2010 Varsity Football - NA - 27 Upper St. Clair

The Tiger defense held Upper St. Clair scoreless on Friday night at Upper St. Clair Stadium, and the NA offense took over in the second half in a 27-0 victory in a non-conference battle of unbeatens. After holding a 7-0 halftime lead on a Michael Buchert quarterback sneak, senior running back Alex Papson led a second half charge that buried the Panthers. Papson scored on runs of 1 and 38 yards with senior WB Matt Steinbeck racing 56 yards for another NA score.

After Max Paxton returned the opening kickoff by senior PK Alex Greenblatt to the USC 45 yard line, the Panthers moved into NA territory. On a second and eight, QB Dakota Conwell threw to WR Mitchell Fawcett in the right flat for a gain of 14 and a first down at the Tiger36. After the Tigers held Conwell to three yards on three runs, Conwell ran up the middle for a first down at the NA 23. After an incomplete pass, Conwell was stopped after a gain of one by senior LB Kevin Cope. On third and long, Steinbeck went high to intercept a Conwell pass in the end zone. On the Tigers’ first possession, two motion penalties pushed the ball back to the NA 10. After Papson got five on a draw, Steinbeck was forced to punt from near his goal line with the ball downed at the NA 46. Once again the Tiger defense stepped up holding USC to nine yards on three running plays. Panther coach Jim Render elected to punt after a time out with the kick by Steve Gannon sailing into the end zone. Once again starting at the 20, the Tigers were unable to move the ball in three plays with Steinbeck’s punt taken on a fair catch by Mike Wilcox at the NA 37. Senior LB Seth Marx nailed fullback D.J. Scarton for a loss of one on first down. After Mike Doman got six, the Tiger “D” stopped Conwell for no gain on a quarterback draw. On fourth down, an attempted pass down the middle was broken up by the NA defenders with the Tigers taking over at their own 32. With a little better field position, the Tigers went on a 12 play, 68 yard drive to take the lead. A pass from Buchert to junior FB Nick Passodelis picked up 13 and the first Tiger first down of the game to the NA 45. Papson got four on first down and added another four to move NA into Panther territory for the first time at the USC 47. The quarter ended with the game still scoreless and the Tigers driving.

After a delay of game penalty by the Tigers to start the quarter, Buchert found senior WR Dan Slivka open down the middle for a gain of 13 and a first down at the USC 35. After Papson gained eight yards on two plays off the right side, Papson raced up the middle for 14 more and a first down at the Panther 18. Buchert then ran a keeper off the right side for five more to the 13. Papson broke through for a gain of nine and a first and goal at the USC 4. After Papson got to the one, it took Buchert two plays to get it the remaining yard as the Tigers took the lead. Greenblatt added the point as NA went on top, 7-0, with 9:08 still left in the half. Greenblatt’s kickoff was returned by Chris Colditz to the USC 29. After Conwell was stopped for a net of no gain after two plays, the USC junior QB hit a wide open Wilcox down the left side for a gain of 37 to the NA 25 with Steinbeck making a touchdown saving tackle from behind. Junior RB Max Paxton came in at tailback and got eleven more up the middle for another first down at the Tiger 14. At this point,, the NA defense held. On second and seven, senior tackle Vince Czerniewski broke throw to nail Conwell for a loss of three. On third and long, Conwell’s pass fell incomplete. Killan Mulkern came in to attempt a field goal from 30 yards, but his kick went wide right as the Tigers continued to hold a 7-0 lead with 5:27 left in the half. After two running plays gained four yards, Steinbeck broke free down the right sideline but Buchert’s pass was too long and incomplete. Steinbeck then punted to the USC 44 where the ball was downed. After Paxton got 4 on a first down draw, the NA defense stopped the USC runner for a five yard loss. On third and long, Paxton lost two more on a pitch out back to the 45. After a USC time out, Gannon punted out of bounds at the NA 15. The Tigers took over with 2:28 remaining in the half. On first down, Papson ran for 8 to the 23. After a motion penalty, Steinbeck picked up five around the left side. Buchert managed to gain three off the right side and a first down at the Tiger 26. Three plays gained only three yards and USC called their final time out with 6.4 seconds remaining. Steinbeck punted to Wilcox who made a fair catch at the USC 35. Strangely, no time went off the clock? The Panthers, however ran the ball for short yardage as the half ended. The Tigers held a 7-0 advantage as the teams went to the intermission.

