NA dominates Seneca Valley on Senior Night

Posted on: by Jonathan Spina

North Allegheny hosted Seneca Valley on Friday night at Newman Stadium in the regular season finale. The Tigers honored their seniors pregame but had some very important business to take care of on the field. A win would give NA a home playoff game in the WPIAL Semifinals. The Tigers left no doubt dominating the first half and coasting to a 38-0 win over the Raiders in the final Quad County matchup of the season.

The Tigers got off to a great start as they got a 39-yard kick return to start the game from senior Colman Craft giving NA great field position. North Allegheny scored in five plays when Brady Brinkley found senior Kyle Langdon from 10 yards out to give the Tigers the lead. NA elected to go for two and Brinkley completed a pass to Jackson Failla on the two-point conversion to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead.

After forcing Seneca Valley to punt, North Allegheny put together a 10-play, 70-yard drive that stalled out on the eight-yard line, but senior Peter Notaro booted through a 25-yard field goal to give the Tigers an 11-0 lead. The Raiders were forced to punt again on the next possession. They kicked it to Craft who made another outstanding special teams play taking the ball 69 yards to the kitchen and NA led 18-0 after a quarter of play.

In the second quarter, Seneca Valley had a nine-play drive that ended in another punt. North Allegheny kept the foot on the gas driving 80 yards in six plays ending in a 47-yard touchdown pass from Brinkley to senior Carter Melzer and the lead ballooned to 24-0.

The Raiders got a solid return on the ensuing kickoff and started their next drive in NA territory. The optimism was short-lived as Seneca Valley’s Andrew Loebig’s pass was picked off by Korry Pitts, his team-leading third of the season, and the Tigers were back in business. North Allegheny leaned on their offensive line on the next drive with five of the six plays being run plays, and senior Dylan Brokos scored from three yards out to give the Tigers a 31-0 lead.

With 2:11 remaining in the half, the NA defense forced a quick three-and-out. The Raiders punted the ball away, this time to Nick Humphries who returned the kick 58 yards for another special teams touchdown. North Allegheny led 38-0 at halftime. This was the second time this season that North Allegheny returned two punts for touchdowns in the same half.

With the running clock going in the second half, both teams traded possessions with no points in the third quarter. The Tiger defense forced two turnovers in the period, first Owen Urschler recovered a fumble on the opening drive. Later in the quarter, Seneca Valley looked to get on the board as they were right outside the red zone but Ryan Palmer picked off a Loebig pass to keep the shutout intact. The final frame saw each team get one possession with the Raiders putting a 10-play drive together that stalled at NA’s 31-yard line and North Allegheny ran the clock out to finish out the 38-0 win.

For his punt return for a touchdown and strong defensive presence, Humphries was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

Brinkley finished five-for-eight with 84 passing yards and two touchdowns. He also had 91 rushing yards.

Luke Rohan led the North Allegheny defense with six tackles. Lincoln Hoke made five tackles while Kyle Langdon and Urschler each had four.

North Allegheny finishes the regular season with a 9-1 overall record and a 5-1 record in the Quad County Conference. Seneca Valley finishes the regular season with a 3-6 record overall and 3-3 conference record. The Tigers will have bye week before hosting Mt. Lebanon in the WPIAL Semifinals on Friday, November 8 at 7 pm at Newman Stadium.

Football Summary vs. Seneca Valley, 10-25-24

GAME SUMMARY
SCORE BY QUARTERS1234FINAL
Seneca Valley00000
North Allegheny18200038