Over the past 5 years, New Castle High School has been churning out great athletes, especially in football.  Jake McPhatter attended Ball State, and is now a starting defensive back for California University of Pennsylvania, currently a top ten team in Division II football.  Stew and Drew Allen, Tevin McCaster, and Julian Cox all have went on to play collegiately at the Division I-AA level.  Pat Minenok is another name, who has been greatly overlooked, and is currently playing at Slippery Rock University.  As a freshman, Minenok started in several games and led his team in tackles in multiple performances.  Now only a sophomore, Minenok locked up the starting spot at outside linebacker for The Rock, but was injured during training camp prior to the season and was red-shirted.

The most renowned of these recruits, Malik Hooker, is currently the starting safety for the Indianapolis Colts.  He was heavily recruited by major Division I programs and committed to Ohio State before his senior season.  At Ohio State, he got off to a rough start, was red-shirted, but later got his chance as a red-shirt sophomore and turned heads instantly in his debut as a starting safety for the Buckeyes with two interceptions.  He went on to break Ohio State’s school records for single season interceptions, and career interceptions returned for touchdowns, in only one season.

Hooker’s marvels and national spotlight paved the way for his younger brother Marcus, who is now committed to Ohio State, to start receiving attention from Division I schools.  Marcus Hooker is currently a senior at New Castle High School.  He is leading the county in rushing yards and leading the Red Hurricanes into the playoffs once again.  As a sophomore, he burst onto the recruiting scene with offers from Temple, Bowling Green, Cincinatti, Toledo, and Rutgers.  Following his junior campaign, Pitt came into the picture with an offer.  Then, after attending Ohio State’s “Friday Night Lights” spotlight camp for only their top recruits, Hooker received the offer he’d been awaiting for a long time.  He committed to the Buckeyes within 24 hours of their scholarship offer.

Another top recruit, who graduated just this past year, was Geno Stone.  Offers piled up for Geno from multiple Ivy League and MAC schools, including Kent State (whom he was committed to prior to the Iowa offer), Harvard, and Buffalo during his junior season.  Stone led the Red Hurricane football team to Heinz Field for the Class 4A WPIAL championship in 2016.  After his impressive senior season and leading the Red Hurricane basketball team to being the Class 4A WPIAL champions, only a week before National Signing Day, the Iowa Hawkeyes offered Stone.  Stone visited Iowa that weekend and decided to decommit from Kent State and attend the University of Iowa.  He is now the second string safety for the Hawkeyes and is making an impact on special teams.  The most impressive aspect of this, is that Stone is only one of numerous NE-CA-HI alumni making an impact at the highest level of college football.  There is also a lot of potential on the Canes’ football team now, with a bright and promising future, New Castle High School is sure to continue to take over college football.

Malik Hooker — Ne-Ca-Hi Class of 2014

            Marcus Hooker — Ne-Ca-Hi Class of 2018

Geno Stone — Ne-Ca-Hi Class of 2016                                

            Pat Minenok — Ne-Ca-Hi Class of 2015