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TIGERS MAKE HISTORY, WIN THIRD STRAIGHT QUAD-A CHAMPIONSHIP

To listen to an archived broadcast of NA's victory, click here!

For an audio highlight of NA's win over Woodland Hills, click here!

(11/23/12) The North Allegheny Tigers became the first team ever to win three consecutive Quad-A championships on Friday afternoon with a 21-14 victory over the Woodland Hills Wolverines at Heinz Field.  Mack Leftwich tossed three first half touchdown passes, including a 32-yard strike to Gregg Garrity with 45 seconds to go before halftime to give the Tigers a seven point lead at intermission.  The NA defense stood tall for the remaining 24 minutes of the game, turning away the Wolverines desperation bids time and time again in the second half.  Leftwich finished the day with 220 yards passing, hitting tight-end Zach Lyon for two scores.  Linebacker Layne Skundrich led the defensive charge for the Tigers in staving off the Wolverines attempts to tie the game, posting 15 tackles and garnering Wright Automotive Player of the Game honors.

With two storied football programs doing battle in the championships game, the contest fittinigly opened with a flurry of big plays by both teams.  The Tigers began with the football first and marched 69 yards on six plays for the game’s first score.  Faced with a 3^rd and 20 at the Woodland Hills 44-yard line, the Tigers  loaded up the sling shot as Leftwich hit Lyon who was wide open over the middle for a touchdown pass to give NA a 7-0 lead.  Lyon did a tremendous job of reaching up high to knock the ball down into his chest for the catch, elude a tackler at the 15-yard line, and coast his way into the end zone.

Unfazed, the seventh-seeded Wolverines promptly responded with the game tying touchdown.  Woodland Hills drove the ball 76 yards on seven plays, highlighted by a 47-yard run by freshman running back Miles Sanders.  The drive was capped on 11-yard touchdown pass from Cody McClelland to Tom Green, knotting up the score at 7-7 with 6:20 to go in the first quarter.  The score stayed that way until the first turnover of the game set up the next touchdown.

Woodland Hills linebacker Alex Beasley recovered a Tigers fumble at the NA 6-yard line to open the second quarter and the Wolverines were primed for a score.  On 3^rd and goal from 4-yard line, the Tigers defense stopped Sanders short of the end zone at the 1-yard.  However, the Wolverines converted on 4^th and goal as Sanders lowered his shoulder and burrowed his way into the end zone to give Woodland Hills a 14-7 lead with 8:23 to go before halftime. 

Undaunted, the Tigers methodically drove the ball 64 yards on 12 plays.  With a nice mix of run and pass plays, North Allegheny kept the Wolverines on their heels and culminated the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Leftwich to Lyon to even the score at 14-14 with 3:42 on the second quarter clock.  Following a three-and-out by the Wolverines, the Tigers got the ball back at their 18-yard line with 1:10 to go in the first half.  After an incompletion started the drive, the Tigers scored by using just two more plays.  Leftwich hit Elijah Zeise for a 50-yard pass and followed that up with a 32-yard bullet to Gregg Garrity for a 32-yard touchdown.  The score put NA ahead 21-14 heading into the locker room at halftime.

In the second half, a stiff Heinz Field breeze and an even stiffer Tigers defense would make sure that the seven point advantage would remain intact for the remainder of the game.  On the Wolverines first possession of the second half, linebacker Chas Smith forced fumble from Sanders and also dug the ball out of a pile of humanity, collecting the Wolverines first turnover of the game.  The Wolverines seemed poised to put points on the board on their following possession but it was Smith again who denied Woodland Hills’ deep drive with an interception at the NA 10-yard line.   The Wolverines repeated efforts to score continued into the fourth quarter when Woodland Hills drove the ball to the NA 2-yard line.  The Wolverines nearly turned the ball over again when Beasley fumbled on a hand-off but lineman Wilford Clark recovered the ball at the NA 6 to maintain possession for Woodland Hills.  Faced with a 4^th and goal from the 6-yard line, McClelland tossed a pass toward a wide open Khalil Harper in right side of the end zone, but the ball fluttered harmlessly to the turf in front of Harper for an incomplete pass and the Tigers’ lead remained, 21-14. 

Woodland Hills had the ball two more times before the final whistle sounded but could get no closer than the NA 37-yard line.  An exemplary statistic of the Tigers defensive dominance in the second half was the stat line of Woodland Hills’ running back Miles Sanders.  The freshman phenom opened the first quarter with 84 rushing yards on just four carries.  For the rest of the game, Sanders would collect 15 yards on 13 carries.   While the Tigers defense held the Wolverines at bay, the NA offense grounded out enough yards and time off the clock the ensure a third consecutive WPIAL Championship, 21-14.

