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TIGERS CLINCH SECOND STRAIGHT WPIAL TITLE IN OVERTIME THRILLER

With a strong contingent of North Allegheny faithful packing the Heinz Field seats on Saturday night, the Tigers defense roared late, stopping Upper St. Clair in overtime, 28-21, to win the WPIAL Championship for the second consecutive year.  After Mack Leftwich plunged in from a yard out on the Tigers' overtime possession, the Panthers quickly went backwards when Anthony Peluso threw Upper St. Clair quarterback Pete Coughlin for a 7-yard loss.  Back to back sacks on third and fourth downs by Nate Nachazel and Jarred Lux secured the win for North Allegheny, clinching another venture into the PIAA playoffs next week against State College.

Leftwich received Wright Automotive Player of the Game honors after his big night running and throwing the football.  He rushed for 117 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including one that conjured up memories of last year's trip to Heinz Field.  From the NA 34 yard line, Leftwich called his own number and disappeared into a pile of humanity.  However, his forward momentum never stopped, and he burst out through the other side, dashing 66 yards to tie the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter.  The run was eerily similar to Alex Papson's 43-yard touchdown run against Woodland Hills in the 2010 WPIAL title game, despite being scored in the opposite end zone of Heinz Field. 

In addition to adding another 148 yards through the air.  Leftwich also hit Brendan Coniker along the sideline of the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown pass late in the first half, tying the score at 14-14 heading into the break.  Coniker led all receivers with four catches for 80 yards, while also playing stellar defense from his cornerback position, breaking up several Upper St. Clair passes, including one guaranteed touchdown.  James Kleinhampl also had four catches for 61 yards for North Allegheny. 

On the defensive side of the ball, Kevin Clemens and Chas Smith each led the way with eight and a half tackles.  Up front, Patrick Kugler, Jeremy Gonzales, Pete Thistle and Zach Lyon, among others, took turns harassing the Upper St. Clair backfield and bottling up running lanes. 

On the opening possession of the second half, North Allegheny took advantage of quality field position and wasted little time, going 35 yards in just 6 plays, capped by Vinnie Congedo's 1-yard touchdown run on a sweep around the left side of the formation.  With back and forth possessions for much of the second half, Upper St. Clair finally capitalized, benefiting off a short field on their scoring drive to tie the game. 

After Leftwich was intercepted by Carleton Gibson, the Panthers marched from the NA 38 down to the 4 yard line.  On third and goal, Coniker saved a sure touchdown on a tremendous diving breakup.  However, on the next play, receiver Mike Wilcox scored on a four yard dash around the right side, flipping over a Tiger defender, with the tip of ball barely resting on the goal line paint.  The score came with just 4:36 remaining in regulation, setting the stage for overtime and the dramatic ending.

The victory increases the Tigers' win streak to 20 games and catapults them into the PIAA quarterfinals next week against State College.  The Little Lions also won in overtime on Saturday, beating University Prep, 33-32.  The quarterfinal matchup between Tigers and Lions will meet on Saturday, December 3 at 1:00 pm at Mansion Park in Altoona, the site of last year's semifinal against Cumberland Valley.  It will be the fourth time the schools have met on the football field in the last fifteen months.  If you cannot make the trek to Altoona, be sure to catch all the action live on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY - 28   Upper St. Clair 21

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Upper St Clair

NORTH ALLEGHENY

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TIGERS LOOK TO CRUMBLE PANTHERS AGAIN FOR WPIAL TITLE

The last time a Class AAAA team won back-to-back WPIAL titles was in 2003 and 2004, done by the Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings.  The head coach of those teams was a man by the name of Art Walker Jr.  Now in his seventh year as head coach at North Allegheny, Walker has a chance to lead another team to a title repeat as the Tigers face the Upper St. Clair Panthers for the Quad-A championship on Saturday night at Heinz Field.  The coach on the opposite sideline knows a thing or two about winning championships as well.  Jim Render has won five Quad-A titles at Upper St. Clair and is the winningest coach in WPIAL history with 354 career victories.  These coaches have gone head-to-head plenty of times, but only once for a championship.  That instance came in 2003 when Walker’s Vikings throttled Render’s Panthers 42-10 en route to a trip to Hershey.

