Welcome to the
NORTH ALLEGHENY
SPORTS NETWORK

The Official Source of North Allegheny Sports

 

Football

Roster

Schedule

7th-9th Grade Schedules

Photo Gallery

Standings and Rankings

Statistics

TIGERS BATTER BUTLER, 48-0, IN CONFERENCE OPENER

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

The Tigers built a 27-0 halftime lead and coasted to an easy 48-0 victory over Butler on Friday night at Newman Stadium in the Northern Seven Conference opener.  Once again, senior running back Alex Papson led the way gaining 240 yards on 17 carries good for three touchdowns for the winning Tigers.  Senior TE Rob Kugler added another TD on a 14-yard pass from senior QB Michael Buchert.  Tiger special teams picked up a pair of scores on a 99-yard kickoff return by junior James Kleinhampl to open the second half and a 27-yard return of a blocked punt by sophomore RB Mark Schulteis.  Senior PK Alex Greenblatt booted field goals of 24 and 27 yards as the Tigers dominated for the second consecutive week.

Butler had trouble fielding the opening kickoff and NA sophomore Kevin Edwards recovered on the Tornado 18.  It took the Tigers just six plays to take the lead for good.  Papson gained seven around the left side oon first down and followed with two more runs gaining six yards and a first and goal at the Butler 5.  After two plays gained three yards, Papson took it in for his fifth touchdown of the year.  Greenblatt’s kick was good and NA took a 7-0 lead just 2:26 into the game.  Senior Diego Febres-Cordero kicked off again with Jeremy Taggart returning the ball fof 13 yards to the Butler 28.  On first down, QB Zach Rader hit Carlos Sanchez for a gain of 13 and a first down at the 41.  After a running play lost five yards, the Tiger defense stopped RB Cole Baxter for no gain and sacked Rader for a loss of three.  Matt Hunka punted with the ball downed at the NA 30.  On the first play, Papson ran the left side for a gain of 15 and a first down at the 45.  Senior RB Matt Steinbeck took an inside handoff and raced for 14 more and another first down at the 41.  After an incomplete pass, Buchert found Steinbeck open for a gain of 18 to the Tornado 23.  On second and ten, Steinbeck ran left for another eleven yards putting the Tigers in business with a first down at the Butler 12.  On the next play, the Tigers were called for holding moving the ball all the way back to the Butler 29.  On second and long, Buchert threw to sophomore WR Brendan Coniker who made a great catch while falling out of bounds at the Butler 7.  The Tornado stopped Steinbeck for no gain on the next play.  Greenblatt came in to send a field goal just inside the right goalpost from 24 yards out to give NA a 10-0 lead with 3:39 left in the quarter.  The ensuing kickoff by Febres-Cordero was returned by Taggart for 22 yards to the Butler 33.  After Trevor Wideman gained eight on first down, Butler was called for holding negating a pass play to Baxter that would have been good for a first down.  Wideman ran left for three yards, but the Tigers were flagged for a personal foul giving the Tornado a first down at the midfield stripe.  After  Rader scrambled for six yards, two plays gained only two yards forcing Hunka to punt to Steinbeck who made a fair catch on the NA 20 with 39 seconds remaining in the period.  On first down, Buchert threw to Steinbeck for 19 yards and a first down at the NA 39.  Papson ran for four more to the 43 as the first quarter ended.  The Tigers held a 10-0 advantage after one quarter of play.

On the first play of the second quarter, Buchert and Steinbeck teamed up again but just for a gain of three to the 46.  Papson followed with a run up the middle for seven and a first down at the Butler 47.  On the next play, Papson broke free and outraced the Butler secondary into the end zone for his second score of the night and sixth of the year.  Greenblatt was perfect again on the conversion as the NA lead went to 17-0 with 10:47 still remaining in the half.  After Demetrius Lockley returned the kickoff to the Butler 28, Rader ran up the middle for 20 and a first down at the Tornado 48.  After Baxter got three on first down, Rader ran a keeper around the left side for ten more and a first down at the Tiger 39.  A keeper on the next play was stopped for a loss of two by the center of the NA line.  Rader was then sacked and fumbled the ball with senior LB Seth Marx recovering at the NA 46 to stop the drive.  A first down pass from Buchert to senior WR Dan Slivka gained 24 as the Tiger receiver made several good moves to pick up a first down at the Butler 30.  After Buchert scrambled for nine to the 21, Papson got six and another first down at the Tornado 15.  On second and one, Buchert threw to a wide open Kugler in the end zone to complete the give play 54-yard drive.  Greenblatt drove the point through as the NA lead increased to 24-0 with 6:20 remaining in the half.  Lockley returned the kickoff to the Butler 32.  After an incomplete pass, senior LB Kevin Cope nailed Rader at the line of scrimmage for no gain.  Baxter got six on third down, but the Tornado was forced to punt again with Kleinhampl making a fair catch at the NA 31.  On first down, Papson broke through the middle, cut to his right and raced all the way to the Tornado 16, a gain of 53 yards.  After Steinbeck got three and Papson added three more, Buchert’s pass was broken up in the end zone.  Greenblatt again came in to kick a field goal, this time from 27 yards, as the Tiger lead went to 27-0 with 3:31 on the second quarter clock.  After the kickoff was returned by Darius Hightower to the Butler 20, the Tiger defense stepped up again.  After Baxter got five on first down, junior DE Nate Nachazel sacked Rader for a loss of one.  After an NA time out, a third down pass from Rader to Baxter was held to a gain of three forcing another Hunka punt.  The Tigers were called for running into the kicker, however, and Rader was able to take a quarterback sneak for two yards and a first down at the Tornado 32.  A personal foul against NA moved the ball out to the Butler 47.  On second and ten, Rob Kugler led an NA blitz to sack Rader for a loss of seven back to the 40.  Senior LB Lucas Hook followed with another sack and a loss of six more forcing a Butler punt.  After Kleinhampl returned the punt to the NA 42, the Tigers took over with one second left.  Papson ran up the middle and was finally caught at the Butler 21, a gain of 37 yards as the half ended.  The Tigers took a commanding 27-0 advantage to the intermission.

