Welcome to the
NORTH ALLEGHENY SPORTS NETWORK

The Official Source of North Allegheny Sports

NORTH ALLEGHENY VARSITY FOOTBALL

* 2004 GAME SUMMARIES *

NORTH ALLEGHENY - 42  SENECA VALLEY - 14

TIGERS CRUSH SENECA VALLEY, 42-14, TO CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT

by Don Vandergrift

To listen to a replay of the game, click here!

The Tigers built a 21-0 halftime lead and never looked back in easily defeating the Seneca Valley Raiders, 42-14 at Seneca Valley Stadium on Friday night.  Senior Josh Cipkala-Gaffin scored a pair of touchdowns, junior Bill Knight caught a 56-yard touchdown pass from senior Andrew Krewatch, and the Tigers got TDs from seniors Andrew McMillen, Craig Howarth, and John Woodruff.  Coupled with a loss by Butler to Bethel Park, NA clinched one of the six playoff spots in the Quad North Conference.

Seneca Valley started strong as they took the opening kickoff and advanced the ball to the NA 24 before the drive stalled.  Most of the damage was done by the running of senior halfback Evan Braithwaite and the passing of Marshall Lee to his senior WR Jim Paulin.  From the NA 24, the Tiger defense stiffened, hitting Braithwaite for a 2 yard loss.  After an incomplete pass, a procedure penalty moved the ball back to the 31.  On third down, Lee tried to run around left end, but the Tigers stopped him after a gain of one.  The Raiders were forced to punt, and senior Mark Renyck put the ball into the end zone.  The Tigers started a drive from this point.  McMillan picked up 9 to the 29, Cipkala-Gaffin got a first down at the 32, and Krewatch hit Howarth in the left flat good for an 8 yard gain and a first down at the 8.  The drive stalled here as the Tigers were faced with a third and long.  A pass to Howarth picked up an apparent first down at the SV 27, but NA was caught holding.  After an incomplete pass, senior Mike Nypaver was forced to punt to Dan Stanley who returned the ball only to the SV 19.  Braithwaite was hurt on the last Raider drive, and junior Pat Prazer took over at tailback and gained six yards on two plays.  On third and four, Lee was sacked by the Tiger defense forcing another Seneca punt.  The Tigers tried for the block but hit the punter, Renyck, giving the Raiders a first down at the SV 36.  The first quarter ended in a scoreless tie.

Early in the second quarter, the NA defense forced another punt.  The punt was dropped by senior return man Kyle Allis who managed to recover back at the Tiger 21.  The NA offense took over and started a 79-yard drive for the first score of the game.  The Tigers stayed exclusively on the ground relying mostly on McMillen.  On first down, the Tiger senior raced 14 yards for a first down.  Woodruff then ran the right side for nine more, and McMillen added five for a first down at the SV 49.  Howarth blasted up the middle for twelve and first down, and McMillen broke through for 18 more to the Raider 21.  After McMillen got 11, Howarth gained seven, and NA had a first and goal at the Seneca 3.  After an offside penalty moved the ball closer, McMillen finished the drive by blasting into the end zone.  Sophomore place kicker Rich Doyle added the point, and the Tigers had a 7-0 advantage with 7:31 remaining in the half.   The touchdown seemed to take some of the energy from the Raiders, and they were forced to punt after three plays lost four yards.  After Allis returned the kick five yards to the NA 47, the Tigers were in business again.  It took only six plays to go the distance.  Howarth started with a 9 yard run to the SV 44, and McMillen broke through for 17 and a first down to the Raider 37.  It was McMillen again with 13 and a first down at the 15.  After Howarth picked up four, Krewatch found Knight open and Tiger junior raced down near the goal line but fumbled.  McMillen recovered at the three.  Cipkala-Gaffin took it the rest of the way, Doyle hit the point, and the Tigers were ahead 14-0 with 3:29 left in the half.  Once again the Tiger defense held, allowing Seneca a first down before forcing a punt.  The Tigers took over with a little over two minutes remaining.  It looked like NA might run out the clock after two running plays gained only seven yards.  Coach Jim Rankin took a time out, however, and decided to go for the score.  On third down, Krewatch dropped back and hit a wide open Knight down the middle of the field, and fleet NA receiver outraced everyone to the end zone.  Doyle’s kick was good, and the Tigers took a commanding 21-0 lead to the intermission.

