Joe Simon
New Castle News
NEW CASTLE —
One of the area’s premier football players will be out for four to six weeks after suffering a hand injury.
Shenango High running back Anthony Kosciuszko, a senior who ran for 755 yards and 10 touchdowns last year for the Wildcats, tore ligaments in his thumb over the weekend and was scheduled to undergo surgery to repair it today.
It’s a tough blow for Shenango, which was relying heavily on the agile, 5-foot-9, 180-pound Kosciuszko to carry the load in the backfield. Coach Ryan Mayo said the injury occurred during warm-ups prior to Shenango’s scrimmage with Wilmington on Saturday.
“He ran a route, and when he went to make a cut, he put his hand down on the turf and he must have caught it funny,” Mayo said.
A few players will share the duties at running back while Kosciuszko is out. Sophomore James Jacobs and junior George Threats are the leading candidates. Jacobs ran the ball 16 times for 56 yards last year as a freshman, while Threats ran it twice for two yards.
Mayo said he is placing more of an emphasis on the job the offensive line must now do.
“If we have good blocking up front, we’ll be all right,” he said. “We have two starters returning and a couple of guys who played some games last year.”
Shenango scrimmages Farrell at 7 p.m. Friday.
