GAME OF THE WEEK: Ringgold hopes to beat New Castle again
How did Yogi Berra say it?
“It’s like deja vu all over again.”
Nick Milchovich and his Ringgold Rams football team may get the feeling that they’ve been there, done that when they take on New Castle for the second time in a month at Mars High School, where they beat the Planets last week, in a WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
As the last of eight playoff teams still in the football playoffs, the Rams are an easy choice for Herald-Standard Game of the Week honors, as Ringgold (8-2) takes on the Golden Hurricanes (7-4) after beating them, 41-27, on Oct. 21.
“I’ve never been in this position before,” Milchovich said. “So our approach with the kids is that this is a different game against a different opponent.”
While the locker room at Mars might look familiar, Milchovich isn’t going to allow comfort or familiarity to enter his team’s thought process.
“I told the kids already, if we’d have played Mars the third week of the season, I think we’d have lost by two touchdowns,” he said. “We’ve been improving each and every week and I’m sure New Castle has improved, too, since we played them.
“I just expect it to be a unique and different ball game.”
After how his team has won over the last month, getting huge comebacks in key wins over West Mifflin and New Castle along the way, Milchovich’s blood pressure could use a break.
“I wouldn’t mind a shutout, not at all,” he said with a laugh.
He has seen subtle differences in New Castle’s offensive attack, but knows they still operate mainly as a run-oriented group.
“They have run the Hooker kid at running back a little more,” he said, referring to New Castle running back Marcus Hooker, who has scored 17 touchdowns as the team’s third leading rusher and second leading receiver.
“They did some things early in the game against South Fayette that they tried against us, but we were fortunate enough to stop them and they didn’t go back to them,” Milchovich said. “But, we expect it to be a two-man game with Hooker and their quarterback.”
New Castle’s quarterback is Geno Stone, who has accounted for 11 touchdowns. He leads the team with 430 rushing yards and has passed for 931 yards.
“We’ve got to stay disciplined and contain their running game,” Milchovich said.
The Rams are relatively healthy for this time of the year and have every player available for Friday’s game.
“No one is 100 percent at this point,” Milchovich said. “But we’re in pretty good shape from that standpoint.”
Ringgold can beat you from all angles, according to the stats.
Junior Brenden Small leads the ground game with 822 yards and shares the team lead in scoring with 68 points. He shares that lead with wide receiver Max Maciejewski, who is also tied for sixth in the WPIAL with 839 receiving yards on 51 catches. Also in the rankings is Dalton Holt, who is tied for 14th with 42 catches and 635 yards.
That would mean that quarterback George Martin is playing lights out football and that would be accurate. Martin ranks fifth in passing and has thrown for 2,062 yards by completing 125-of-214 passes. He has accounted for 20 touchdowns.
“I have never been around a kid who is in a zone like he has been for the last few weeks,” Milchovich said. “He is just having an outstanding season.”
And, don’t forget, these are the WPIAL playoffs, so college coaches are getting more and better looks at payers like Martin.
“I think a lot more coaches are starting to get on board with him,” Milchovich said. “In bare feet, he’s a legitimate 6-4 kid who can probably hold 235-240 pounds and he can make every throw on the football field. Plus, he’s a very good athlete. We don’t run him that much because we can’t afford to lose him, but he is very athletic.”
Meanwhile, New Castle goes for its second revenge win in a row. The Golden Hurricanes won at South Fayette last week, 51-43, after losing there, 37-13, on Oct. 7. New Castle is 0-1 on the Mars field, having lost to the Planets, 34-7, back on Sept. 30.