Football News

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 the ball out, and NA led 17-14 at halftime.

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

GAME SUMMARY
SCORE BY QUARTERS	1	2	3	4	FINAL
Woodland Hills	14	0	13	6	33
North Allegheny	14	3	0	8	25