TIGERS ROLL OVER SHALER, 34-6

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The Tigers again ended Shaler's dream of an undefeated season with a convincing 34-6 victory over the Titans on Homecoming night at Newman Stadium on Friday night.  Sophomore Alex Papson scored three touchdowns to pace NA with senior QB Mike Locke passing for two more scores to senior WR Brian Austin and senior WR Gabe Searles.  Papson gained 118 yards as the Tiger offense piled up a total of 387 yards in the victory.

After the opening kickoff went out of bounds, the Tigers began a 65 yard drive in just six plays to take the lead.  Papson ran left for 19 yards to the Shaler 46 and then added 17 more up the middle to the Titan 29.  On the next play, it was Papson again running left for at first down at the 11.  Papson was stopped for a loss of two and no gain bringing up a third and ten.  Locke then threw to Austin at the four where the NA senior turned and raced into the end zone.  Senior Kurt Devlin added the point and the Tigers were off and running just 2:22 into the game.  On the ensuing kickoff, Jeremy Keenan returned junior Jackson Cox's bouncing kick to the Shaler 38.  After QB Tyler Bills hit WR John Orr for seven on first down, a pitchout to Jesse Della Valle got 14 and a first down at the NA 45.  After a holding call pushed the Titans back to their own 42, a pass interference call on the Tigers gave SA a first down at the NA 43.  After three plays got seven yards, Shaler coach Neil Gordon went for it on fourth down.  The  NA defense was able to stop RB Anthony Waskiewicz a yard short and the Tigers took over on downs.  The Tigers took the ball on their own 34 and went on an 11-play 66-yard drive to extend the lead.  On a third and six, Locke found Austin open for a gain of 8 and a first down at the 46.  A pass interference call on the Titans moved the ball to the SA 39.  Senior FB Jorden Kraus then ripped up the middle for fifteen yards and another first down at the 24.  On a third and four, Papson reached the sticks on a reverse giving NA a first down at the 14.  Austin followed with a sweep around right end for seven more.  After Kraus got four, Papson was stopped at the two.  On the next play, Papson took it in to make it a 13-0 game.  On the conversion, an attempted pass by junior QB Justin Brozick to Devlin was incomplete.  With 1:26 left in the quarter, the Tigers were up by two touchdowns.  After Kevin Jackson brought the kickoff back to the Shaler 33, on second and eight, Bills threw to WR Brian Grey for a gain of ten and a first down at the 45.  The Tiger defense hit Della Valle for a two-yard loss as the quarter ended.  The Tigers held a 13-0 lead after one quarter.

After Della Valle got two on the first play of the second quarter, Bills found Orr open at the NA 41 for a first down.  On the next play, Waskiewicz fumbled and senior LB Jackson Boyd recovered at the Tiger 31.  After a motion penalty and no gain on a running play, Locke scrambled for five to the 31.  With a third and ten, Locke again hit his favorite receiver, Austin, for a gain of 12 and a first down at the 43.  After Kraus got nine on first down, Locke threw to Kraus in the right flat and the senior fullback took it to the Shaler 37 for another Tiger first down.  Papson followed with a gain of 8 up the middle and then ran left for three more and a first down at the 26.  After an offside call against the Titans, Kraus ran for thee to the 18.  After an incomplete pass, a personal foul was called against Shaler that gave the Tigers a first and goal at the 8.  On the next play, Papson ran off the right side into the end zone.  Devlin tacked on the point as the Tiger lead went to 20-0 with 5:40 remaining in the half.   Jackson returned the kickoff to the SA 31. On first down, Bills hit Orr for a gain of seven.  On the next play, Bills was called for intentionally grounding moving the ball back to the Shaler 22.  After Bills completed a short pass to Steve Wirkowski, a personal foul was called on the Tigers that moved the ball to the Titan 39.  The Titans were still a couple yards short of a first down and came out in punt formation.  Della Valle took the short snap on a fake punt and just made the sticks on the right side for a first down at the 41.    On the next play, Bills threw to Orr for 12 and another first down at the Tiger 47. After an NA time out, the Tiger defense forced Della Valle into an eleven yard loss.  After Della Valle lost two more on the next play, an offside call on the Tigers moved the ball to the Shaler 45.  Bills then found Wirkowski open for a gain of five to the 50.  On the next play, Bills threw long to Della Valle who made a good grab after bobbling the ball and took it into the end zone for what would be the only Shaler score of the night.  The Tigers broke through to block the extra point as the Titans cut the NA lead to 20-6.  On the ensuing kickoff, Austin's knee hit the ground at the Tiger 22.  After three plays gained seven yards, the Tigers punted for the first time since the Penn Hills game with Brozick sending it long across midfield where it finally rolled to the Shaler 33.  After three Titan plays picked up five, Shaler's Rob Holtz punted it back to Austin who made a fiar catch at the NA 33.  On first down, Locke hit Austin for a gain of 11 and a first down at the 44 with just 20 seconds left.  After two incomplete passes, Papson was stopped after a gain of one as time ran out.  The Tigers took a 20-6 lead to the intermission.

