Kushner’s big night leads NA to 30-6 victory over Big Macs
by Jonathan Spina
Senior Logan Kushner ran for three touchdowns and passed for another as the top-ranked North Allegheny Tigers were dominant in their conference opener, taking down the Canon-McMillan Big Macs, 30-6.
North Allegheny started with a three-and-out on offense and after a couple of Canon-McMillan first downs, a high snap resulted in Daniel Sellers recovering a fumble at the CM 22-yard line, and the North Allegheny offense was in business. The Tigers drove to the 1-yard line where Kushner scored on a quarterback sneak. The extra point was blocked and the score was 6-0.
After the teams traded possessions, North Allegheny put together an 11-play, 45-yard drive but the Big Mac defense held strong and forced the Tigers to kick. Peter Notaro put through a 27-yard field goal and the lead grew to 9-0 with 8:40 left in the second quarter. With 3:51 remaining in the half, Canon-McMillan started to drive and marched to the 19-yard line. However, a Mikey Evans pass to the end zone was tipped by James Donaldson and intercepted by Khiryn Boyd and the Big Macs threat was squashed. With 2:44 remaining in the half, the North Allegheny offense put together an impressive 5-play, 98-yard drive to get into the end zone when Kushner scored from 30 yards out. Kushner had 90 of the 98 yards on the drive, and North Allegheny led 16-0 at halftime. With NA pinned back, the scoring drive was sparked on a 33-yard run by Kushner on a 3rd and 2 play from the NA 10-yard line.
Nicholas Humphries high points the football for a touchdown catch in the third quarter.
North Allegheny kept the momentum in the second half as Nicholas Humphries caught a 26-yard pass from Kushner late in the third quarter to give the Tigers a 23-0 lead. Canon-McMillan answered with a 16-play, 72-yard drive that culminated on a 4-yard touchdown run by Zachary Welsh to cut the NA lead to 23-6 with 9:55 to play, but the CM score was too little, too late. Kushner rushed into the end zone one more time from 19 yards out with 5:29 remaining to put the game away for good and the Tigers came away with a 30-6 victory.
Kushner was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game rushing for 171 yards and scoring three touchdowns on the ground. He also accounted for 107 yards passing and a passing touchdown. Boyd was quiet on the offensive end tonight but led the team with six tackles and an interception. Senior linebacker Tyree Alualu also had six tackles. Senior defensive end Aiden Buggey registered two sacks.
North Allegheny improves to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play. Canon-McMillan falls to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the conference. It will be a battle of district champions next week as the Tigers head north to take on the defending District 10 champions Erie McDowell at 7 p.m. next Friday. We will have live coverage on the North Allegheny Sports Network.
Football Summary vs. Canon-McMillan, 9-1-23
| GAME SUMMARY | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| Canon-McMillan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| North Allegheny | 6 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 30 |
