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NORTH ALLEGHENY VARSITY FOOTBALL

TIGERS STOP NORTH HILLS, 20-14, TO WIN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

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Down 14-10 at halftime, the Tigers scored the only points of the second half on their way to a 20-14 victory in the rain and cold of  Martorelli Stadium on Friday night.  Junior Geoff Greco ran 42 yards with a reverse for a first half touchdown, but a 57 yard run by junior RB Carl DeCiantis in the third quarter put NA ahead for good.  Senior PK Rich Doyle made two field goals as the Tigers wrapped up the conference title.  Senior LB Tim Lotz intercepted a North Hills pass with six seconds left to stop a last minute Indian drive.

After the opening kickoff was returned to the NH 37, the Tigers held on three downs and forced a punt by Matt Timko that was returned by sophomore WR Brian Austin to the NA 28.  The Tigers began a long drive primarily on the ground.  On second and 8, junior RB Corey Watts ran for nine yards and a first down to the 39.  After Lotz picked up four, DeCiantis broke through for 15 more and another first down at the North Hills 32.  After three plays gained only three yards, a fourth down pass from sophomore QB Mike Locke to senior TE Tom Keiser took the ball all the way to the NH 1.  A penalty during the play put the ball back to the Indian 18.  Three plays got six yards, and Doyle kicked his first field goal of the game, a 31-yarder, to give NA a 3-0 lead with 3:38 left in the quarter.  It was a 72 yard drive in fourteen plays.  Timko returned the kickoff to the NH 27, but the Indians again could not move the ball.  Timko's punt traveled only to the NA 47 where it went out of bounds.  Three plays gained four yards as the first quarter ended with the Tigers holding a 3-0 advantage.

Greco punted as the second quarter began with the kick downed at the NH 30.  With the Tigers not allowing anything on the ground, the Indians went to the air in the second stanza.  On third and 8, Indian QB Andrew Wyzkoski hit Timko for a gain of 20 the NA 48.  After Wykoski found Timko open again for a gain of 8, Michael Rainey-Wiles ran the right side for fifteen more and a first down at the Tiger 24.  On second and ten, the Indians fumbled but recovered.  On third down, it was Wyzkoski to Timko again to the NA 9.  After Rainey-Wiles got three, Wyzkoski hit FB Drew Schellhaas and he took it into the end zone.  Dan Shirling made the point and the Indians took a 7-3 lead with 7:53 remaining in the half.  The Tigers needed less than three minutes to answer.  After Lotz brought the kickoff back fourteen yards to the 34, Locke threw to senior FB Marek Lapinski for a gain of fourteen and a first down at the 48.  Lapinski picked up three, Greco ran the right side for six, but DeCiantis was stopped short of a first down at the NH 43.  After a time out by the Tigers, Greco picked up the yard and a first down at the 42.  On the next play, Locke handed to Austin who gave it to Greco on a reverse.  The NA junior took off down the right side, broke several tackles, and raced into the end zone.  Doyle added the point as the Tigers regained the lead, 10-7, with 5:06 on the first half clock.  Once again, North Hills came back to retake the lead.  Starting at the Indian 24, it took NH only five plays to score.  A pass to Rainey-Wiles got eight on first down, and Wyzkoski found WR Brian Wisniewski for another 16 and a first down at the 48.  After Lotz hit Schellhaas for no gain, Wyzkoski threw a short pass to Schellhaas who ran for another first down at the Tiger 48.  A short pass to Wisniewski gained five, but the Indians were called for an illegal block that cost them fifteen yards, moving the ball back to the Indian 46.  On the next play, Wisniewski got behind the NA secondary and took a long pass from Wyzkoski into the end zone for a 54-yard scoring play.  Shirling again converted to give NH a 14-10 lead with just 2:28 left in the half.  The Tigers were flagged for holding on the kickoff return and started from their own 13.  DeCiantis ran the left side for eight but an incomplete pass brought up a third and two.  DeCiantis broke through for a 27-yard gain out to the NA 48 with 1:19 left.  A procedure call and a sack of Locke put the Tigers back to the 34.  Two plays got ten back, but Greco punted with no return as the half ended.  North Hills took a 14-10 advantage to the intermission.  In an evenly played first half, NH led in total yardage, 168-161.

