PUP high school football Game of the Week: Montour vs. New Castle (Week 6)

Each Wednesday, the PUP high school sports staff will preview the game of the week.

Between the hash marks

Who: Montour (4-2, 1-0) at New Castle (5-1, 1-0)

Where: New Castle’s Taggart Stadium

When: 7 p.m. Friday

The coaches: Lou Cerro (Montour); Fred Mozzocio (New Castle)

When they last met: On Oct. 4, 2024, when Montour kept its undefeated record intact with a 51-6 beatdown against New Castle.

On deck: Montour hosts Ambridge next week in another Class 4A Parkway Conference matchup, while New Castle will welcome West Allegheny.

This and that: Two familiar foes will renew their acquaintances once again on Friday with a whole lot at stake when Class 4A No. 4 Montour travels to one of the WPIAL’s most historic venues to take on Class 4A No. 5 New Castle. … All of a sudden, this game has taken on much more meaning in the wake of the Red Hurricanes’ stunning 18-12 win over then-No. 2 Aliquippa last week, marking New Castle’s first win against the Quips since 1987. A go-ahead touchdown run in the fourth quarter by freshman quarterback Marino Graham turned out to be the difference. … For the season, Graham has passed for 716 yards with 10 TDs and five interceptions to go with a team-high 548 yards rushing and seven scores on the ground. His top receiving targets, Kai Cox and Chase Lemmon, have 16 receptions apiece. … The Red Hurricanes are in their second year under coach Fred Mozzocio, who played at New Castle in the 1980s. Mozzocio is a former coach at Neshannock who is known for the tough, aggressive nature of his teams. … Speaking of toughness and aggression, Spartans coach Lou Cerro has always instilled those qualities in his program since taking the helm at Montour more than two decades ago. Cerro and the Spartans are still seeking their first WPIAL title since 2011. … It has been a youth movement for Montour this season, as sophomore quarterback Brandon Bennett (6-3, 205) has passed for 840 yards with eight TDs and just two interceptions on the year. Meanwhile, freshman Archie Collins has been a reliable contributor as both a rusher and receiver, carrying the ball 14 times for 175 yards while racking up 15 catches for 190 yards with four TDs. … As for the Spartans’ offensive centerpiece, look no further than senior Caden Halajcio. The talented tailback ranks among the top-10 rushers in the WPIAL with 781 yards and 10 TDs on 118 attempts. … There’s still a lot of season left, and Aliquippa and West Allegheny can never be counted out — but the winner of this game should have the inside track to the Parkway Conference crown. Expect this one to come down to the wire.

Expert picks (records in parentheses)

Steve Rotstein (5-1): Montour 28, New Castle 27

John Santa (5-1): New Castle 21, Montour 17

Brad Everett (4-2): Montour 21, New Castle 13

On the radar

Aliquippa at West Allegheny, 7 p.m. Friday

A rocky up-and-down campaign for Aliquippa continued with a surprising loss against New Castle last week in which starting quarterback Marques Council did not play due to an injury. Quips coach Mike Warfield had no updates on Council’s status for Friday’s game against West Allegheny, leaving his team in serious jeopardy of falling to 0-2 to open up Parkway Conference play. Senior wide receiver-defensive back Qa’lil Goode filled in at quarterback in place of Council for Aliquippa last Friday.

Central Valley vs. North Catholic at Stone Field in North Park, 7 p.m. Friday

Things didn’t go so well for Central Valley last week, but nobody has found much success this season against Class 3A No. 1 Avonworth. The Warriors will try to regain their footing on Friday against the highest-scoring team in the WPIAL, Class 3A No. 3 North Catholic. The Trojans are coming off their first loss of the season last week against Class 3A No. 2 Imani Christian, who rallied from a 16-point deficit to score 36 unanswered points last week.

Hempfield at Norwin, 7 p.m. Friday

Has this game ever meant as much on the football field as it will when these two Westmoreland County rivals collide this Friday? Both Class 6A No. 4 Hempfield and Class 6A No. 3 Norwin carry identical 4-2 records into this showdown, with the Knights 1-1 in conference play and the Spartans at 1-2. Hempfield’s battle-tested senior Dom Detruf passed for 350 yards and four TDs in a win over Canon-McMillan last Friday, and he will need another big game in order to out-duel Norwin’s talented QB Tristyn Tavares.

PUP ‘underdog’ to watch

Trinity (hosts Thomas Jefferson at 7 p.m. Friday)

This is the second time the PUP has picked the Hillers as the “underdog to watch” this season, and they couldn’t quite pull it off the first time around against Montour. But after top-ranked Thomas Jefferson narrowly escaped with a 14-10 win in a nail-biter against archrival Belle Vernon last week, Trinity might be able to catch the visiting Jaguars by surprise this Friday.