NA Blasts Baldwin To Remain Unbeaten, 67-20
Senior quarterback Logan Kushner passed for four touchdowns and ran for another as North Allegheny issued a 67-20 beat down of Baldwin on Friday night in non-conference action. The Tigers scored the first 67 points of the game and limited the Highlanders to a negative 19 yards of total offense through three quarters before Baldwin scored three meaningless touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard and took the opening possession 64 yards in seven plays, capping the drive on a 22-yard touchdown run by Kushner for a 7-0 lead with 9:28 to play in the first quarter. After a three-and-out and a botched snap on a pending punt attempt, North Allegheny took over ball at the Baldwin 10-yard line. Two plays later, junior Liam Flaherty toted the football into the end zone on an 8-yard rushing score for a 14-0 lead with 7:14 on the first quarter clock.
The NA defense limited Baldwin to negative 19 yards of total offense through three quarters.
From there, the rout was on as Kushner tossed four touchdown passes on the next four drives, with two scoring strikes to James Donaldson and one each to Brady Meyer and Aidan Buggey for a 41-0 lead with 11:43 remaining in the second quarter. Sophomore Luke Rohan ballooned the lead to 48-0 with a 1-yard touchdown run and the advantage grew to 54-0 on an 18-yard touchdown run by Jackson Failla with 5:29 left before halftime. Sophomore Nate Orlando followed with an 11-yard touchdown with 2:27 to play in the first half to bring the score to 61-0 at intermission.
Following a scoreless third quarter, Orlando added a 6-yard touchdown run 56 seconds into the fourth quarter for a 67-0 lead. Baldwin broke the shutout thanks to a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Andrew Sharp with 11:04 remaining. Nico Mizell hauled in a 23-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Nico Macurak to cut the score to 67-14. Sharp capped the scoring with an 18-yard scamper with 3:15 remaining to bring the score to its eventual final, 67-20. Sharp finished with 15 carries for 87 yards and two touchdowns.
Kushner completed 5-of-7 passes for 75 yards and four touchdowns, while adding 55 yards on three carries and one rushing score. For his efforts, Kushner was name the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.
The win improves North Allegheny’s record to 4-0 overall, while Baldwin slips to 1-3 on the season. The Tigers will host undefeated Central Catholic next week in a WPIAL Class 6A showdown in the Tri-County Five Conference. The game will be broadcast live as the Big 56 Conference Game of the Week courtesy of Trib HSSN.
Football Summary vs. Baldwin, 9-15-23
| GAME SUMMARY | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| North Allegheny | 34 | 27 | 0 | 6 | 67 |
| Baldwin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 20 |
