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LATE TOUCHDOWNS GIVE TIGERS 28-14 VICTORY OVER RIVAL
NORTH HILLS

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The Tigers put together a late scoring drive and capitalized on a North Hills fumble to score twice in the last 3:24 and defeat the Indians, 28-14, at Newman Stadium on Friday night.  Sophomore HB Grant Huckestein scored twice for NA to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead, but the Indians came back to tie the score in the third quarter.  One-yard runs by senior QB Geoff Greco and senior HB Karl DeCiantis late in the game gave NA the victory that secured an undefeated regular season and the Northern Five Conference title outright with a 5-0 record.

The Tigers started quickly taking the opening kickoff and moving 64 yards in twelve plays to take the lead.  After Greco ran the opening kickoff back 23 yards to the NA 36, Greco through to senior WR Curtis Belcastro for eight yards.  On third and short, senior FB Zach Watts ran up the middle for five yards and a first down at midfield.  Greco gained nine on two runs before DeCiantis got four up the middle for another first down at the NH 37.  After Greco ran the left side for six to the 31, Huckestein ran around left end for twelve and a first down at the 19.  After two plays gained only two yards, junior QB Mike Locke scrambled down the right side for 13 yards and a first and goal at the four.  On the next play, Huckestein ran left and into the end zone.  Senior Justin Facer added the point as NA took a 7-0 lead with 6:10 remaining in the quarter.  After John Iovito returned the kickoff to the NH 32, the Tiger defense held the Indians to a three and out forcing Ed Reith to punt to Greco who returned the ball for 14 yards to the NA 43.  After DeCiantis got three on first down, Locke’s pass was intercepted by Ryan Welsh who was brought down at the NA 49 after a short return.  The Indians could not move the ball again picking up nine yards in three carries and Reith punted into the end zone.  The Tigers fumbled on the first play, but senior guard Mike Passodelis recovered at the NA 18.  After an incomplete pass, Greco’s pass was picked off by Cody Patton who returned it for 24 yards to the Tiger 20.  A second down pass from QB Justin Heinauer to Welsh got a first down at the NA 10.  After Heinauer got a yard, the quarter ended with the Tigers holding a 7-0 lead.

On the first play of the second quarter, Heinauer tossed a short pass to Reith who was brought down at the NA 4.  On the next play, Heinauer ran the right side and got to the goal line where he fumbled into the end zone.  Patton recovered for the Indians and Dan Scherling kicked the point as NH tied the game at 7-7 just 52 seconds into the period.  After Greco returned the kickoff 20 yards to the 30, three plays gained only six yards and Greco punted to Welsh who made a fair catch at the NH 29.  After Heinaeur got six on first down, Reith ran for five more to pick up a first down at the Indian 40.  After senior LB Ty Dixon broke up a first down pass, senior DE Zach Watts broke through to sack Heinauer for a loss of seven.  Reith picked up 7 on the next play, but then was forced to punt out of bounds at the NA 41.  Again, the Tigers were unable to move the ball, and Greco punted to Patton at the NH 8 where he fumbled the ball but recovered at the 6.  The Tigers were called for a late hit, and the Indians started at the 21 after the penalty was marked off.  After a loss of one on first down, senior DL Austin Fedell sacked Heinauer for a loss of seven at the NH 13.  Reith got eleven on the next play, but again was forced to punt out of bounds at the NA 32.  The Tigers once again could not move the ball, and Greco punted to Patton who returned it four yards to the NH 27.  With two plays gaining only one yard, NA Coach Art Walker called a time out with 21 seconds left in the half.  Another running play gained only two with the Tigers calling another time out and forcing the Indians to punt with 15 seconds remaining.  The kick by Reith went out of bounds at the NA 49 with just six seconds left.  Locke dropped back to pass but was forced to run with the ball for a gain of one as time ran out.  The teams went to the intermission with the score tied at 7-7.  Neither team had impressive stats at halftime with NA gaining a total of 84 yards and the Indians 52.

