Defense stands tall in North Allegheny's title victory

Ryan Riordan's feature on the North Allegheny football team:

"Through the first 12 weeks of the season, only Mt. Lebanon in the season opener had scored 14 points in a first half against North Allegheny.

But in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game Friday at Heinz Field, Woodland Hills scored two first-half touchdowns to trail only 21-14 at intermission.

"[Our defense] didn't want it to happen again in the second," North Allegheny coach Art Walker said.

The Tigers (13-0) kept the Wolverines (10-3) out of the end zone over the final 24 minutes to preserve the halftime lead and help North Allegheny win its third consecutive WPIAL Class AAAA championship, 21-14."

(Photo: North Allegheny's Zach Lyon goes through Woodland Hills' Trevon Mathis to score a touchdown in WPIAL title game. Matt Freed/Post-Gazette.)