North Allegheny football team looks to make it three straight titles
The North Allegheny football team will make its third consecutive trip to Heinz Field and the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game.
The two-time defending champion Tigers are still undefeated at 12-0 and remain the top-ranked Quad-A team in the state. North Allegheny will meet Woodland Hills (10-2) at 2 p.m. on Friday on the North Shore.
Coming off a 47-17 semifinal win over Seneca Valley last week, the Tigers topped the Raiders for the second time this season. The pair of Northern Eight Conference foes met during the third game of the season and North Allegheny won that contest, 43-3. It also was North Allegheny’s 11th-straight win over Seneca Valley. The Tigers have outscored the Raiders, 412-125, during that span.
“It was evident last week how important our defense has been,” North Allegheny coach Art Walker said. “We’ve had success containing running games and stopping the pass attack. Seneca Valley is a team that can do both very well. We were able to take both aspects of their offense away and forced them to get different looks that they might not be used to doing.”
The Tigers held the Raiders to just 12 first downs and 295 yards of total offense while also forcing one fumble last week at North Hills High School’s Martorelli Stadium.
Offensively, however, North Allegheny continued to present a high-powered attack and was again led by Mack Leftwich. The star quarterback completed 18 of 23 pass attempts for 360 yards and five touchdowns. Receivers Elijah Zeise and Skyler Cox both caught a pair of touchdown receptions.
Walker admits his defensive unit will likely have its hands full this week against the Wolverines. Woodland Hills enters the championship game averaging 31.5 points a game.
“Defensively, we’ll have to do our best to try to get some take aways and create turnovers,” Walker said. “We have to make Woodland Hills earn ever opportunity and not give up and big plays. We can’t allow them to march down the field. That’s going to be the key for us.”
The two-time defending champion Tigers are still undefeated at 12-0 and remain the top-ranked Quad-A team in the state. North Allegheny will meet Woodland Hills (10-2) at 2 p.m. on Friday on the North Shore.
Coming off a 47-17 semifinal win over Seneca Valley last week, the Tigers topped the Raiders for the second time this season. The pair of Northern Eight Conference foes met during the third game of the season and North Allegheny won that contest, 43-3. It also was North Allegheny’s 11th-straight win over Seneca Valley. The Tigers have outscored the Raiders, 412-125, during that span.
“It was evident last week how important our defense has been,” North Allegheny coach Art Walker said. “We’ve had success containing running games and stopping the pass attack. Seneca Valley is a team that can do both very well. We were able to take both aspects of their offense away and forced them to get different looks that they might not be used to doing.”
The Tigers held the Raiders to just 12 first downs and 295 yards of total offense while also forcing one fumble last week at North Hills High School’s Martorelli Stadium.
Offensively, however, North Allegheny continued to present a high-powered attack and was again led by Mack Leftwich. The star quarterback completed 18 of 23 pass attempts for 360 yards and five touchdowns. Receivers Elijah Zeise and Skyler Cox both caught a pair of touchdown receptions.
Walker admits his defensive unit will likely have its hands full this week against the Wolverines. Woodland Hills enters the championship game averaging 31.5 points a game.
“Defensively, we’ll have to do our best to try to get some take aways and create turnovers,” Walker said. “We have to make Woodland Hills earn ever opportunity and not give up and big plays. We can’t allow them to march down the field. That’s going to be the key for us.”
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