Evenly matched playoff foes Highlands, New Castle have history of tight games

By: George Guido
Wednesday, November 3, 2021 | 6:30 PM

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Highlands and New Castle have played some close games over the past several seasons, and Friday’s opening-round playoff game appears to be evenly matched.

That’s what one would expect when a ninth-seeded team such as New Castle (6-4, 3-2) squares off against No. 8 Highlands (7-3, 4-3) at Golden Rams Stadium.

Both teams finished third in their respective conferences.

Highlands won its last two Greater Allegheny Conference games, defeating Greensburg Salem and Knoch. New Castle started 1-1 in the rugged Parkway Conference but took care of business against Blackhawk and Chartiers Valley before falling to Aliquippa last Friday.

“I’m glad we’re playing in front of our fans, and we’ve had a couple great games against them in the past here and I’d expect more of the same Friday,” Golden Rams coach Dom Girardi said.

Highlands won a 24-19 playoff game in 2013 and a 28-22 decision at home in 2019.

New Castle came from behind in 2016 at Taggart Stadium to earn a 29-26 victory. The following season at Highlands, the Red Hurricanes won a 48-47 thriller in double overtime.

“Every time I talk with coach Girardi, we bring up some great games with us,” New Castle coach Joe Cowart said. “I expect a physical, tight game. I like where we are on our offensive and defensive lines.”

New Castle has been a WPIAL power for nearly 125 years. The school has 11 WPIAL titles and 13 undefeated regular seasons. The Red Hurricanes are in the playoffs for the 29th time. Several of their championships were won when they were the only undefeated and untied team in their classification.

From 1932-35, New Castle lost just one game. The school had the all-time WPIAL record for victories for many years until it was surpassed by Jeannette recently. Still, New Castle has 751 victories to its credit.

As for the current edition of the Red Hurricanes, Girardi describes them as “big, fast and well-coached.”

“With their size, they can play more of a power game, but they can also spread it out and show their speed,” Girardi said.

Each team has a quarterback who can do damage with their arms and feet. Chandler Thimons of Highlands has 1,105 passing yards and 806 rushing yards. New Castle’s Chris Hood has passed for 953 yards and run for 771 yards.

Hood has also excelled on defense along with fellow senior Mike Wells at linebacker.

Ending a six-year playoff drought, the Golden Rams are enjoying the return to the postseason.

“We talked before we looked at film Saturday morning and told them we want them to have fun,” Girardi said. “There are a lot of schools today that are done with their season, and we get to practice on a nice, fall day.”

Two-way lineman Tyler Bender concurs.

“I feel excited, and we’ve worked hard as a team the entire season to get where we’re at now,” the junior right tackle and left defensive end said. “The pressure was on us the last couple weeks, and we knew what we had to do. We’ve done well against some of the better teams in our conference.”

Luke Bombalski leads Highlands in rushing with 1,237 yards.

Playoff history

Highlands and New Castle have met in three past playoff games, all in the first round.

1982: New Castle 27, Highlands 19

1983: New Castle 28, Highlands 0

2013: Highlands 24, New Castle 19

Tags: Highlands, New Castle