North Allegheny traveled to Harmony to take on the Seneca Valley Raiders at NexTier Stadium in the regular season finale. The Tigers jumped out to an early lead but were ultimately tripped up by the Raiders by a score of 21-18.

NA got off to a great start as they received the opening kickoff and drove the ball 80 yards on a drive that took six and a half minutes. A Luke Rohan six-yard run finished off the drive and North Allegheny jumped out to a 7-0 lead.

 

 

The Tiger defense forced the Raiders to punt, and the offense looked to be on the move again, driving to the Seneca Valley 24-yard line. However, a fumble denied the Tigers any chance at points, and the score was 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.

 

The teams traded punts to start the second quarter before the Raiders put together a drive and went to the NA 30-yard line. On fourth-and-two, James Harrison made a huge stop for the North Allegheny defense to get the Tigers the ball back.

 

 

The teams once again traded punts before Seneca Valley drove 75 yards in five plays and Andrew Loebig found paydirt from two yards out late in the second quarter. NA blocked the extra point to hold onto the 7-6 lead. Following a North Allegheny punt, the Raiders tried a double pass that was sniffed out by Korry Pitts, who intercepted the second pass and the Tigers took a 7-6 lead into the locker room.

 

Similar to North Allegheny’s drive to start the game, Seneca Valley took the second half kickoff and drove 87 yards in 11 plays, taking up five and a half minutes. Loebig found Cayden Parker on a swing pass from 15 yards out, and the Raiders were on the board again. Parker connected with Adam Gehm on the two-point conversion, and Seneca Valley led 14-7 heading to the fourth quarter.

 

NA responded with a 17-play drive down to the Seneca Valley seven-yard line, but the drive stalled and Ethan Maravich connected on a 24-yard field goal to cut the Tiger deficit to 14-10.

 

 

The North Allegheny defense forced a three-and-out to give the offense the ball back, but a pick-six extended the Raider lead to 21-10. After another 10-play drive, the Tigers were stuffed on fourth-and-one, giving Seneca Valley the ball back. The defense came up big again, forcing a punt with 4:49 left in the fourth quarter. Needing a score quickly, the North Allegheny offense showed urgency and scored in 58 seconds when Brady Brinkley completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Ust to make the score 21-16. Brinkley found Ben Kern on the two-point conversion and it was a field goal game at 21-18 with 3:51 remaining.

 

 

Unfortunately for the Tigers, Seneca Valley was able to run the clock out and come away with the 21-18 win.

Rohan was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game going for 115 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Brinkley finished 24-for-40 with 249 yards and a touchdown. Kern led the Tigers in receiving with eight catches for 81 yards.

 

Lincoln Hoke led the NA defense with 10 tackles, two for loss. Kellan Frank had six tackles while Kai Inouye and Owen Urschler each had five tackles.

 

North Allegheny falls to 7-3 overall and finishes conference play with a 4-2 record. Seneca Valley finishes their season with a 4-6 overall record and 2-4 conference record. The Tigers will have the week off before returning to action on Friday, November 7 when they will host the Norwin Knights at Newman Stadium in the WPIAL Semifinals. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. That game will be broadcast live on the North Allegheny Sports Network.