Football Game Summaries

North Allegheny traveled to U.S. Steel Community Field at Hazelwood Green to take on the Central Catholic Vikings in a Quad County Conference matchup. Central Catholic entered the game as the No. 20 ranked team in the country according to Rivals composite rankings. The Vikings flexed their muscles and showed why they were ranked nationally, defeating the Tigers by a score of 42-0.

Central Catholic jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter with touchdowns from Roman Thompson and Kayden Jones. The Vikings expanded the lead to 28-0 at halftime as Connor Melnik found the end zone along with Thompson again.

Chrys Black finished off two Central Catholic drives in the third quarter to make the score 42-0, which would be the final score.

Caden Petro led North Allegheny with seven tackles. Kellan Frank had five while Ben Spak had four and Max DeHainaut added three.

North Allegheny falls to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the conference. Central Catholic improves to 7-0 and 4-0 in conference play. The Tigers return home next Friday when they host the Seneca Valley Raiders at 7:30 p.m. This will be Senior Night and American Cancer Society Night and will be broadcast on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Football Summary at Central Catholic, 10-9-26

North Allegheny hosted Canon-McMillan at Newman Stadium on Friday night in a Quad County Conference showdown. The Big Macs jumped out to an early lead, and the Tigers could never quite recover as they fell 23-13.

Canon-McMillan received the opening kickoff and drove the ball to the North Allegheny 28-yard line. The NA defense stepped up and got a stop, but Big Mac kicker Rhys Maentz drilled a 45-yard field goal to give CM the 3-0 lead. After a North Allegheny punt, the Big Macs drove 80 yards in eight plays, with Ty Jansma finding Roman Cimarolli in the back of the end zone on the final play of the first quarter to make it 10-0.

North Allegheny’s next drive got into the red zone, highlighted by a 45-yard completion from Brady Brinkley to Gavin Ust, but a missed field goal kept the score at 10-0. Both teams traded punts before CM put a two-minute drill together that ended up on the seven-yard line. Maentz made another field goal, this time from 24 yards out, with eight seconds left in the half, and Canon-McMillan went into the locker room with a 13-0 lead.

North Allegheny got the ball to start the second half and tried to get the momentum back. The Tigers drove the ball 80 yards in 10 plays with Brinkley hitting Ust over the shoulder from 36 yards out to cut the CM lead to 13-7. Offense stalled from there as both teams punted back and forth the rest of the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Big Macs used a balanced attack to go 76 yards in 10 plays with Jansma hitting Brayden Collins from 10 yards out to expand the Canon-McMillan lead to 20-7. NA turned the ball over on downs at their own 29, giving the Big Macs prime field position. Canon-McMillan only went nine yards on their next drive, but Maentz hit his third field goal of the game to take a 23-7 lead with 3:41 left. In desperation mode, the Tigers scored when the ball was fumbled into the end zone and Anthony Sisinni fell on top of it to make it 23-13. North Allegheny went for two and was stopped short.

Canon-McMillan recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock, giving the Tigers a 23-13 loss.

Sisinni led the Tigers with 33 yards rushing. Brinkley finished 20-for-33, for 254 yards and a touchdown. Ben Kern had six catches for 37 yards. Ust finished with 81 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Mason Brown led NA defensively with 10 tackles. Tydes Alualu and Aidan Urschler each had nine tackles. Urschler had three tackles for loss and, for his efforts, was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. Aadi Mehotra added eight tackles.

North Allegheny falls to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Canon-McMillan improves to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the conference. The Tigers return to action next Friday when they travel to U.S. Steel Community Field at Hazelwood Green to take on the Central Catholic Vikings at 7 p.m.

Football Summary vs. Canon-McMillan, 10-2-26

North Allegheny traveled to Pine-Richland High School on Friday night to take on the Rams in a non-conference battle. With emotions running high from homecoming, the Rams got off to a quick start and defeated the Tigers by a score of 40-7.

The PR opening drive got into the red zone but ended with a Landon Brown 35-yard field goal to give Pine-Richland a 3-0 lead. After an NA punt, Melvin Porter put North Allegheny in prime position, intercepting a pass and returning into Ram territory. The Tigers could not cash in on the drive and the score remained 3-0.

In the second quarter, Pine-Richland got two touchdown runs from Kiernan Cassidy and two more field goals from Brown to take a 23-0 lead at halftime.

In the third frame, the Rams had a 23-yard touchdown run from Oobi Strader and a 72-yard punt returned to the house by Khalil Taylor to make the score 37-0. In the fourth quarter, after another Brown field goal, Carson Meyer found Jayden Rucker from 36 yards out to put NA on the board and finish the game at 40-7.

Anthony Sisinni led North Allegheny in rushing with 41 yards. Ben Kern had three catches for 21 yards. Brady Brinkley had 54 passing yards while Meyer had 36.

Kellan Frank led the Tiger defense with 10 tackles. For his efforts, Frank was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. Henry Sheridan had five tackles while Max Dehainaut and Tydes Alualu each had four tackles.

North Allegheny falls to 2-3 overall. The Tigers return to conference play next Friday when they host Canon-McMillan at 7:30 p.m. at Newman Stadium. This game will be broadcast on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Football Summary at Pine-Richland, 9-25-26

By Randy Gore

Senior quarterback Brady Brinkley tossed two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, including a scoring strike to Ben Kern with 48 seconds remaining, propelling North Allegheny to a 14-7 win over Hempfield on Friday night at Newman Stadium. The victory improved the Tigers’ all-time record against the Spartans to 13-0, and helped NA get off on the right foot in Class 6A Quad County Conference play.

