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NA PUNISHES FOX CHAPEL FOR FIRST CONFERENCE WIN, 48-7

The Tigers defense forced five turnovers and the offense provided numerous big plays to give North Allegheny a 48-7 win over Fox Chapel in their conference opener.  Quarterback Mack Leftwich followed his outstanding week one performance with 270 yards through the air and four passing touchdowns against the Foxes.  It was Leftwich who also opened the scoring in the first quarter with a two-yard rushing touchdown to give NA a 7-0 lead. 

Hoping to tie the score, Fox Chapel was turned away when Tigers defensive back Jack Henderson made a leaping interception on a Billy Urso pass at the one-yard that was intended for all-purpose threat Brandon Mitchell.  North Allegheny quickly turned the turnover into points when three plays later Leftwich hit tight end Zach Lyon for a 74-yard touchdown pass to bring the score to 14-0 with 2:15 to go in the first quarter.  On the ensuing possession, the Foxes attempted an option play but quarterback Billy Urso pitched the ball behind running back Nigel Garnett and Tigers lineman Taylor Nikithser fell on football at the Fox Chapel 10-yard line.  Two plays after the fumble, Leftwich tossed a pass to tight-end Skylar Cox for a 10-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone for a 21-0 lead with 1:31 remaining in the opening stanza.

Early in the second quarter, Urso fumbled the ball away again, this time at the Tigers 37-yard line when linebacker Layne Skundrich sacked and stripped Urso of the football and lineman Jeremy Gonzales recovered on the third turnover of the night by the Foxes.  After a holding penalty brought back a Tigers touchdown, North Allegheny scored on the very next snap as Leftwich lofted a perfectly placed ball to Cox for a 56-yard touchdown to improve the NA lead to 28-0.  Along with the two touchdown catches, Cox finished the night with three receptions for 106 yards and was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

Fox Chapel finally cracked the scoreboard on a nifty 37-yard touchdown run by Nigel Garnett that cut the Tigers lead to 28-7 with 6:17 to go before halftime.  North Allegheny answered the Foxes’ score with a five-play, 65-yard drive that was capped on an 18-yard rushing touchdown by Sean Idowu with 4:57 on the clock in the second quarter. Fox Chapel appeared to be driving again for a score just before halftime but Urso threw a pass that was intercepted by Greg Baum at the NA 1-yard line and returned 99-yards for a touchdown give the Tigers a 41-7 halftime lead.

On Fox Chapel’s first possession of the second half, Brett Neugebauer intercepted an Urso pass at the FC 22-yard line for the fifth and final turnover forced by the Tigers.  Once again, North Allegheny quickly cashed in when Leftwich hit Gregg Garrity on a fade pattern in the back, left corner of the end zone for a 22-yard score and a 48-7 advantage.  The touchdown invoked the mercy rule as the Tigers coasted the rest of the way to the victory in their conference opener.

With the win, North Allegheny improves to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Northern Eight Conference.  Fox Chapel falls to 0-2 overall and 0-2 in conference play.  Fox Chapel will visit Latrobe next week while the Tigers will host the Seneca Valley Raiders in a major conference clash at Newman Stadium.  The game will be broadcast live via the internet on the North Allegheny Sports Network. 

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY - 48   FOX CHAPEL - 7

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

NORTH ALLEGHENY

FOX CHAPEL

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TIGERS LOOK TO HUNT DOWN FOXES IN CONFERENCE OPENER

The North Allegheny Tigers (1-0) will be away from their den again on Friday night as the reigning two-time WPIAL Champions will visit the Fox Chapel Foxes (0-1) for their second road game in as many weeks.  The Tigers are coming off a 39-14 victory at Mt. Lebanon while the host Foxes are hoping to rebound from a 28-5 loss to Pine-Richland last week. 

