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TIGERS RUN OVER PINE-RICHLAND, 35-3

(9/21/12) Senior Alex DeCiantis rumbled for 201 yards rushing and two touchdowns to help lead the North Allegheny Tigers to a 35-3 victory at Pine-Richland on Friday night.  The Tigers offense churned out 557 yards of total offense while the defense limited the Rams to 114 yards and only 28 yards on the ground in another dominating performance. 

Similar to last week’s victory against Seneca Valley, it was the opponent who opened the scoring against the Tigers.  In their opening possession, Pine-Richland marched 67 yards on eight plays with a hurry-up, shotgun offense that was sparked on a 30-yard middle screen to Luke Merhaut from sophomore quarterback Ben DiNucci on the first play from scrimmage to the PR 47-yard line.  When the drive stalled at the NA 16, Grant Goldberg kicked a 33-yard field goal to give Pine-Richland a 3-0 lead.

The Tigers promptly responded with a 10 play, 80-yard drive that was punctuated on a 10-yard touchdown run by DeCiantis with 4:45 to go in the first quarter to give North Allegheny a 7-3 advantage.  For the next 10 minutes of game play, the teams traded punts and turnovers with the Rams benefitting the most in terms of scoring chances and field position.  North Allegheny committed three turnovers, two fumbles and one interception, that put the Rams deep in Tigers territory each time.  With a short field behind them the Tigers defense denied the Rams in all three opportunities, once on an Elijah Zeise interception, a second time forcing the Rams to punt, and a third time when Pine-Richland turned the ball over on downs.  The turnover on downs proved to be the most costly for the Rams as a gamble on a 4^th and 3 at the Tigers 11-yard line did not pay off. 

Instead of kicking of field goal that would’ve cut the deficit to one-point, the Rams instead threw an incomplete pass on fourth down that gave the ball back to North Allegheny with 4:49 to go in the second quarter.  Four plays later, the Tigers’ Greg Garrity was in the end zone on a 52-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Mack Leftwich that improved the NA lead to 14-3 with 3:35 left in the half.  After a three-and-out by the Rams, the Tigers scored again on a 58-yard touchdown catch by tight-end Zach Lyon from Leftwich.  On the play, Lyon made a reception at midfield, picked up a crushing block from Garrity, and outraced the rest of the Rams defense for the score to give the Tigers a 21-3 lead heading into halftime.

In the second half, the Tigers rode the back DeCiantis who scored on a 54-yard touchdown run at 5:23 of the third quarter to balloon the lead to 28-3.  DeCiantis rushed for 131 of his 201 yards in the second half and was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game for his efforts.  North Allegheny finished off the Rams in the fourth quarter when Leftwich hit Garrity again for a 29-yard touchdown that brought the score to its eventual final, 35-3.  Leftwich finished with 221 yards passing and three touchdowns.  Garrity ended the night with four catches for 95 yards and two scores.  Defensively,  Mark Schultheis led the team in tackles with 5.5, while Jeremy Gonzales and Zach Lyon each picked up a sack to help keep the Rams out of the end zone.  North Allegheny’s defense has not allowed a touchdown in their last 10 quarters of play.    

North Allegheny improves to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the North Eight Conference with the victory.  Pine-Richland falls to 1-3 both overall and in conference play.  The Tigers will return to Newman Stadium next Friday night with a home meeting against the Butler Golden Tornado.  Kickoff is slated for 7:30 pm and the game will be broadcast live via the internet on the North Allegheny Sports Network.    

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY - 35   PINE-RICHLAND - 3

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

NORTH ALLEGHENY

PINE-RICHLAND

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TIGERS CHARGE TO PINE-RICHLAND TONIGHT TO FACE THE RAMS

(9/21/12) For the third time in the season’s first four weeks the North Allegheny Tigers will be on the road, this time with a visit to Pine-Richland to face the conference rival Rams.  Since Pine-Richland jumped up to Quad-A five years ago, the Rams have struggled and have failed to post a winning season.  During that time frame, the Rams have defeated NA only once as the Tigers have won three straight in this neighborhood rivalry, including a 35-7 homecoming victory last season.

