By Bill Albright

The Red Hurricanes are now 5-3 after starting the season 0-3.

NEW CASTLE — After losses to Butler, Indiana and Blackhawk to begin the season, things looked bleak for the New Castle football team.

However, since that time, the Red Hurricanes have turned things completely around as they have reeled off five straight wins, including Friday night’s 47-28 victory over Ambridge at Taggart Stadium.

“We were definitely scratching our heads at 0-3,” said New Castle coach Frank Bongivengo. “We never expected to be at that point after the first three games, but we were. But where we are now is a tribute to these kids because they worked even harder. That is why they put themselves back in the position they are now.”

The Hurricanes are 5-3 overall, but more importantly they find themselves alone atop the Parkway Conference standings (5-1) with two games remaining.

As for the turn-around, Bongivengo said it was simply a matter of hard work and the desire to win.

“I am fully ecstatic with the way these guys have turned this around,” said Bongivengo. “I am really happy with the way they have progressed to this point in the season and I am especially happy with the way they want to win right now. When they take the field, they feel there is no team that can beat them.”

One major ingredient in the recent success of the Hurricanes has been the play of Michael Bongivengo, the son of the coach.

In Friday’s win the younger Bongivengo had an outstanding game as he threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another. He completed 15-of-22 passes for 211 yards.

“He is the guy that makes everything work,” said Frank Bongivengo. “We put a lot of pressure on his shoulders, he calls the plays, he calls our pass coverages and he is the guy who makes it go. He has made it go all year.”

New Castle’s Keith Keene, a junior tailback, finished with 214 yards on 23 attempts and two touchdowns, covering 58 and 35 yards.

Brandon Burley also had a big night for the ’Canes with a pair of touchdowns while Jajuan Jay scored the first two New Castle touchdowns on TD receptions of 39 and 14 yards.

If there was one thing that didn’t set well with Bongivengo in the win was the defense, after completely shutting the Bridgers down in the first half, allowed them to score 28 points in the second half.

“I just told the kids that I wasn’t happy with the way they let down in the second half,” he said. “We had them down 28-0 and all of a sudden, we allowed them to come down and score a few times and they kept scoring. Good teams don’t do that and that is one thing we have to get under control.”

As for the win over the Bridgers, Michael Bongivengo said it was just a simple matter of a good team effort.

“Everybody did what they had to do tonight,” said the quarterback. “The line was doing a good job blocking and our guys were getting open. When that happens and I can get the ball to my guys, I am pretty sure they are going to make some plays for us.”

So what was the key to the turn-around from the first three games?

“We all decided on the Monday when we came back from that third loss and said, ‘Hey, we have to turn this thing around,’ ” the quarterback said. “We knew we had a team that could do it and it was just a matter of getting confidence in ourselves to get it done.”