Neshannock claims conference title with win over Laurel

By: James Dotson
Saturday, October 26, 2024 | 12:01 AM

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For the second straight year, Bob Bleggi Stadium held a conference championship game between two undefeated teams on the last week of the regular season.

For the second straight year, the Neshannock Lancers took home the victory and the conference title.

Neshannock scored once in each quarter and racked up 487 yards of offense to take down Lawrence County rival Laurel, 27-7, on Friday night to win the Big 7 Conference.

The Lancers defeated Mohawk last year’s Week 9 battle of the unbeatens to win the Midwestern Athletic Conference. The loss also snapped a Laurel (5-1, 5-5) five-game winning streak.

“We wanted to accomplish our three goals: conference championship, WPIAL and state title,” Neshannock (6-0,9-1) first-year coach Michael Bongivengo said. “Now we are on to that next step. We knew it would be a big atmosphere, but they treated it like another game, and I’m really proud of them for doing that.”

After the teams traded punts on the opening possessions of the game, Dom Cubellis caught a third-down pass in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown to give Neshannock the early lead.

The Lancers scored on their next possession as well on an Anthony Eakin 49-yard run to take a 13-0 halftime lead.

Eakin finished with 147 yards rushing on 22 carries on the night and caught a 29-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“We got on my man Ant. He’s been battling some soreness,” Bongivengo said. “But he felt great coming into tonight. I told him to run pads-over-toes and just be you.”

After an Ethan Beaman interception on the first drive of the second half, Ashton Allison pounded in a 1-yard run on fourth down, and Eakin caught his touchdown on a third-and-28 after quarterback Jino Mozzocio scrambled to extend the play.

The Lancers had three previous touchdowns on the drive called back because of penalties.

“We were shooting ourselves in the foot, and then Eakin just made a play for us,” Mozzocio said.

The defense held Laurel to just 18 rushing yards in the game and was constantly in the backfield disrupting the county’s top passer in Luca Santini.

“We challenged (our defense) all week long,” Mozzocio said. “Laurel has a big front, very strong and very athletic. We had just just pin our ears back and go, and that’s exactly what they did.”

Mozzocio also started on defense for the first time this season and had multiple pass breakups in the game.

“Jino barely practiced defense all year until this week,” Mozzocio said. “He came to play today. To see him execute the way he did on defense, I couldn’t be happier.”

Mozzocio also controlled the offense well, throwing for 218 yards and rushing 17 times for 112 yards.

“When you have a running quarterback, it just puts that much more stress on the defense,” Laurel coach Brian Cooper said. “We needed to take him out of that game. If we could have done that, I would have liked our chances.”

Braden Montgomery caught four passes for 103 yards for Neshannock.

Santini threw for 212 yards but was intercepted twice. Tyler Shearer caught six passes for a career-high 155 yards.

The Spartans finished second place in the Big Seven and will await the committee’s decision to see if they will host a first-round game in the WPIAL Class 1A playoffs.

Neshannock will have a home game next week for the opening round. The Lancers have flown somewhat under the radar for most of the season, but an impressive end of the season might turn some heads heading into the postseason.

“I just want people to know that we’re the team to talk about now,” Mozzocio said. “We have one day to celebrate, we know who we play tomorrow, then Sunday we get back to work.”

Tags: Laurel, Neshannock