The fans were not yet back in their seats after the halftime shows when Kleinhampl took the second half kickoff straight up the middle, cut to his left and outran the Butler defenders for a 99-yard touchdown run.  Greenblatt’s kick was good as NA took a 34-0 lead just 13 seconds into the half.  Taggart returned the kickoff by Greenblatt to the Butler 26.  After Wideman got four on first down, Rader ran for seven more and a first down at the Tornado 37.  A motion penalty cost the Tornado five, and Cope make another tough tackle at the line of scrimmage to stop Jakob Como for no gain.  On the next play, Marx was there for the stop of Como again with no gain.  Nachazel came through from his defensive end position to sack Rader for a loss of six forcing another Butler punt with the ball being downed at the Tiger 38.  On first down, Papson ran for ten and a first down at the 48.  After an incomplete pass, Papson ran for 14 yards and a first down at the Butler 36 with a face mask penalty adding five more yards to the run.  After junior FB Nick Passodelis gained eight to the 23, Papson went the remaining yardage on the next play for his third score of the game and seventh of the season.  Greenblatt again was true on the conversion as the Tigers made it a 41-0 game invoking the mercy rule for the second consecutive game.  After Hightower was stopped at the Butler 20 on the kickoff return, Wideman broke free around the right side for 25 yards and a first down at the 45.  After a motion called cost the Tornado five yards, Nachazel again broke through to sack Rader for a loss of one.  Two more plays gained only a yard and Hunka went back to punt again.  The Tigers broke through to block the punt with Schulteis picking up the ball and running 17 yards into the end zone.  Senior PK Josh Jones came in to add the point as the lead increased to 48-0 with 2:48 still left in the quarter.  Hightower was able to return the kickoff only to the Butler 15 as the NA coverage team continued to keep the Tornado in check.  After Rader ran right for five, the Butler QB ran left on the next play for 18 yards and a first down at the 39.  Rader then fumbled with the Tigers recovering at the Butler 37 with 1:00 left in the period.  After Passodelis got a yard, sophomore RB Vinnie Congedo gained a yard as the quarter ended.  The Tigers took a 48-0 lead into the final quarter.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Congedo got seven to the Butler 28.  On fourth down, sophomore QB Tom Keisling picked up four and a first down on a quarterback sneak.  On second and ten, Congedo broke through the middle for a gain of 16 and a first and goal at the Tornado eight.  Sophomore RB Chris Como came in to gain two yards on two plays.  Sophomore Ben Schweiger followed with two more yards on two runs, but the Tornado took over at their own 6 with 5:39 left in the game.  On a second and nine, Wideman ran left for eight to the Tornado 15.  On third and one, Kolby Kriess ran a reverse for four and a first down at the 19.  Kriess ran the right side for twelve more and another first down at the Butler 31.  After two plays gained four yards, sophomore QB Jordan Cratty was sacked by sophomore DL Justin Strzelczyk for a loss of nine.  It was the seventh sack of the game by the Tiger defense.  Hunka punted again this time putting the ball out of bounds at the NA 39.  Keisling came in to take a knee as time ran out with the Tigers completed the 48-0 victory.

It was another impressive showing by the Tigers in picking up their first conference win of the season.  Papson again showed why he is one of the premier backs in the WPIAL gaining 240 yards in 17 carries for a  14.1 average.  Seven addition Tiger runners were able to boost the NA rushing yardage to 321 for the game, an average of 8.5 per play.  Buchert was 6 for 9 in the air good for 100 yards and a touchdown.  Steinbeck led all receivers with three catches for 40 yards.  The NA defense held Butler to a total of 130 yards overall on the evening including the seven sacks that cost Butler 65 yards.  Special teams accounted for a pair of touchdowns along with recovering three Butler fumbles.  For his efforts on special teams, the North Allegheny Sports Network named James Kleinhampl as the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. 

With the win, NA improved to 1-0 in conference play, 2-0 on the season.  The Tigers increased their lead in the all-time series with Butler to 24-12.  NA will travel to Upper St. Clair on Friday night to meet the Panthers in a 7:30 pm non-conference contest.  The North Allegheny Sports Network will be there to broadcast the game LIVE on the internet beginning with the pre-game show starting at 7:05 pm. 

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY – 48  BUTLER – 0

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

Statistics Courtesy of Steve Heckmann

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