgettstown, 2

10.11 at South Side*, 7

10.18 Summit Academy*, 7

10.25 Laurel*, 7

* Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Jino Mozzocio

70-115, 993 yards, 11 TDs

Rushing: Anthony Eakin

111-823 yards, 9 TDs

Receiving: Dom Cubellis

15-257 yards, 3 TDs

FAST FACTS

• Michael Bongivengo is a first-time head coach but has experience as an offensive coordinator at Westminster College and Fort Mill (S.C.) and Lake Norman (N.C.) high schools. He also was special teams coordinator at Neshannock last season and worked as a grad assistant at Slippery Rock University, his alma mater.

• The Lancers are 20-4 over the past two seasons and surpassed 300 all-time wins a year ago. They lost 26-0 to Sharon in the season opener last year before rattling off nine straight wins.

• Neshannock will play every team in Lawrence County this season except New Castle and Wilmington. “I think that’s one of the coolest things in the world,” Bongivengo said of games against Ellwood City, Laurel, Mohawk, Shenango and Union. “It brings a little more juice to those games.”

• The Lancers graduated several all-conference players, including DB Anthony Bonner, the conference defensive player of the year, OL/DL Jaxon Mozzocio (OL/DL), defensive lineman Aiden Shaffer and linebacker Patrick Argiro.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Neshannock