New Castle coach Frank Bongivengo said he has never seen a game like the Hurricanes' WPIAL quarterfinal victory Friday against Indiana. In postseason terms, the WPIAL has seen only one other game like it.

New Castle (8-3) defeated Indiana, 55-49, in a Class AAA quarterfinal. This should tell you a lot about the game: Neither team punted.

A check of the records shows the 104 points is the second-most scored in a WPIAL playoff game. The WPIAL playoffs started in the early 1900s and the No. 2 scoring game had been the 2004 quarterfinal when West Allegheny defeated Hampton, 52-42.

But New Castle-Indiana beat that game by 10 points.

The highest-scoring game in the WPIAL -- playoffs and regular season -- was last year when Jeannette defeated Aliquippa, 70-48, in a Class AA semifinal.

"I still have whiplash from my head turning so much," Bongivengo said. "It was truly a track meet out there. I've been coaching high school for 20 years, and I've never seen a game so up and down, and so fast-paced. We didn't stop them very well and they didn't stop us very well."

The teams combined for 890 total yards.

"Someone said it was a game for the ages," Bongivengo said. "Looking at the point total, the yardage total and the no punts, maybe it was."

The game included a record-breaking performance by New Castle running back Keith Keene, who rushed for 187 yards and set a school single-season rushing record with 1,436 yards. The old record was 1,407 by Greg Solomon in 1983.

Bongivengo's son, Mike, had a gigantic game at quarterback for New Castle, rushing for 186 yards and completing 9 of 16 passes for 111 yards.

The performance put Mike Bongivengo close to the 1,000/1,000 mark. For the season, he has 864 yards on 120 attempts (7.2 average). He set a school record for single-season passing and has completed 121 of 193 for 1,810 yards. He has scored 16 touchdowns and thrown for 19.

Bongivengo has been impressive running New Castle's spread offense, hurting teams in different ways. In five games this season, he has run fewer than 10 times. But he had 21 carries against Indiana. Some games he has thrown more than 20 passes, but has thrown 11 times or fewer on three occasions.

"We base what we're going to do on what the defense is giving us," Frank Bongivengo said. "That's what this offense is designed to do."

New Castle plays two-time defending WPIAL champion Thomas Jefferson (10-1), which has won 36 consecutive games against WPIAL teams.

North Hills quarterback Justin Heinauer sustained a broken tibia in his right leg in Friday's 27-0 loss to Penn Hills. The injury occurred in the second quarter, with North Hills trailing, 7-0. The injury might require surgery.

"He feels bad because he feels like he let the team down," said Heinauer's father, Scott. "I know that sounds crazy because he got hurt. But that's the type of kid he is. He's always been very competitive."

It was not a good night for the Heinauers. Scott Heinauer is Mars' coach and the Planets lost to Blackhawk, 47-7, in the Class AAA quarterfinals.

For the first time since the PIAA playoffs started in 1988, the City League will be represented in Class AA. This is the first year the City League has had Class AA teams and Langley (4-6) will represent it, playing at North Star (9-1) Saturday in a first-round game.

City League champion Brashear (10-1) plays Clearfield (9-2) in the PIAA Class AAA playoffs Friday at Cupples Stadium on the South Side.

Allderdice also was eligible to represent the City in the PIAA Class AAAA playoffs, but the Dragons went 0-9 and did not qualify under the PIAA point system.

Almost lost in North Allegheny's 42-21 loss to Bethel Park Friday was a splendid performance by North Allegheny receiver Brian Austin, who caught 18 passes for 241 yards. The WPIAL record for catches in a game is unknown. But the state record is 22, set by Upper Merion's Bob Thomas in 1972.

Plum coach Bill Rometo has resigned after 20 seasons. Rometo's best season was 1996, when the Mustangs went 9-3 and made it to the WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinals. That year, Plum upset Penn Hills, 14-12, in the quarterfinals. Penn Hills was USA Today's No. 1 team in the country at the time.

Plum had fallen on rough times in recent years under Rometo. The Mustangs finished 1-9 this season and were 17-43 the past six seasons.