Freshman Marino Graham powers Parkway-leading New Castle past No. 4 Montour
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Saturday, October 4, 2025 | 12:20 AM
New Castle quarterback Marino Graham carries down the sideline past Montour’s Dominic Baron during the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle quarterback Marino Graham scores past Montour’s Dalton Young during the second quarter on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle’s Mason Cook sacks Montour quarterback Brandon Bennett on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle’s Mason Cook celebrates his sack during the fourth quarter against Montour on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle’s Mason Cook flips in the end zone after defeating Montour on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle quarterback Marino Graham listens to head coach Fred Mozzocio’s play call during the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle quarterback Marino Graham carries during the fourth quarter against Montour on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
Montour’s Archie Collins scores past New Castle’s Kai Cox during the first quarter on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
Montour’s Archie Collins scores past New Castle defenders during the first quarter on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
Montour’s Archie Collins celebrates after scoring during the first quarter against New Castle on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle’s Mason Cook celebrates his sack during the third quarter against Montour on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle quarterback Marino Graham throws a pass on a two-point conversion against Montour on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle’s Chase Lemmon catches a touchdown pass in front of Montour’s Caden Halajcio during the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle’s Chase Lemmon celebrates his touchdown reception next to Montour’s Caden Halajcio during the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle quarterback Marino Graham hands off to Roderick Proctor during their game against Montour on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle’s Roderick Proctor carries past Montour’s Tyson Verdream during their game on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
Montour head coach Lou Cerro watches from the sideline during the Spartans’ game against New Castle on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
Montour’s Zander Stern carries against New Castle on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
Montour’s Caden Halajcio carries past New Castle’s Kai Cox on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle quarterback Marino Graham scores past Montour’s Dalton Young during the second quarter on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle’s ChaseLemmon celebrates with quarterback Marino Graham after Graham’s second touchdown against Montour on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle quarterback Marino Graham throws a pass against Montour on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle quarterback Marino Graham celebrates his third touchdown against Montour on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle’s Mason Cook flips in the end zone after defeating Montour on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
New Castle quarterback Marino Graham celebrates with teammates after defeating Montour on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Taggart Stadium.
If last week’s win wasn’t already enough, then quarterback Marino Graham says this one surely proves New Castle is for real.
The star freshman rushed for four touchdowns and passed for another as host New Castle defeated No. 4 Montour, 34-14, on Friday night at Taggart Stadium. The resurgent Red Hurricanes also picked off three Montour passes and finished the night alone atop the Parkway Conference standings after two straight wins over ranked opponents.
New Castle (6-1, 2-0) slipped past Aliquippa a week ago. This time, they ran over Montour (4-3, 1-1), thanks in large part to a freshman phenom named after an all-time WPIAL great.
“I think we showed that we’re the best team in our conference,” Graham said. “We came into this game with a lot of pride. A lot of people had us losing (tonight), saying we only beat Aliquippa because their quarterback was gone. We came to show we’re here and we’re ready.”
Graham rushed for 149 yards on 15 carries and scored touchdowns on runs of 13, 12, 74 and 3 yards. As a passer, the left-hander completed 14 of 20 attempts for 161 yards.
He tossed a clinching 10-yard touchdown pass to senior Chase Lemmon with 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter to give New Castle a 20-point lead.
“He’s going to be a handful for four years,” Montour coach Lou Cerro said. “That kid is tough, he’s good, he makes the proper reads, he can run. I haven’t seen a guy like that in a long time.”
It’s hard to say anyone was born to be a quarterback, but the 5-foot-10, 150-pound Graham certainly has the right name for it.
“I’m named after Dan Marino,” Graham said. “My favorite NFL team is the Miami Dolphins. That’s why I wear No. 13.”
Still, Graham surely runs faster than his namesake probably ever did. He scored on second quarter touchdown runs of 13 and 12 yards to lead 14-7 at halftime.
He added a 3-yarder late in the third quarter and broke free for a 74-yard sprint on the first play of the fourth, extending New Castle’s lead to 28-7.
“We know he’s a special player and a special athlete,” New Castle coach Fred Mozzocio said. “He continues to get better and better every week.”
So does New Castle.
The Red Hurricanes had lost three years in a row to Montour and were outscored 150-20 in that span. But they’ve quickly emerged as conference title contenders in just Mozzocio’s second year as coach.
Next on New Castle’s schedule is a visit from West Allegheny, which tied with Aliquippa and Montour as conference tri-champions last season.
“We put everybody on notice that we’re for real,” Mozzocio said. “We’re not resting on our laurels here. We know it’s just the beginning. We have a lot of goals we want to fulfill, and these guys will be in here working tomorrow morning getting ready for the next one.”
Montour freshman Archie Collins scored both of the Spartans’ touchdowns, catching a 28-yard pass in the first quarter and added an 85-yard kickoff return in the fourth. His first TD gave Montour a 7-0 lead.
But New Castle succeeded in making Montour quarterback Brandon Bennett uncomfortable, sacking the sophomore four times and intercepting three of his passes.
Bennett completed 13 of 24 passes for 178 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. New Castle’s Travis Whetzel, Kai Cox and Gianni Molina all picked off Montour passes.
Montour relies on a young lineup beyond Bennett, and Cerro said their combined youth showed at times Friday.
“When our young kids play like young kids, we’re not going to be any good,” Cerro said. “We are very regimented in what we do. When we get out of our rhythm, we’re not going to score many points.”
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
Tags: Montour, New Castle
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