Tigers fall to Central Catholic in WPIAL Championship
North Allegheny traveled to Norwin High School on Saturday night to take on the Central Catholic Vikings in the WPIAL Championship for the third year in a row. The Tigers had won the previous two, but the three-peat fell short as the Tigers lost 45-14.
The first half was all Central Catholic as the Vikings scored four total touchdowns from quarterback Jy’Yair Walls (three passing and one rushing) and a 44-yard field goal by kicker Billy Lech to jump out to a 31-0 lead at the half. It was more of the same to start the second half as running back Elijah Faulkner and Walls each had rushing touchdowns to push the Vikings lead to 45-0.
There was some life from NA near the end of the third quarter when Josh Donaldson returned a kickoff 63 yards to the Central Catholic 24-yard line to give North Allegheny excellent field position. During a fourth-and-one on the drive, Jackson Failla found Donaldson for three yards to keep the possession alive. Failla and Donaldson linked up to finish the drive on a seven-yard touchdown to make the score 45-7. In the fourth quarter, the Tiger defense created a turnover when Owen Urschler forced Walls to fumble, and Mason Hartung jumped on it. That led to one more big play when Failla connected with Colman Craft for a 79-yard touchdown to round out the scoring at 45-14.
Failla finished the night four-for-seven in relief with 97 yards and two touchdowns. Craft led the team in receiving with 79 yards. Kyle Langdon led the North Allegheny defense with 16 tackles. Conner Frank had 14 tackles, while Lincoln Hoke added 12. Donaldson made nine tackles.
The Wright Automotive Player of the Game went to the North Allegheny senior class: Hartung, Brady Meyer, Frank, Donaldson, Liam Flaherty, Nick Humphries, Noah Spak, Peter Notaro, Colin Moore, Craft, Carter Melzer, Joey Dylewski, Kyle Langdon, Akshay Nayak, Dylan Langdon, Dylan Brokos, Gabe Porter, Jack Yatchenko, Barry Schell, Sam Irvin, Jacob Burns and Jack Paclawski. This group will finish with a 34-6 record from their sophomore to senior seasons, including a conference championship, two WPIAL Championships, a WPIAL runner-up, and a state runner-up. The 2022 WPIAL Championship was the first since 2012, and the 2023 PIAA Championship appearance was the first since 2012. Congrats to head coach Art Walker and all staff and players for a historic season!
Football Summary vs. Central Catholic, 11-16-24
| GAME SUMMARY | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| North Allegheny | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Central Catholic | 28 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 45 |
