New Castle wants to turn the tide under new coach

By: Antonio Rossetti
Saturday, August 10, 2024 | 6:01 AM

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Fred Mozzocio played for New Castle in the 1980s, so the team’s new head coach understands the tradition of Red Hurricanes football.

Growing up, he and his friends would be in the classroom gazing out onto the field, wishing that someday they could play for the Red Hurricanes.

“There’s an enormous amount of pride, so we’re trying to bring those traditions back, trying to make the kids aware of the tradition that’s been here, and just trying to build and for them to create their own,” Mozzocio said. “That’s been our focus over the summer, and since starting in December, since I got the job.”

The Red Hurricanes boast 11 WPIAL titles and more than 750 all-time victories. New Castle, however, has won just two games in the past two seasons.

Mozzocio saw the challenge and came back home to help restore New Castle’s tradition.

“It’s a place where I grew up and I played, so it’s always on the radar,” Mozzocio said. “You always know where you grew up and where you went to school and you have pride in those places. To see the place struggling, and the program especially struggling, it was just hard to watch. When the opportunity arose. I got together with the school board and the superintendent, and we spoke and talked. … It just seemed to be a match at that point.”

Mozzocio said that every time he walks out and sees the steel side of the stadium, it brings back memories of when he played and how he looked forward to donning a New Castle uniform.

He said he never thought he would leave Neshannock, where he compiled a 101-35 record over the past 12 seasons, but heading home was a new challenge and he wanted to come back to Taggart Stadium.

Since December, he said he has seen nothing but passionate football players who want to win and turn the program around.

“The kids are respectful,” Mozzocio said. “The kids show up every day. They want to work. I’ve averaged 50 kids a workout all throughout the winter and summer.… They don’t want to be a losing program, they want to win. That’s the way it’s been since I’ve been here. I’ve enjoyed coaching them. They’re great kids, great young men, and I think we’ve all bonded; myself and them and the coaching staff have all bonded very quickly.”

Two leaders the Red Hurricanes will lean on are senior quarterback Kyrell Harris and senior running back Kaevon Gardner. Harris started at QB last year and threw for more than 450 yards with four TDs. Gardner was a WPIAL champion in 100 meters in 2023 and finished sixth this past season.

“He can move,” Gardner said of Harris. “I love him, but as you’ve seen he can move around in the pocket, and he can really get loose, and especially his throwing; it’s picked up astronomically. I mean, the boy can throw the ball now, standing still, he can throw like, 60 to 70 yards. Standing still. Also, he and I have chemistry.”

Harris has spent the offseason working with the receivers to help the offense improve.

“Me and my receivers, we went to the field all the summer,” Harris said. “We had a little two-week break for the summer break that we had. We were at the field at least four times a week, each week, and we just did the route tree and got our chemistry together so we can know each other better.”

One of his top targets will be Nate McKnight, a track and field standout who stands 6-foot-2. Mozzocio also cited veteran offensive lineman Marcus Diaz as a key factor in the offense. The Red Hurricanes also have Travis Whetzel and Ameir Akins returning.

In the backfield, Gardner returns after rushing for 403 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 7.5 yards per carry. He hopes to use his speed — 10.7 in the 100 meters — on the field like he does in track.

“With track, it’s really kept my speed up,” Gardner said. “It goes hand in hand. You hear it a lot that track and field and football go hand in hand and it really does with conditioning, sprinting and all of that.”

Speed is one thing New Castle has to its advantage on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

“We have a lot of fast guys,” Harris said. “Our 4×100 (relay runners) are all on the team — me, Nate McKnight, Rondell McClinton and Kaevon. With a whole bunch of fast guys, our coaches are utilizing it. We got a lot of quick passes and pop plays and we have speed on defense. We’re just flying around getting picks all 7 on 7.”

Gardner will play as a defensive back, and Harris, along with Chase Lemmon, will play safety. Lemmon is also a member of the track and field team.

“We’re going to learn a lot more with pads on, but we definitely feel like we have kids that can run to the football and create problems for our opponents,” Mozzocio said. “Two young defensive ends, Jayden Shaffer, DJ Gordon and the third one, Qualin Davis. Those three guys will rotate at the defensive ends, and they’re quite the package. They’re long, they’re fast, they’re quick, and they put a lot of time in the weight room.”

With a new coach deeply rooted in Red Hurricanes’ football, the atmosphere is changing, players said.

“We haven’t really had the best few years as you know, but it’s really good to have Coach Mo come in and really show us the love and how to love the sport,” Gardner said. “He really just revived a bunch for us, getting us back into football, and really getting to relearn it, and then actually coming together as a brotherhood. It’s actually my first great football experience in the last three years of high school.”

In addition to Mozzocio, the players want the winning culture to return just as much.

“I just want to bring the culture back that we used to have back then,” Harris said. “Everyone thinks it went away, but it’s still there. I have big shoes I have to fill.”

Harris knows New Castle has work to do to return to the glory days but believes this is the year things go forward.

“You can expect a lot of wins this season,” Harris said. “A lot of times, Coach Mo has us playing fast, having fun. People don’t really believe in us because of the past years. But I’m just saying, just watch out, we’re coming.”

New Castle

Coach: Fred Mozzocio

2023 record: 1-9, 1-6 in Class 4A Parkway Conference

All-time record: 756-437-69

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.23 General McLane, 7

8.30 Hopewell, 7

9.6 Highlands, 7

9.13 at Yough, 7

9.20 Knoch, 7

9.27 at Aliquippa*, 7

10.4 at Montour*, 7

10.11 at West Allegheny*, 7

10.18 Ambridge*, 7

10.25 Blackhawk*, 7

* Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Kyrell Harris

40-84, 466 yards, 4 TDs

Rushing: Malik Jefferson*

111-561 yards, 3 TDs

Receiving: Nate McKnight

11-112 yards, 1 TD

* Graduated

FAST FACTS

• Quarterback Kyrell Harris claims he has a 200-25 record in ping pong. He said the only people that can beat him are gym teachers.

• New Castle has the third most titles in WPIAL history with 11, trailing only Aliquippa (20) and Clairton (14). The Red Hurricanes’ last championship came in 1998.

• New Castle has had 12 players make it to the NFL. Malik Hooker (Colts) and Geno Stone (Ravens) are both current players. Bruce Clark, Sam Manos, Rick Razzano, Bill McPeak, Lindy Lauro, Mike Roussos, Ben Ciccone, Alec Shellogg, Paul Cuba and Nick DeCarbo all also made the league.

• New Castle became one of the first high school teams to play under the lights in 1929 when it installed lights at Franklin Field, which is now known as Taggart Stadium.

Tags: New Castle