In the third quarter, the Tigers wasted no time in adding more points.  Senior Steve Guzzetti returned the kickoff all the way to the NA 44.  Seven plays later, the Tigers were in the end zone again.  Howarth broke free on first down and ran all the way to the Seneca 34, a gain of 22 yards.  After an incomplete pass, Howarth picked up seven more.  After McMillen was stopped for no gain, Howarth ran the right side again on fourth down, gaining 11 yards and a first down at the Seneca 20.  Cipkala-Gaffin tried the left side and gained nine to the 10.  On the next play, Cipkala-Gaffin ran left, cut back up the middle, and took it to the end zone untouched.  Doyle was perfect again on the point and the Tiger lead went to 28-0 just 3:01 into the quarter.  After the kickoff, Seneca began a drive from the own 36.  Prazer was the major factor, picking up gains of 13, 17, and 12 as the Raiders reached the NA 28.  After a gain of one, an incomplete pass, and a holding penalty, Seneca was in a third and long.  Lee’s pass intended for Paulin was picked off by Woodruff who made a good runback picking up 30 yards to the Raider 46.  On second and nine, Krewatch went to the air looking for senior WR Brett Fields, but Lee went high to intercept the ball.  Lee took off down the right side, cut back over the middle and ran to the Tiger 19 before being pulled down from behind.  Two runs by Prazer for 10 yards, and a gain of five by senior fullback Ben Sieminski put Seneca at the NA 4.  Junior QB Evan Smith then found sophomore TE Shawn Eagle in the end zone for the first Raider score of the game.  Renyck’s kick cut the Tiger lead to 28-7 at the 3:24 mark.  The Tigers started another drive from their 21 but a holding penalty forced Nypaver to punt.  The punt was downed at the Seneca 24.  After an incomplete pass, senior DE Joe Apel hit Prazer for a loss of four.  On third down, the Tigers broke through to sack Smith who fumbled the ball on the 18.  The Tigers Guzzetti came up the pigskin, and the Tigers were in scoring position again.  An inside reverse to Cipkala-Gaffin got seven on first down as the quarter ended.

On the first play of the final quarter, McMillen went up the middle for 10 and a first down inside the Seneca one.  Howarth then took it in untouched, Doyle kicked the point, and the NA lead went to 35-7.  After the ensuing kickoff, Prazer gained 17 on first down to move the ball to the Raider 43.  After Prazer gained two, Apel broke through again to hit junior WR Zach Duggan for a seven yard loss on an attempted reverse.  An incomplete pass forced another Seneca Valley punt that went out of bounds at the NA 46.  After Woodruff picked up a first down, the Raider defense forced another Nypaver punt that was downed at the Raider 12.  On first down, Smith hit Paullin for a first down, but the Tigers forced another fumble that NA recovered at the Seneca 26.  After Cipkala-Gaffin got sixteen and a first down at the Seneca eight, Woodruff raced into the end zone for the score.  With Doyle’s sixth straight conversion, the mercy rule kicked in as the Tigers took a 35-point lead at 42-7.  The clock ran for the last 5:35, stopping only for injuries, scores, and time outs.  The Raiders took the kickoff back to their 33 where they went on a 67 yard scoring drive against the NA reserves.  Lee ran the right side for the final seven, and Renyck’s kick finished the scoring for the evening.  After the attempted onside kick was recovered by the Tigers, NA ran out the clock to pick up a 42-14 victory. 

It was a good team victory by the Tigers over an opponent that had given NA trouble in recent years, winning three of the last four games.  McMillen played sparingly on offense but gained 105 yards on 12 carries, the first time this season that the Tiger back had gone over 100.  Howarth added 95 on 10 rushes and Cipkala-Gaffin picked up 51 on eight runs.  The Tigers ground out 302 yards running the football.  Krewatch attempted only seven passes, completing three, one for a TD, and tossing one interception.  For his efforts on defense and special teams, the North Allegheny Sports Network selected senior Steve Guzzetti as the Player of the Game. 

The win improved the NA record in the conference to 2-3, the overall mark to 3-4.  The Tigers will host neighborhood rival Shaler on Friday night at Newman Stadium as they try to improve their playoff position.  The North Allegheny Sports Network will be there to broadcast the game LIVE on the internet beginning with the pre-game show at 7:15 pm.  Game time is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY – 42  SENECA VALLEY – 14

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

Any questions or comments should be directed to Athletic Director Bob Bozzuto at:  bbozzuto@northallegheny.org