This time around, its Walker’s Tigers that are poised for a repeat and it’s the Panthers that stand in their way.  North Allegheny is coming off an exciting 21-17 win over the Gateway Gators in the semifinals that surely tested the mettle of the reigning champions, and they passed with flying black and gold colors.  Upper St. Clair is coming off an impressive win of their own by toppling Central Catholic, 28-14, without the services of their star quarterback, Dakota Conwell.  The senior and Pitt recruit was sidelined with an ankle injury in the quarterfinals against McDowell and watched backup quarterback Pete Coughlin lead the Panthers to victory last week with 209 yards rushing and 61 yards through the air.  One of the storylines of this week’s game is whether Conwell will play or if Coughlin will again get the start.  There have been reports this week that Conwell may indeed try to give it a go, and Coach Render himself has said that his senior QB is improving and is in much better shape than he was a week prior.  Render also cautioned that the condition of Heinz Field’s natural grass turf by 8:00 pm on Saturday night may factor in that decision.  Regardless of who plays quarterback, the offensive game plan will stay the same.  The difference is that Conwell is more of a between the tackles runner, where Coughlin will use his 5-9, 155 pound frame to race to the outside.  Coughlin displayed his elusive running last week with a fabulous 75-yard touchdown run that swayed the balance of their game with the Vikings. 

The Tigers defense, under the tutelage of coordinator Doug Brinkley, will again need to play a well disciplined defense against Upper St. Clair, something they have done well all year long and against the Panthers earlier this season.  USC has averaged 40 points per game in 2011, but were held to a season low 21 points against the Tigers in a week three loss to North Allegheny at Newman Stadium.  A key to that contest was a defense and special teams that forced three fumbles, allowing the Tigers to rally from a 14-0 halftime deficit for a 28-21 victory.  The ferocious Tigers defense is spearheaded by defensive lineman and Division-I recruit, Patrick Kugler.  The 6-4, 265 pound junior is joined on the defensive front by Jeremy Gonzalez, Zach Lyon and Nate Nachazel who will need to plug the rushing lanes against Panthers runners.  When USC decides to put the ball in the air, Lyon and Nachazel will put the heat on the passer as they have all season long, combining for 15 of North Allegheny’s 26 sacks on defense.  Linebackers Kevin Clemons and Jarred Lux are the leading tacklers with 80 and 75 tackles respectively.  In the defensive backfield, ball hawks James Kleinhample and Brandon Coniker will lurk.  They are joined by the defensive back Chas Smith and linebacker Anthony Peluso whose teeth rattling hits will leave a opposing rushers or receivers wishing they never touched the football. 

The Tigers defense will match-up against an offensive line that has played together for two full seasons now.  The Panthers brought back all five starting lineman from a year ago, and that’s not including tight-end Jack Schwaba who is another returning starter.  Schwaba, along with right guard Ian Park, will be playing next season at Northwestern University.  There has been one change to the line since the Tigers faced USC last as left-tackle Andrew Poluzejko went down with an ACL injury and has been replaced by junior Mike Mondzewleski.  Despite the injury to Poluzejko, the Panthers offense has not missed a beat.  In addition to quarterbacks Conwell and Coughlin, running back Zach Dietrick has carried the ball for 499 yards and 10 touchdowns.  A.J. McGuire has toted the football 59 times for 260 yards and six scores.  The top receiving target is far and away the speedy Mike Wilcox who has pulled in 29 passes for 612 yards and 10 touchdowns.  Other receivers include Ryan Boyd and Rori Blair.  If Conwell doesn’t play, that could make Wilcox less of a factor.  However, with Conwell’s ankle healing and Coughlin’s impressive effort last week, don’t be surprised if USC has both QB’s on the field during the game.      

There’s a saying that “great teams aren’t always great, they’re just great when they have to be.”  That certainly could have been the description of North Allegheny’s performance last week when the Tigers stepped up in the fourth quarter against Gateway.  After the Gators took a 17-14 lead with approximately 9:30 to play, the NA offense went on a 19-play drive that ate up nearly nine minutes of clock and ultimately put the Tigers ahead for good, 21-17.  The North Allegheny offense will be challenged once again this week by a big USC defense.  The NA line of Patrick Kugler, Zach Harvey, Pete Thistle, Alex Jewell, Jeremy Gonzalez, and tight ends Kevin Edwards, Zach Lyon, and Ben Connelly will be ready to plow open holes for a stable of talented runners. Those ball carriers include leading rusher Alex DiCiantis (760 yards and 13 TDs), senior Vinnie Congedo (640 yards 10 TDs), senior Isaiah Faulk (396 yards 4 TDs), fullback Nick Passodelis (519 yards 11 TDs), and quarterback Mack Leftwich (472 yards and 7 TDs).  Leftwich also has the ability to pick apart a defense, having thrown for 1, 835 yards and 17 touchdowns.  His targets include Brendan Coniker (346 yards and 5 TDs), Gregg Garitty (394 yards and 4 TDs) and the glue fingered James Kleinhample (669 yards and 5 TDs).

When North Allegheny and Upper St. Clair met earlier this year, it can be agreed that neither team put together a complete effort of 48 minutes of football.  The team that can do just that, and limit turnovers, will likely be the winner when the final whistle blows on Saturday night.  Kickoff is slated for 8:00 pm from Heinz Field, and the most extensive pre-game coverage of this Quad-A battle will begin at 7:30 pm on the North Allegheny Sports Network.  -- WPIAL Brackets: Quad-A

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