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TIGERS ROAR TO CONVINCING WIN
 OVER SENECA VALLEY, 45-3

To listen to an archived broadcast of the game, click here!

(9/14/12) The Tigers defense allowed a scant three points to the high-powered Seneca Valley offense as North Allegheny stomped the fifth-ranked Raiders on Friday night for a 45-3 victory.  The Raiders had averaged 37 points per game entering the contest, but North Allegheny held running back Forrest Barnes in check with just 15 yards rushing and permitted quarterback Jordan Brown only 96 yards through the air in a dominant defensive performance. 

However, the night began with a methodical march by the Seneca Valley offense for the game’s first points.  On the opening possession of the game, the Raiders drove 58 yards in 10 plays before stalling at the NA nine-yard line.  Seneca Valley’s Chad Izenas connected on a 27-yard field goal to give the Raiders an early 3-0 lead with 7:25 remaining in the first quarter.  As it turned out, it was the only lead Seneca Valley would have on the night.

The teams exchanged possessions before the Tigers took advantage of great field position for their first points on the evening.  After a Gregg Garrity 50-yard punt return for a touchdown was called back because of a holding penalty, NA started at the Seneca Valley 35 yard line and moved the ball just enough to set up kicker Jason Buchert for a successful 27-yard field goal and the game was tied, 3-3, with 1:07 on the first quarter clock. 

The turning point in the game came early in the second quarter when a Brown threw a pass to Jon Dorogy on a 3^rd and 15 that came up two yards shy of a first down at the SV 31-yard line.  The Raiders gave the appearance as if they would keep the offense on the field for a 4^th and short, but instead quickly hurried the punting unit on the field.  As the play clock wound down, the act of deception proved costly for the Raiders as the Tigers blocked Ryan Conn’s punt and NA’s Kevin Edwards scooped the ball up at the five-yard line and returned it for a touchdown and a 10-3 North Allegheny lead.

The pendulum swung toward the Tigers from that point on, and after the NA defense forced the Raiders to punt on their next possession, North Allegheny traveled 79 yards on 15 plays to grab a 17-3 lead with 2:09 to go in the first half.  The Tigers capped the lengthy drive on a fourth down conversion when quarterback Mack Leftwich hit Garrity for an eight-yard touchdown pass and firm control of the football game.  Just before halftime the Tigers nearly scored again, but a 46-yard touchdown pass to Garrity was negated by another penalty and North Allegheny took their 17-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.  Despite having two touchdowns called back because of penalties, Garrity caught five passes for 84 yards and one score and was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. 

The Tigers made sure there would be no comeback effort from Seneca Valley on this night when the North Allegheny offense opened the second half.  Capping an eight-play, 77-yard drive, Leftwich rolled out to his right and tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Zeise in the back of the end zone for a commanding 24-3 lead.  Running back Alex DeCiantis, who rushed for 83 yards on 19 carries, scored the first of two touchdowns on a seven-yard run with 3:10 to go in the third quarter to balloon the score to 31-3.  DeCiantis scored again on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 26-yard scamper to increase the Tigers lead to 38-3 which also invoked the mercy rule.  Junior Sean Idowu put the finishing touches on the NA victory with an eight-yard touchdown run to bring the final score to 45-3. 

Following the convincing victory over the fifth-ranked Seneca Valley Raiders, the top-ranked Tigers improve to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Northern Eight Conference.  It was also the 11^th straight victory for the Tigers over Seneca Valley.  The Raiders drop to 2-1 both overall and in conference play.   North Allegheny looks to continue their winning ways with a visit to Pine-Richland next week.  

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY - 45   SENECA VALLEY - 3

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

NORTH ALLEGHENY

SENECA VALLEY

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TIGERS HOST RAIDERS IN NORTHERN EIGHT CONFERENCE CLASH

For the second straight week, the North Allegheny Tigers (2-0, 1-0) will face a team that they eliminated in the 2011 playoffs en route to a WPIAL Championship.  After beating Fox Chapel last week 48-7, a team the Tigers beat in the First Round a year ago, tonight NA will battle the Seneca Valley Raiders (2-0, 2-0), a squad the Tigers bounced in the WPIAL quarterfinals last season.  North Allegheny dropped the Raiders 35-10 in that playoff meeting which marked the 10^th straight win for the Tigers against Seneca Valley.  The Raiders have not defeated the Tigers since 2002. Since last season’s playoff meeting, not a lot has changed for either of these conference rivals.  Both teams have returned veteran starters at the skill positions and those players will be on full display tonight in a game that could have plenty of offensive fireworks. 