The three-time WPIAL champion Tigers improve to 13-0 on the season and will now ready themselves for the PIAA playoffs.  The Tigers will take on Erie McDowell in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.  The contest will be held at Seneca Valley High School with kickoff slated for 7:00 pm.  The game will be broadcast live via the internet on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY - 21   WOODLAND HILLS - 14

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

NORTH ALLEGHENY

WOODLAND HILLS

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TIGERS TAKE ON WOODLAND HILLS IN WPIAL TITLE TILT AT HEINZ FIELD

(11/22/12) Two renowned football programs will do battle on Friday afternoon at Heinz Field for the Class AAAA WPIAL Championship.  When the North Allegheny Tigers (12-0) and the Woodland Hills Wolverines (10-2) bang heads at 2 p.m. with a title a stake, both teams will be chasing history.  North Allegheny is vying to become the first school to win three consecutive Quad-A crowns.  Woodlands Hills is hoping to win an unprecedented sixth Class AAAA title.  The Wolverines are currently tied with Upper St. Clair with five Quad-A championships.

Friday’s title tilt will also feature two well-decorated head coaches.  Pacing the Woodland Hills sidelines is legendary coach George Novak, who has won 268 games, six WPIAL championships, and is coaching in his 10^th championship game.  North Allegheny’s Art Walker, who is approaching legendary status himself if he isn’t there already, has won 142 games, four WPIAL titles, and is coaching in his seventh WPIAL championship game.  A victory on Friday would tie Walker with his father, Art Walker Sr., by winning his fifth Quad-A crown.

With two storied football programs and coaches coming together on Friday afternoon, the stage is set for a memorable championship contest.  The Tigers have rolled through playoff opponents Altoona, Bethel Park and Seneca Valley en route to Heinz Field.  Woodland Hills, the seven-seed in the Quad-A bracket, defeated North Hills in the opening round and followed that up with upset wins over Gateway and Upper St. Clair to get the Wolverines to Heinz Field for the third time in the past four seasons.

The Wolverines have overcome quite a bit of adversity this season, being bit by the injury bug time and time again.  Woodland Hills saw their top two running backs eliminated by injury within the first three weeks of the season.  However, freshman phenom  Miles Sanders stepped up and has rushed for 713 yards and 10 touchdowns this season.  Then with Sanders missing last week’s semifinal game against Upper St. Clair due to injury, the Wolverines defense rose to the occasion by forcing six turnovers to lift Woodland Hills to a 42-20 victory.  This Wolverines team may have been a seven-seed but they are playing their best football down the stretch, as has been Woody High’s forte over the years.  One thing that is out of the ordinary this season for the Wolverines is a big play passing game.  Senior Cody McClelland is a pitcher turned quarterback who has thrown for over 1,600 yards and 20 touchdowns.  McClelland possesses a strong passing arm and has some athletic receivers to throw to.  The top target for McClelland is Tom Green, who has 38 catches for 713 yards and nine scores. 

However, when it comes to quarterbacks who excel at throwing the deep ball, none is better than North Allegheny’s Mack Leftwich.  In a memorable performance against Seneca Valley in the semifinals, Leftwich accounted for 469 yards of offense and seven touchdowns, throwing for 362 yards and five scores.  His season totals include 2,411 yards and 32 touchdown passes to just four interceptions.  The top statistical receiver for the Tigers is senior Gregg Garrity who has caught 47 passes for 947 yards and 13 touchdowns.  While Garrity is an excellent option in the passing game, he is one of a bevy of soft-handed receivers for Leftwich that includes Elijah Zeise, Brendan Coniker, Zach Lyon and Skyler Cox.  Senior tailback Alex DeCiantis paces the rushing attack, toting the football for 971 yards and 12 touchdowns. 

The Tigers offense, which averages 41 points per game, is faced with the challenge of taking on a very fast and athletic Wolverines defense.  Woodland Hills allows 14 points per game, but is also an extremely opportunistic group that forced Upper St. Clair into repeated mistakes last week. As is often the case, taking care of the football will be imperative in this title game for both teams.

Friday’s meeting between North Allegheny and Woodland Hills will be a rematch of the 2010 WPIAL championship game, a 21-14 Tigers victory.  This will also mark the fourth time in the last eight seasons that the Tigers will take on the Wolverines in the post-season.  North Allegheny won the previous three playoff meetings.  Kickoff is scheduled at 2 p.m. for the Class AAAA WPIAL Championship from Heinz Field and the game will be broadcast live via the internet on the North Allegheny Sports Network.  The pre-game show will begin at 1:30 pm, featuring interviews with Woodland Hills head coach George Novak and North Allegheny head coach Art Walker.   

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