Greco’s kickoff to start the second half went into the end zone with the Indians starting at the NH 20.  After two plays gained six yards, senior CB Kyle Butson picked off a Heinauer pass at the NH 47 and returned it 24 yards to the Indian 23.  After DeCiantis ran up the middle for nine yards, the Tigers fumbled and North Hills recovered at the 14.  Reith ran for ten and a first down to the 30 on the first play.  The Tiger defense stiffened and forced another Reith punt that Greco returned eleven yards to the NH 49.  Two runs by DeCiantis got only four yards, but Greco ran the right side for eleven and a first down at the NH 34.  On the next play, Huckestein took off around left end and outraced the Indian defense into the end zone to give the Tigers the lead.  After Facer converted, NA led, 14-7, with 5:34 remaining in the quarter.  After Greco again kicked off into the end zone, three runs by Reith gained only 7 yards and a holding call against the Indians forced a punt by Reith.  Senior WR Brian Austin caught the punt at the NA 40, faked a reverse to Greco and ran around the left side all the way to the NH 15 before he fumbled with the Indians recovering the ball.  On first down, Heinauer threw short to Brennan Prokopec who ran it to the NH 38.  On the next play, Reith ran around left end, broke free at midfield, cut to the right and outran the Tiger defense all the way to the end zone for a 62-yard touchdown.  Scherling kicked the point and the Indians had tied the game, 14-14, with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter.  After Greco brought the kickoff back 23 yards to the 31, the Tigers fumbled but recovered on the first play.  NA then began a methodical drive that would finish out the third quarter and take up much of the fourth quarter and win the game.  Greco found Austin open for nine yards and a first down at the NA 42.  On second and nine, Greco ran the right side for six yards to the NA 48 as the quarter ended with the game tied at 14-14.

After Greco picked up four on the first play of the fourth quarter, the Tigers came up inches short at the NH 48.  On fourth down, Greco ran a quarterback sneak to pick up the first down at the 42.  Greco ran the next three plays gaining another first down at the NH 34.  After DeCiantis got three, Zach Watts gained four more.  An incomplete pass brought up a fourth and four at the Indian 29.  Locke then hit Greco just beyond the marker on the far sideline to move the sticks again at the NH 23.  After Greco got three and DeCiantis three more to the 18, Austin slipped while trying to turn the corner around left end leaving the Tigers with another fourth down and four to go at the NH 17.  After an NA time out, Locke threw to Belcastro along the left side where the Tiger senior made a diving catch and a gain of seven and a first down at the 11.  After a false start against NA, DeCiantis ripped up the middle for ten yards to the NH 6.  Another false start moved the ball back to the eleven.  Locke then found Huckestein open for an eight yard gain to the NH 3.  DeCiantis followed with a run of two but was short of a first down at the Indian one.  On fourth down and inches, Greco ran the sneak for the first down but short of the goal line as the Indian defense battled valiantly to keep the Tigers out of the end zone.  On the next play, another quarterback sneak put Greco across the goal line.  Facer again converted as the Tigers took a 21-14 lead with only 3:24 remaining.  The touchdown drive took 22 plays, covered 69 yards, and took 10:48 seconds!  On the ensuing kickoff, Patton returned the ball to the NH 15.  On the first play, the Indians fumbled and senior DL Kyle Johnson recovered at the Indian 16.  After DeCiantis ran for six to the 10, another false start penalty moved the Tigers back five to the 15.  After DeCiantis got two, Locke scrambled for twelve to the NH 1 where one official said he fumbled with NH recovering.  After a meeting of the zebras, it was decided that Locke was down before the ball came loose giving the Tigers a first and goal at the one.  After DeCiantis was stopped on the next play, the Tiger senior went off the left side behind Zach Watts and into the end zone.  Facer kicked the point again to give the Tigers a 28-14 lead with just 17 seconds left.  After Greco kicked off into the end zone, the Indians were able to move the ball to their 45 but time ran out.  On Senior Night, the Tigers came away with a hard-fought 28-14 victory.

In many respects, it was a typical NA-NH neighborhood battle.  NA won the battle of the statistics with a total of 242 yards gained, 205 on the ground, to 190 for the Indians.  Mistakes hurt the Tigers throughout the game as they turned the ball over four times, two on fumbles and two on interceptions.  The Indians’ Reith was the leading rusher for the game with 120 yards on 18 carries.  When the game was on the line, however, the NA defense came up big again.  Offensively, three NA runners gained over 50 yards with Greco leading the way with 58 yards on 16 carries.  DeCiantis added 54 and Huckestein 50.  For his efforts on the offensive end, the North Allegheny Sports Network named Grant Huckestein as the Player of the Game.

With the win, the Tigers completed the regular season unbeaten with a record of 9-0.  NA had already clinched the top seed in the Northern Five Conference but the win gave the Tigers the title outright with a 5-0 mark.  The victory tied the all-time series with the Indians at 24-24.  NA will host a first-round playoff game in the WPIAL Quad A division on Friday night.  The WPIAL Football Committee is meeting on Monday night to announce the brackets.  The North Allegheny Sports Network will be there to broadcast the game LIVE on the internet beginning with the pre-game show at 7:10 pm.  Game time is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY – 28  NORTH HILLS – 14

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

 GAME STATISTICS

Statistics Courtesy of Steve Heckmann

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