The C-Train, that's what Montour coach Lou Cerro likes to call it -- and when it gets rumbling, when it roars through the night like a gigantic Norfolk Southern locomotive, it becomes virtually impossible to stop.

Senior running back Christian Wilson, all 6-foot-4, 235 pounds of him, is that aforementioned C-Train personified.

And last night in a huge WPIAL Class AAA Parkway Conference matchup at Taggart Stadium, Wilson led the Post-Gazette's No. 4-ranked Spartans (4-0, 2-0) to a 28-20 come-from-behind win against New Castle (3-1, 1-1) as he chugged for four touchdowns and 126 yards on 22 carries.

"Coach told me at halftime that they were going to rely on me in the second half," said Wilson, a Michigan recruit. "I just knew it was my time. When a coach says he has confidence in you, you just have to go out and not let your teammates down."

And Wilson didn't, even after New Castle took a 20-14 lead in the waning seconds of the third quarter as Brian Rice raced through the coverage and scored on an 84-yard kickoff return.

From there, Wilson scored two touchdowns in the final 4:13 of the game ---- from 1 and 3 yards -- to clinch it for Montour. Wilson's effort was complemented by quarterback E.J. Banks, who threw for 106 yards and had a game-saving interception as New Castle mounted a furious, last second gasp.

But it was plainly visible to everyone Wilson caused the most damage.

"He knows he's getting the ball in those situations," Cerro said. "He knows we are going to run him until his legs fall off late in the game, and you saw out there that he responded."

Montour scored on its first series, gaining a 7-0 advantage when Wilson muscled in from the 3.

New Castle struck right back, with an old-school, run-it-directly-down-your-throat drive that encompassed 16 plays and 73 yards -- all via the ground game. That drive was capped on the first play of the second quarter when Maris Chandler scooted around left end and scored from 5 yards to even it, 7-7. The Red Hurricane then took a 14-7 lead with 2:02 left before halftime when Rice pulled in a Mike Bongivengo pass down the left sideline, turned it up and deftly diced through four Montour would-be tacklers for a 45-yard touchdown.

The week's anticipation and subsequent overflow crowd last night signified a rebirth of sorts for both programs. A few generations ago, Montour and New Castle were overwhelmingly triumphant and cemented residence among the WPIAL's unquestioned elite.

But, both programs had tumbled mightily in recent years. To that end, Montour held a 9-30 record since 2003 heading into last night while New Castle was 16-27 over that same span. It would seem both programs are back.

"I'm proud of what we did out there on that field," New Castle coach Frank Bongivengo said.

"We stood in there and we fought, and they just made a couple more plays then we did. But, we fought until the very end. Definitely, I'm proud of these guys."