Friday night’s game is a rematch of the opening round of last year’s WPIAL playoffs in which the Tigers throttled Fox Chapel, 53-20, en route to Heinz Field.  The feisty Foxes hung tough with North Allegheny in the first quarter of the game before the Tigers pulled away behind an all-around performance from quarterback Mack Leftwich who passed for 112 yards and two scores while rushing for another 97 yards and a touchdown.  In the Tigers week one victory over Mt. Lebanon, it was Leftwich who orchestrated a 39 point night by picking apart the Blue Devils to the tune of 304 yards and two touchdowns through the air and rushed for 39 yards and another score. 

Leftwich and the Tigers will hope for a repeat performance from last year’s meeting with Fox Chapel, and last week’s victory over Mt. Lebanon, working behind an offensive line that opened up plenty of rushing lanes against the Blue Devils for senior running back Alex DeCiantis who rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown.   The line of Patrick Kugler, Justin Strzelczyk, Jeremy Gonzales, Duke Lundahl, and Taylor Nikithser will look to plow open holes for DeCiantis and the running game.  Also aiding Tigers ball carriers with their blocks will be senior tight ends Kevin Edwards, Zach Lyon and Skyler Cox.  Through the air, Gregg Garrity is the top target through week one with seven catches for 116 yards and a score.  Senior Elijah Zeise notched a touchdown last week with 78 yards receiving, followed by Brendan Coniker’s 69 yards on two receptions.  When the Tigers turn to the kicking game, they’ll rely on the toe of place kicker Jason Buchert and the boot of punter Jack Henderson.

The Tigers offense racked up over 500 yards of offense against Fox Chapel in their 2011 playoff meeting, and while their visit to the post-season didn’t last all that long last season, the Foxes are striving for a second straight trip to the playoffs behind a talented group of skill players beginning with transfer Brandon Mitchell.  The junior transfer from Penn Hills is a tall target when utilized in the passing game and a speed merchant when used as a ball carrier.  Mitchell is a Class AAA state qualifier in the hurdle events and takes his raw skill to the football field for the Foxes.  The 6-6, 200-pounder is used in a variety of ways as second-year head coach Eric Ravotti will try to get the ball in Mitchell’s hands as much as possible.  In addition to Mitchell, Fox Chapel gives opponents a double-dose of trouble with twins Chad and Nigel Garnett.  Nigel is back after being named as an All-Big East Conference defensive back as a sophomore and will play primarily as a running back on offense.  His brother Chad is a bit more unheralded but equally as talented, especially on defense, and will likely see time at receiver on the offensive side of the ball.

Carrington Vaughn is a returnee at running back and rushed for over 100 yards last season as a freshman fullback.  Vaughn saw the most carries of any Fox Chapel runner last week with eight against Pine-Richland.  Last season, quarterback Noel Wilson was the focal point of the offense as he led the Foxes in passing and rushing.  With Wilson graduating, the Foxes started sophomore Billy Urso at quarterback last week as he passed for 183 yards but also tossed two interceptions.  Senior Connor Duquette is expected to start at QB against the Tigers.  Along with Noel Wilson, another big loss from last year’s squad due to graduation is offensive lineman Adam Bisnowaty who is now at the University of Pittsburgh.   The Fox Chapel offensive line still has good size with seniors Levi Kendrick and Tyler Lever and junior Pat Denny, but the group is fairly inexperienced which could pose a problem against an aggressive Tigers defense that will be ready to hunt down the Foxes.

Fox Chapel head coach Eric Ravotti, a former Penn State and Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, has added more players to the roster this season with around 50 in uniform this fall.  That’s an improvement over the fewer than 30 varsity players the Foxes took the playoffs last season thanks to a 3-3 mark in the Big East Conference.  Because of section realignment, Fox Chapel now must contend with the powerhouse teams of the Northern Eight Conference and will go head-to-head with the reigning kings of Quad-A, the North Allegheny Tigers, on Friday night.  Kickoff is slated for 7:00 pm and pre-game coverage with Randy Gore and Rick Meister on the North Allegheny Sports Network begins at 6:45 pm.    

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