On the second half kickoff, Shaler was called for holding during the runback by Dan Swiderski that moved the ball back to the Titan 33.  On the first play, junior Allen Ayuninjam broke through to sack Bills for a five yard loss.  On the next play, Bills found Swiderski open for a gain of 22 and a first down at midfield.  After an incomplete pass, Della Valle was hit for a two yard loss to the 48.  On third down, junior LB Gary Allen hit Della Valle for yet another loss forcing the Titans to punt.  Austin made a fair catch at the NA 24 of the punt by Holtz.  The Tigers then went on a methodical, time-consuming 76 yard drive in eight plays to put the game out of reach.  On second and nine, Locke ran for seven to the 32.  After an offside call put the ball at the 37, Papson ran for a good gain around the left side but the Tigers were called for holding with the ball being marched back to the NA 28.  Locke then hit Papson in the left flat for a gain of ten down the left sideline.  On the next play, Locke threw over the middle to senior WR Gabe Searles who battled his way for a gain of 24 yards and a first down at the Shaler 38.  On the next play, Austin ran for seven to the 31 with a face mask penalty against the Titans adding another 15.  After a motion call against the Tigers, Papson got two back to the 19.  On the next play, Locke found Searles open in the back of the end zone for the touchdown.  Devlin again was perfect on the point as the Tiger lead went to 27-6 with 4:46 left in the quarter.  Swiderski returned the kickoff to the Shaler 25.  On the first play, Bills tried to go long down the left sideline.  Boyd went high to tip the ball and sophomore Matt Steinbeck made a diving interception in front of the Shaler bench giving NA the ball back at the 50.  Brozick came in at quarterback and ran a keeper around the  left side for nine to the Titan 41.  After Papson was stopped for no gain, Brozick ran left again for a gain to the 29, but a holding call against NA pushed the ball back to the 39.  The yardage still gave NA a first down.  With Locke back in at QB, Papson gained four.  After an NA time out, Papson got five more on two runs bringing up a fourth and one at the 32.  Papson ran the inside reverse for six and a first down at the 26.  After Austin was stopped after a gain of four, the quarter ended with the Tigers holding a commanding 27-6 advantage.

The Tigers opened fourth quarter action with Locke finding Austin oopen for a gain of ten and a first down at the Shaler 14.  Senior fullback Jared Congedo followed with a gain of six up the middle to the Titan eight.  It was Congedo again up the middle for four more yards and a first down at the Shaler 4.  Papson then ran the left side and was pushed out of bounds just short of the goal line.  On the next play, Papson took it in for his third touchdown of the game.  Devlin again converted as the Tigers extended the lead to 34-6 with 9:47 remaining in the game.  Cox's kickoff was returned to the Shaler 39.  Bills completed a pair of passes for first downs to Wirkowski as the Titans moved the ball to the NA 40.  After a quarterback draw gained four, Della Valle was stopped by the NA defense for no gain.  Two incomplete passes gave the ball back to the Tigers at their own 36 with 7:35 left.  Coach Art Walker sent in his second team offense and they moved the ball all the way to the Shaler five being turning it over on downs.  On first down, Brozick picked up eight on a keeper to the 44.  Junior tailback David Humphrey ran left for four more and a first down at the 48.  Junior RB Mike Cammarata broke through the middle for a gain 13 and a first down at the Shaler 35.  After two runs were stopped for no gain,, Brozick threw to junior TE Kevin Clark for a gain of 16 to the Titan 21.  After Humphrey got eight on first down, the Tiger junior gained four more to give the Tigers a first and goal at the Shaler 9.  Three running plays lost five yards.  On fourth down, Humphrey broke up the middle on a draw play but was stopped short of the goal line at the Titan five.  With time running out, Waskiewicz gained seven to the 13.  On the next play, Della Valle ran the right end for a gain of 38 to the Shaler 49.  The Titans elected to allow time to run out as the Tigers won their second straight conference game with the 34-6 victory.

The statistics were just as dominating as the score in favor of the Tigers.  NA piled up 26 first downs to just ten for the Titans.  NA ran for 249 yards led by Papson's 115.  Locke completed 10 of 14 for 122 yards and the two scores.  Austin caught six passes for 122 yards and a touchdown.  Defensively, the Tigers held Della Valle to a net gain of 42 yards.  Bills completed 12 of 18 but threw an interception.  Total yardage favored NA by a 387-216 count.  For his efforts on both sides of the ball, the North Allegheny Sports Network named senior tackle Ryan Schlieper as the Player of the Game representing the play of both the offensive and defensive lines in the game.

With the win, NA improved their non-conference record to 2-0, the overall mark to 4-2 on the season.  The Tigers will travel to Pine-Richland on Thursday night to meet the Rams in the FSN Game of the Week.  The North Allegheny Sports Network will be there also to broadcast the game LIVE on the internet beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 pm.  Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

Game Statistics
Photo Gallery

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY - 34  SHALER - 6

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

NORTH ALLEGHENY - 34  SHALER - 6

Statistics Courtesy of Steve Heckmann