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NORTH ALLEGHENY FALLS TO
NORTH HILLS 21-16

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

The North Hills Indians captured the Northern Seven Conference title with a 21-16 win over North Allegheny on Friday night at Martorelli Stadium.  Behind several different looks and formations, the Indians found various ways to score as versatile quarterback Taylor Schmidt threw for one touchdown and caught another.  Tigers quarterback Michael Buchert scored on a 50-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.  Buchert's touchdown run put the Tigers ahead 7-0 with 6:19 left in the first quarter.  As it turned out, it was the only lead North Allegheny would have in the game. 

Wary of the Tigers stingy defense, North Hills began to open up the playbook in the second quarter by spreading NA out with four and five wide receiver formations.  Along with the spread formations, three different players would line up at quarterback for the Indians, and the trickery paid off with 8:30 on the clock in the second quarter when Schmidt tossed an eight yard touchdown pass to Brody Zangaro.  On the play, North Hills lined up with five wide-receivers with Zangaro the lone wide-out on the weak side.  Schmidt threw it Zangaro's way to tie up the game at 7-7.

On the ensuing kickoff, a squib kick was bobbled by one of Tigers up-men and fumbled away to the Indians at the NA 29 yard line.  North Hills converted the turnover into another touchdown, this time on a 14-yard touchdown pass by Steve Dutkowski to Mark DeVita that put the Indians in front, 14-7 with 6:07 remaining in the first half.  On North Allegheny's next possession, the Indians' Billy Sommers jarred the ball loose from Tigers running back Alex Papson for another turnover.  North Hills nearly swelled their lead even further by halftime, but on a fourth and goal gamble from the NA three-yard line, Indians running back Mark Sieber was leveled by Tigers linebacker Seth Marx on the final play of the first half.

The Tigers started with the football to begin the second half, but North Allegheny's struggles in making consistent gains continued.  On a fourth and one from their own 40 yard line, Buchert was stuffed on a QB sneak to turn possession over to the Indians.  North Hills would take advantage of the good field position as a few plays later Dutkowski tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Schmidt, who was lined up as a receiver on the play.  The score gave North Hills a 21-7 advantage with over nine minutes remaining on the third quarter clock.

Despite the deficit, the Tigers put together a gutsy rally in the fourth quarter.  With 4:06 left in the football game, Alex Papson scored on a touchdown run from two yards out to cut North Hills' lead to 21-14.  However, North Allegheny's offense would not see the football again as the Indians controlled possession for the remainder of the contest.  With eight seconds left, North Hills had a fourth down from their own 43.  Schmidt was lined up in the shot gun and took an intentional safety to run out the clock.  That safety brought the final score to 21-16, Indians.

One of the keys to North Hills' upset was a defense that held Papson to under 100 yards for the first time this season.  The senior running back rushed for 82 yards and one touchdown.  With the win, the Indians now lead the all-time series at 27-25 and improve their season record to 8-1 and 5-1 in the section.  The Tigers' record is identical, but NA loses the tie breaker with North Hills because of Friday night's defeat.  NA will enter the playoffs as the number two team in the Northern Seven Conference.  Their opponent, and the rest of the WPIAL brackets, will be announced on Monday.  

Photo Gallery

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH HILLS 21   NORTH ALLEGHENY – 16

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Stats Courtesy of Steve Heckmann

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