Neshannock uses fast start, tough defense to bounce Leechburg in WPIAL 1st round

By: Josh Rizzo
Friday, October 31, 2025 | 9:59 PM

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Neshannock quarterback Jino Mozzocio felt the Lancers’ football season hasn’t been quite to his liking so far. He wanted to start writing a different story against Leechburg during a WPIAL Class A semifinal Friday at Veterans Memorial Field.

No. 9 Neshannock took that first step by blasting the Blue Devils, 49-14, with an efficient offensive attack.

“We’re hungry,” Mozzocio said. “We had a rough season. We’re ready to go. Our line puts that work in.”

Mozzocio completed 6 of 8 passes for 133 yards and threw a 64-yard touchdown strike to Ryan Cameron. He also scored two rushing touchdowns of 34 yards and 1 yard.

Neshannock (8-3) lost two of its final three games entering the postseason. The Lancers will face top-seeded and two-time defending champion Fort Cherry next.

“We’ve been battling the last couple weeks and didn’t come out victorious,” Lancers coach Michael Bongivengo said. “We’ve challenged our offense to score some more points. In our two biggest games so far, we didn’t produce when we were in the red area. I’m glad our guys accepted that challenge.”

Neshannock didn’t have far to go on its first drive. Leechburg (7-4) had issues with a snap on a punt on the first possession. The ball rolled by punter Mason Scitticat, who was forced to fall on the ball at his own 2-yard line.

Neshannock scored four plays later on a 1-yard run by Mozzocio on fourth-and-goal. The Lancers also scored on their second possession on an 8-yard run by Anthony Eakin.

“They were stacking the box,” Mozzocio said. “We were going to have to make some plays on the outside, and our receivers were going to have to get open and our line was going to have to protect. They did a great job doing that.”

Leechburg got some momentum back, cutting the deficit to 14-6, when quarterback Jaxon Vargo scored on an 80-yard run with 3 minutes, 51 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

It was the Blue Devils’ last touchdown until Timmy Andrasy scored on a 1-yard run with less than four minutes left in the game. Neshannock’s defense clamped down on the run game.

While Andrasy and Vargo finished with 128 and 102 yards, respectively, the Blue Devils couldn’t find ways to finish drives.

“They were fantastic on defense,” Leechburg coach Randy Walters said. “They are gap-sound. They are never out of position. They are physical and they get to the ball. Their linebackers have no wasted movement.”

Mozzocio answered Vargo’s touchdown run with an impressive 34-yard scamper of his own where he shed several Leechburg defenders along the way. Neshannock took a 28-6 lead into halftime when Mozzocio found Ryan Cameron on a 64-yard catch-and-run. The Lancers put more pressure on to start the second half when Ethan Beaman returned a kick 82 yards for a touchdown.

The Blue Devils tried a lot of different things to get the offense going. Vargo attempted 24 passes, which is more than usual, and Leechburg handed the ball to 6-foot, 295-pound fullback Philup Rearick, who picked up an 8-yard gain.

“We were so far behind, we had to draw some things up in the dirt,” Walters said. “I thought our quarterback did a good job of throwing a lot of balls that should have been caught. We had some things there, but we had to make plays and we didn’t make plays.”

Bongivengo credited a lot of Neshannock’s success on defense to the return of Ashton Allison.

“He came back and got us aligned,” Bongivengo said. “Once again, our guys played with their hair on fire on defense.”

Tags: Leechburg, Neshannock