Steinbeck returned the second half kickoff fifteen yards to the NA 18. After Papson got eight on second and ten, Buchert hit sophomore WR Brendan Coniker for a gain of ten and a first down at the NA 34. On a second at 6, Gannon picked off a Buchert pass and was brought down immediately but the Panthers had the ball at the USC 45. On first down, Cope broke through and sacked Conwell for a loss of seven. On the next play, it was Marx sacking Conwell again for a loss of four. With third and long, Paxton was stopped after a short gain forcing another Gannon punt that Steinbeck returned for three yards to the 23. The Tigers were called for a block in the back pushing the ball back to the NA 13. After a motion call put the ball at the Tiger 8, Papson ran the right side for a gain of ten to the 18. O the next play, it was Papson again for eleven and a first down at the 29. Papson then broke free through the right side and raced all the way to the USC 16, a gain of 55 yards, before being caught from behind. An illegal substitution call cost the Panthers five more to the 11. After Steinbeck ran left for four, Papson got a first down with a gain of six to the one. After Conwell nailed Papson for a loss of four, Papson gained the four back with a run again to the USC 1. On the next play, it was Papson running left and into the end zone for his eighth TD of the season. Greenblatt’s conversion gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead with 4:18 remaining in the quarter. Colditz returned the kickoff, this time getting it out to the USC 32. After Paxton was caught for a loss of two on first down, Conwell made a strong run up the middle for a gain of 14 and a first down at the Panther 44. After two plays were stopped for no gain, Conwell ran a quarterback draw for eleven and another first dwon in NA territory at the 45. With a third and nine, Conwell was sacked by senior DE Rob Kugler and Cope for a loss of five to midfield as the quarter ended. The Tigers held a 14-0 lead going into the final quarter of play.

The fourth quarter began with a Gannon punt that was caught by Steinbeck on a fair catch at the NA 17. After Buchert gained three on a keeper, Papson got nine off the left side and a first down at the 29. An unsportsmanlike call against the Panthers tacked on fifteen more yards. On the next play, Steinbeck broke through the middle and outran the USC secondary for a 56-yard scoring play. Greenblatt’s point attempt was wide, his first miss of the season, as NA took a commanding 20-0 lead with 11:04 still left in the game. Greenblatt’s kickoff went out of bounds giving the Panthers the ball at their 35. After Paxton got six on first down, Conwell threw to Wilcox on the far sideline for a gain of eight and a first down at the Panther 49. On a second and ten, Paxton ran a reverse to the right side, but Cope nailed him for a two-yard loss. On the next play Conwell ran for sixteen and a first down at the NA 38. After a motion call cost USC five yards, Conwell gained four around the left side. A pass from Conwell to Matt Doman gained nine. After an incomplete pass, the Tigers took a time out. On a fourth down play, Steinbeck broke up a pass down the middle as the Tiger took over on downs at the NA 32. With 7:10 left, Papson gained 18 on a second and long for a first down at midfield. Papson ran left for seven more to the USC 43. Steinbeck followed with another run around the left side for a gain of five and a first down at the USC 38. On the next play, Papson got loose for a 38-yard run and a touchdown, his ninth of the season. Greenblatt’s kick completed the scoring as the Tigers increased the lead to 27-0 with 5:01 on the fourth quarter clock. After Ryan Boyd returned the ensuing kickoff to the 35, the Tiger defense held the Panthers to five yards on three plays forcing another Gannon punt. With a low snap, the USC punter touched his knee to the ground giving the Tigers the ball back at the Panther 27 with 2:52 left. NA coach Art Walker sent in his second team offense to run out the clock. Sophomore Vinnie Congedo ran three straight times and gained six yards. With fourth and four, sophomore QB Tommy Keisling ran a keeper around the right end for eight yards and a final NA first down at the Panther 8. On the next play, Keislling took a knee as time ran out and the Tigers completed the 27-0 shutout victory.

The Tiger defense held off the Panthers in the first quarter with the offense taking it from there. NA finished with 350 total yards, 314 on the ground. Steinbeck added 70 yards on four carries to the 223 gained by Papson to pace the Tiger ground attack. Buchert completed only three of eleven for 36 yards, but the night belonged to the Tiger runners and offensive line. Defensively, the Tigers held the Panthers to a total of 163 yards with just 62 on the ground. For his efforts, the North Allegheny Sports Network named Kevin Cope as the Player of the Game. Cope recorded eight solo tackles, assisted on five more, and had a pair of tackles for losses in addition to helping pressure USC QB Conwell for most of the evening.

With the win, the NA overall record improved to 3-0 on the season. The Tigers will travel to Erie on Friday night to meet McDowell, a 48-14 winner over Seneca Valley on Friday night. It was mark the second straight week the Tigers will face an undefeated team, this time in a key conference matchup. The North Allegheny Sports Network will be there to broadcast the game LIVE on the internet beginning with the pre-game show at 6:30 pm. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

NORTH ALLEGHENY		UPPER ST. CLAIR
16	First Downs	8
42-314	Rushes - Yards (Net)	38-62
36	Passing Yards (net)	101
11-3-1	Passes Att-Comp-Int	13-6-1
53-350	Total Offense Plays - Yards	51-163
0-0	Fumble Returns - Yards	0-0
1-1	Punt Returns - Yards	0-0
1-1	Kickoff Returns - Yards	4-64
1-0	Interception Returns - Yards	1-0
4-31.8	Punts (Number-Avg)	4-35.5
0-0	Fumbles - Lost	0-0
7-40	Penalties - Yards	3-25
21:18	Possession Time	26:42
6 of 11	Third-Down Conversions	3 of 13
1 of 1	Fourth-Down Conversions	1 of 4
2-3	Red-Zone Scores - Chances	0-1

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