Seneca Valley brings back seven offensive starters from a year ago and is led by three-year starter at quarterback, Jordan Brown, who topped the WPIAL in passing yards (2, 271) last season.  Brown has thrown for 355 yards and five touchdowns already this season and can also pose a threat rushing the football, having rushed for 161 yards and a score.   However, the senior is best when throwing the football and comes from a lineage of standout quarterbacks.  Brown’s father, Clark, played quarterback at Michigan State and his older brother, C.J. is a quarterback at Maryland University.  Brown has plenty of talented teammates to distribute the ball to including running back Forrest Barnes who has rushed 42 times for 255 yards and four touchdowns.   The senior tailback is a speed merchant who can also run with a bit of power, but the thing that makes Barnes so dangerous is his ability to cut and his burst out of the backfield.  Barnes is receiving some D-I looks and has been clocked in the 40-yard dash in under 4.5 seconds.  Not surprisingly, Barnes is also a track standout for Seneca Valley who is joined on the football field by fellow speedster Jon Dorogy.  The 5-7 senior receiver is short in stature but is a handful if a defense is lucky enough to lay a hand on him.  Dorogy, who is also a talented centerfielder for the Raiders WPIAL Championship Baseball Team, typically darts over the middle for quick passes and has snatched up seven receptions for 88 yards and two touchdowns this season.  While Dorogy leads the team in receptions, Seneca Valley’s leader in receiving yards is senior R.J. McCauley.  The 6-3 wide-out also doubles on the Raiders’ basketball team, and has caught six passes for 111 yards and two scores.   Seneca Valley head coach Don Holl likes to utilize his extraordinary skill players in a high-tempo offense that often employs the no-huddle.  This will be nothing new to the Tigers, who see their Quad-North rival on a yearly basis.

One area of weakness for the Raiders perhaps could be their offensive line which loses three starters from last season and could prove vulnerable to the Tigers judicious array of blitzes.  Linebacker Chas Smith leads North Allegheny with 11 tackles and is followed closely by Reilly Sullivan with 10.  Another linebacker, sophomore Layne Skundrich, was often in the Fox Chapel backfield last week and has racked up a pair of sacks and a forced fumble to go along with his six tackles this season.  In the secondary, Brett Neugebauer, Greg Baum and Jack Henderson have all intercepted passes, each of which came last week.

Last season, Seneca Valley’s weak link was a defense that allowed 21 points per game.  Through two games in 2012, the Raiders have allowed 18 points per game and will be challenged by the Tigers multi-dimensional attack.  While Jordan Brown led the WPIAL in passing yards last season, so far this year the top passer is North Allegheny’s Mack Leftwich who has amassed over 600 yards and six touchdowns.  His weapons include leading receiver Gregg Garrity, talented wide outs Elijah Zeise and Brendan Coniker, and tight ends Skyler Cox, Zach Lyon and Kevin Edwards.  Last week, it was the corps of tight ends that spurred on the air attack, led by Cox’s three catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns.  In the ground game, the Tigers leading rusher entering tonight’s contest is Sean Idowu with 108 yards, but the workhorse is senior Alex DiCiantis who’s grinded his way for 102 yards and a score.  The key to this offensive juggernaut is the brick wall up front which consists of Patrick Kugler, Justin Strzelczyk, Jeremy Gonzales, Duke Lundahl, and Taylor Nikithser, among others.  Jason Buchert, who has kicked 10 PAT’s and a field goal this season, takes on the place kicking duties and Jack Henderson handles any punts for the Tigers.     

Tonight’s match-up not only pits two outstanding offenses but two of the best teams in Class AAAA.  North Allegheny is the consensus top-ranked team and Seneca Valley is ranked number five in most polls.  This battle of Quad-A heavyweights gets started at 7:30 pm from Newman Stadium and will be broadcast live via the internet on the North Allegheny Sports Network.  The pre-game show starts at 7:15 pm with Randy Gore and Rick Meister.    

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