Tonight, the Tigers face a very young Pine-Richland squad that has lost two straight and is led by a pair of sophomores on offense, quarterback Ben DiNucci and tailback Connor Slomka.  DiNucci beat out junior Dean Steliotes for the starting QB job and has been solid, throwing for 418 yards and four touchdowns while throwing just two interceptions.  Slomka is playing for the injured Brock Baranowski and has rushed the ball for 249 yards and two touchdowns.  Baranowski was a thousand yard rusher for the Rams a year ago but has been out since the season began, allowing Slomka the opportunity to increase his workload and confidence each and every week.   Pine-Richland’s top receiver is senior Luke Merhaut who has pulled in 14 passes for 200 yards and a score.  Merhaut led the Rams last season in receiving as well and will likely draw the attention of the NA secondary.  Another player with soft hands, and also a ferocious ability to block, is tight end Colin Jackson.  Jackson is a three-year starter and will also wreak havoc while on the defensive line.  Another three-year starter on the offensive and defensive lines is Pat Kline.  The 6-3, 260-pound senior center is receiving some D-I looks from the likes of Pitt and Navy, and will plow open holes for his running backs and pulverize blockers while at defensive tackle.  Kline is a versatile player who has played at linebacker, defensive end and defensive tackle during his tenure with the Rams.  The offensive front is rounded out by tackles T.J. Muzzonigro and Mike Keefer, and guards John Kohley and Jake Leone. 

The offensive and defensive lines are the strength of this Pine-Richland team which averages 20 points per game on offense and allows 25 points per game on defense.  The Rams allowed 50 points to Seneca Valley in week three and will find it extremely difficult to stop one of the best offenses in Class AAAA, the North Allegheny Tigers.  The NA offensive front of Patrick Kugler, Nick James, Jeremy Gonzales, Duke Lundahl, and Taylor Nikithser will be eager to face the challenge of the Rams front seven.  Along with tight-ends Kevin Edwards, Zach Lyon and Skyler Cox, the Tigers churned up 239 rushing yards against Seneca Valley last week and will look for more of the same tonight against Pine-Richland.  North Allegheny’s leading rusher is senior Alex DeCiantis who has toted the ball 42 times for 189 yards and three touchdowns.  DiCiantis is joined regularly in the backfield by blocking fullback Nick Cully.  In the passing game, senior quarterback Mack Leftwich fires the football to a trio of sure-handed receivers, including senior Greg Garrity (16 receptions, 292 yards, three TD’s), junior Elijah Zeise ( 5 receptions, 88 yards, two TD’s), and senior Brendan Coniker (3 receptions, 88 yards).  Leftwich is the leading passer in the WPIAL with 739 yards and eight touchdowns.  For extra points and field goals, the Tigers turn to place kicker Jason Buchert who’s kicked a pair of field goals this season and connected on one from 27-yards out last week.    

While there’s little doubt that the NA offense is top flight, the Tigers defense is equally as impressive, allowing just eight points per game.  The North Allegheny defense made quite a statement last week by limiting the high-powered Seneca Valley Raiders to three points and will try to keep a lid on the Pine-Richland offense tonight.  The Tigers leading tackler is free safety Jack Henderson who has a great nose for the football and has racked up 16 tackles and an interception.  Chas Smith has 15 tackles, while fellow linebackers Reilly Sullivan and Kevin Edwards have 15 tackles apiece.  Helping collapse the pass pocket, Layne Skundrich leads the Tigers with three sacks, while Jeremy Gonzales and Zach Lyon each have a pair of sacks. 

North Allegheny has won 20 games in-a-row against WPIAL opponents and hopes to add to their winning streak tonight at Pine-Richland.  This evening’s game will be broadcast live via the internet on the North Allegheny Sports Network with Randy Gore and Rick Meister.  Kickoff is slated for 7:30 pm with the pre-game show getting underway at 7:10 pm.  

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