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 MANHANDLE
PINE-RICHLAND 35-7

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

The North Allegheny Tigers locked up a playoff spot with a dominating 35-7 win over the Pine-Richland Rams on Friday night.  On both sides of the ball, the Tigers controlled the line of scrimmage by out-gaining the Rams 499-92.  It was a complete team effort for North Allegheny as they manhandled Pine-Richland from beginning to end.

The first score of the contest was set up by a great play by the defense when senior safety Matt Steinbeck made a beautiful diving interception on an Andy Borgen pass at the Pine-Richland 37 yard line.  The pick was capitalized on immediately by the Tigers as senior running back Alex Papson ran the ball in from 37 yards out to put the Tigers ahead 7-0 with 3:34 left in the first quarter.

As the game moved into the second quarter, it was becoming clear that Borgen and the Rams could not block the North Allegheny defensive line.  The Tigers defense was facing the challenge of an excellent Pine-Richland passing offense boasting a 1,000 yard passer and the top receiver in the WPIAL.  NA answered the call by harassing Borgen all night, sacking him seven times and intercepting him twice.  Defensive lineman Nate Nachazel notched the most sacks with three and linebacker Clay Bunting added an interception. Rams receiver Tommy Berexa entered the game with 45 catches on the season.  On this night, he caught only two and those didn’t come until well into the second half.  While Pine-Richland could go nowhere, the Tigers added onto their lead.  With 11:14 left in the first half, kicker Alex Greenblatt caromed a 27-yard field goal off the right-upright and through the goal posts to up North Allegheny’s lead to 10-0. 

On the Tigers next possession beginning at their own 39 yard line, NA moved the ball with Steinbeck running the offense at quarterback.  In North Allegheny’s variation of the Wildcat formation, Steinbeck executed effective play fakes to Papson, and ran the ball two times for 35 yards on the drive.  But when the drive stalled with a third and 25 from the Pine-Richland 40 yard line, regular quarterback Michael Buchert heaved a deep pass to senior wide-out Dan Slivka, who took the ball in for a touchdown.  Slivka made a nice adjustment on the pass, pulling the ball in around the 10 yard line and hauling it in the rest of the way.  The 40-yard score was the first catch on a big night for Slivka and the TD made it 17-0, Tigers.  Before the end of the first half Greenblatt added another field goal, this time from 26 yards out, and the Tigers upped their lead to 20-0.

After half-time, North Allegheny started with the football and wasted little time in scoring.  On a second down and three from their own 27 yard line, the Tigers Alex Papson raced 73 yards for another NA touchdown to increase the lead to 27-0 just 48 seconds into the third quarter.  If that score didn’t break the backs of the Rams, Papson’s 15-yard touchdown run with 46 seconds left in the third quarter did.  At 33-0, Michael Buchert ran in a two point conversion to initiate the mercy rule and give NA a 35-0 advantage.  With the Tigers reserves in the game in the fourth quarter, Pine-Richland managed to break the shut-out as Colin Ryan scored on a 25-yard pass from Borgen with 3:09 left in the game.  That would be the final score of the game, making the final 35-7

It was another tremendous night for Alex Papson and the Tigers running game.  Papson ran the ball 22 times for 238 yards and three TDs.  Michael Buchert was strong, going 4-for-10 with 126 yards and a touchdown pass.  It could have been an even bigger night for Buchert, but on three occasions an NA receiver was ruled out of bounds on a potential reception.  At least two of those plays would have been for touchdowns.  The man who caught the majority of Buchert’s passes, was Dan Slivka who pulled in three receptions for 114 yards and touchdown.  Slivka did a great job getting behind the Rams defense, with his longest catch being for 60 yards on the night.  For his efforts, Dan Slivka was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. 

With the win, the Tigers improve to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Northern Seven Conference.  Pine-Richland falls to 2-5 and 2-3 in section play.  North Allegheny will be back at home next Friday as the Tigers Welcome the Shaler Titans to Newman Stadium.  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.          

Photo Gallery

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY – 35  PINE-RICHLAND  – 7

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Statistics Courtesy of Steve Heckmann

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