Lotz returned the second half kickoff thirteen yards to the NA 27.  The Tigers could not move the ball, and Greco's punt was downed at the Indian 25.  A five-yard face mask called against NA  and a pass interference call against the Tigers gave NH a first down at the Indian 45.  Three plays got only six yards, and Timko punted.  The ball rolled deep into NA territory and was inadvertently touched by a Tiger player.  The Tigers recovered but had to start from their own 4.  Three plays gained five yards, and Greco punted from his end zone to Wisniewski who lost three yards on the return back to the NH 49.  On first down, senior FS Alex Carson made a diving interception at the Tiger 39.  After Austin gained four on a fake reverse, DeCiantis took off up the middle, broke several attempted tackles, and outran the NH secondary to score on a 57-yard run to put the Tigers back on top.  Doyle again added the point to give NA a 17-14 lead with 5:33 left in the quarter.  On the ensuing kickoff, Timko tried to get to the right sideline on the return, but senior LB Jack Connolly made a good tackle at the Indian 16.  On a third and eleven, Wyzkoski was stopped short of a first down forcing another Timko punt that went out of bounds at the NA 33.  After Lapinski got three, DeCiantis ran for ten more and a first down at the NA 46.  On second and seven, Locke fumbled the snap but recovered.  Greco tried the right side but was hit for a loss forcing a punt that was caught by Rainey-Wiles on a fair catch at the NH 27.  After QB Andrew Heck was hit for a three yard loss, the Indians were called for holding as time ran out.  On an untimed play, junior CB Kyle Butson picked off a Wyzkoski pass and ran it to the Indian 12 as the quarter ended.  The Tigers took a 17-14 lead into the final period.

As the fourth quarter began, Lapinski gained six yards to the NH 6.  After a gain of one, the Tigers fumbled and North Hills recovered at their own five.  On first down, Wyskoski completed a screen pass to R.J. Miller, but the Indians were called for holding with the ball moved back to the NH 6.  A pass from Wyskoski to Wisniewski gained 12 and a first down to the 18.  On second and ten, Wykoski tried the screen pass to Miller again, but Lapinski was there to stop the play for no gain.  Keiser and senior DT Mike Griffith combined to sack Wyzkoski and force Timko to punt.  The punt went out of bounds at the NA 45 with 8:01 remaining.  A pass from Locke to Lapinski gained seventeen yards and a first down at the Indian 38.  DeCiantis then gained eleven yards on two carries for another first down at the NH 27.  DeCiantis followed with a gain of ten more to the Indian 16.  After DeCiantis picked up nine on three plays, NA Head Coach Art Walker called a time out.  DeCiantis then ran the left side and dove for a first down at the NH 6.  After two running plays picked up only a yard, Locke was sacked for a loss of five back to the Indian 10.  Doyle came in and kicked his second field goal of the game from 28 yards to increase the Tiger lead to 20-14 with only 2:28 left.  The Indians were not finished, however, as Wyzkoski moved the ball down the field through the air.  After the kickoff was returned to the 35. three plays gained only three yards.  On fourth and seven, Wyzkoski hit Wisniewski for a first down at the NA 42.  On the next snap, the Indians fumbled but recovered for  loss of three forcing NH Head Coach Jack McCurry to call a time out with 1:02 left.  After an incomplete pass, Wyzkoski connected with Miller for another first down at the Tiger 32.  After Wyzkoski's pass to Wisniewski gained seven to the 25, the Indians called their final time out with 17 seconds left.  After an incomplete pass, Wyzkoski's pass was deflected high in the air and picked off by Lotz who returned it to the 35.  With the Tiger players celebrating, a flag was down in the NA secondary.  With the pass being tipped, the flag was waved off giving the Tigers the ball with six seconds left.  NA had only to take a knee but fumbled the snap, and North Hills recovered with three seconds left.  A desperation pass by Wyzkoski fell incomplete in the end zone as the Tigers held on for the 20-14 victory.

It was a typical hard fought NA-NH contest with eleven penalties called, seven against the Tigers.  With the wet field conditions, NA fumbled four times and lost two.  NH fumbled three times but recovered all three.  NA led in total yards, 300-277, with the Tigers gaining 249 on the ground while the Indians picked up 206 in the air.  Three interceptions in the second half were key for the Tigers.  Individually, DeCiantis led all rushers with 171 yards on 21 carries.  Greco added 62 on eleven runs.  For the Indians, Wyzkoski was 16 for 34 with two TDs but three interceptions.  For his efforts, the North Allegheny Sports Network named Carl DeCiantis as the Player of the game.

With the win, the Tigers pulled within one in the all-time series, trailing the Indians, 24-23.  It was the second straight win for Coach Walker against NH.  The victory completed conference play as the Tigers finished with a perfect 5-0 record.  The overall mark improved to 7-2 as NA clinched both the title and home field advantage in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs that will begin on Friday.  The WPIAL pairings meeting will be held on Monday night, and the MSA Sports Network will broadcast the meeting live beginning at 7:00 pm.  We will post the NA opponent as soon as we get the information.

GAME STATISTICS

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY - 20  NORTH HILLS - 14

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

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