The first three quarters were a defensive stalemate with neither team finding the end zone.  NA and Hempfield combined for only 154 total yards of offense by halftime, and the defenses also forced five total turnovers. The Tigers sacked senior quarterback Carden Lippman four times and intercepted him twice, including a first-quarter interception by senior Jameson Walsh and a leaping third-quarter interception by senior Gavin Ust.

Ust’s pick, his second of the season, came with 5:36 left in the third period at the NA 44-yard line and appeared to put the Tigers in position to take the lead. North Allegheny embarked on an eight-play drive deep into Hempfield territory, but a fumble forced by Leroy Corey was recovered by Lippman at the Spartans’ 5-yard line, thwarting the best scoring opportunity of the evening to that point.

Undaunted, North Allegheny’s next opportunity with the ball proved fruitful. Starting at their own 19-yard line with 11:04 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Tigers marched 81 yards in nine plays, sparked by three key pass receptions from senior Mason Brown. The Point Park University commit in lacrosse accounted for 60 yards on the drive, including a 14-yard touchdown catch on a slant with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter, which gave North Allegheny a 7-0 lead.

Despite being held in check all night, the Spartans responded in kind and put together an 8-play, 80-yard drive to tie the game. The Hempfield drive was spearheaded by senior running back Andrew Bentz, who caught two passes for 60 yards, including a 30-yard reception that set up Hempfield with a 1st and goal at the NA 4-yard line. After a loss of two yards on first down, Bentz capped the drive with a 6-yard touchdown scamper to knot the score at 7-7 with 2:51 remaining.

On the ensuing possession, North Allegheny delivered what proved to be the game-winning score thanks to a 7-play, 64-yard march to pay dirt. The key play of the drive came with NA staring at a 3rd down and 7 at the Hempfield 48-yard line with 1:29 left in regulation. Brinkley scrambled to his left and lofted a 35-yard pass to junior Anthony Sissini, setting up the Tigers at the Hempfield 13-yard line. One the very next play, Brinkley found Kern for a 13-yard touchdown pass with 48 seconds remaining to put NA in front, 14-7. For hauling in the game-winning touchdown pass, TigerVision named Kern the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

On their final possession, the Spartans traversed to the NA 30-yard line on just five plays, but had only nine seconds remaining with one timeout. On the last play of the ballgame, Lippman scrambled for a 13-yard gain but was tackled with no time left on the clock and the Tigers staved off the Spartans last-ditch effort to claim a conference win.

With the win, North Allegheny improves to 1-3 overall and 1-0 in the Quad County Conference. Hempfield slips to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference. The Tigers will visit the top-ranked team in Class 5A, Pine-Richland, next week. The game will be broadcast live on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Football Summary vs. Hempfield, 9-18-26

THIS GAME WAS LATER DETERMINED TO BE A WIN BY FORFEIT BY THE WPIAL

North Allegheny hosted the Woodland Hills Wolverines on Friday night at Newman Stadium in a non-conference matchup. The game went back and forth, and the Tigers had a chance on the last play to tie it up, but ultimately lost 33-25.

The first quarter saw offense all over the place. NA scored on the second play from scrimmage when Brady Brinkley connected with Ben Kern for a 69-yard touchdown, giving North Allegheny a 7-0 lead. Woodland Hills immediately responded with a nine-play, 82-yard drive.  Jaron McKinney Jr. found Avon Pressly to tie the game 7-7. The Tigers got right back to work with a big play from Brinkley to Jayden Rucker for 64 yards, setting up the offense in first-and-goal. Brinkley finished the drive on a QB sneak and NA led 14-7. The Wolverines drove the ball right back down with McKinney hooking up with Malik McCloud from 31 yards out to tie the game at 14.

In the second quarter, North Allegheny drove the ball down the field again, but the drive stalled at the Woodland Hills six-yard line. Josh Gidas came on and converted a 23-yard field goal to put the Tigers back in front 17-14.

Both defenses settled in for the remainder of the half. NA forced a punt, but a fumble gave the Wolverines the ball right back. On the ensuing drive, Noah Sellers picked off McKinney on the 33-yard line, but a Tiger interception kept the score at 17-14. The Wolverines kneeled out the half, and NA led 17-14.

Woodland Hills seized momentum to start the third quarter as they took the second-half kickoff back to the North Allegheny 13-yard line. Two plays later, McKinney hit McCloud for a 13-yard touchdown, and the Wolverines took the lead at 21-17. Following a Tigers punt, it looked like the NA defense made a stop, but a muffed return put the Woodland Hills offense back on the field. The Wolverines made the Tigers pay; this time it was McKinney to Jordan Austin, and the Woodland Hills lead expanded to 27-17.

After the teams traded punts to start the fourth quarter, McKinney made the play of the day, connecting with Austen for an 82-yard touchdown to make the score 33-17 Wolverines. In desperation mode, the Tigers drove 80 yards in 10 plays and scored on a Brinkley pass to Gavin Ust to make it 33-23. Brinkley ran in the two-point conversion, and it was a one-possession game at 33-25. The North Allegheny defense got the stop it needed, stonewalling the Wolverines on fourth-and-one to got the ball back with a chance to tie with 1:22 left in regulation. NA drove to the 13-yard line, but a last-ditch effort to the end zone fell incomplete, and the Tigers fell 33-25.

Brinkley finished the night 15-for-32 with 268 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 95 rushing yards and a touchdown. Anthony Sissini had 52 rushing yards. Ben Kern had five catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. Jayden Rucker made three catches for 84 yards. For his efforts, Rucker was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

Mason Brown led the defense with nine tackles, two for loss. Max DeHainaut made eight tackles while Tydes Alualu and Joe Kovacic each had six.

North Allegheny falls to 0-3 overall. The Tigers are back in action next Friday when they host Hempfield at Newman Stadium at 7:30 p.m. This opens conference play.

Football Summary vs. Woodland Hills, 9-11-26