North Allegheny edges West Allegheny in nonconference matchup

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, October 19, 2018 | 10:39 PM

There was no running clock. But the starters from North Allegheny and West Allegheny still played less the normal Friday night.

The teams agreed earlier in the week to play the game with a running clock. But after clarifying the rules, the game was played as normal — almost. Both teams substituted heavily starting in the second quarter.

The Class 6A No. 2 Tigers scored a 26-20 nonconference road win over the Class 5A No. 4 Indians.

“Our starters got some great work against a good football team,” North Allegheny coach Art Walker said. “We made some spot substitutions to get some direct backups reps with the rest of the starters. At any point we may need them. To get them quality reps against a good team was really good.”

It was the first-time meeting between the programs. While the teams may have been new to each other, the coaches were not — Walker was Bob Palko’s offensive coordinator when he took over the West Allegheny program in 1995.

“It was different because I was a teacher here for 10 years,” Walker said. “I started here with (Palko). We went through the ups and downs of building a program. We won a championships together. There are a lot of opportunities he gave me to put me where I am today.”

The Indians (6-2, 5-1) found success moving the ball with the Wildcat formation in the first quarter. Dante Flati and Paul Newton took turns pounding the ball down the field and inside North Allegheny’s 10-yard line. Kam Kruze found tight end Mateo Vandamia in the end zone on a 6-yard touchdown pass to give West Allegheny the early 7-0 lead.

“(The Wildcat) is an important part of our offense,” Palko said. “We lost in pregame because they were just a little bit bigger than us. It was tough to do certain things, but we tried to utilize our talent how we needed to.”

After North Allegheny’s defense forced a three-and-out early in the second quarter, Dante Caputo blocked a punt to give the Tigers possession at the West Allegheny 10-yard line. Two plays later, Ben Maenza scored on a 4-yard run.

“Dante Caputo made a heck of a play,” Walker said. “That might be his third one this year. He has a knack for it.”

After the teams were tied at 7-7 in the second quarter, both coaches turned to their benches and began replacing starters. Precise Colon scored on a 46-yard run, and Reed Fisher scored on a 4-yard run to grow the Tigers’ lead to 20-7 at halftime.

Trailing by 20 in the second half, West Allegheny freshman quarterback Gavin Miller threw for a game-high 71 yards with a pair of touchdowns to cut the deficit to six late.

North Allegheny outgained West Allegheny, 203-166, in total yardage. The Tigers (9-0, 7-0) gained 184 yards on the ground and were led by Colon (46 yards) and Maenza (39 yards).

The loss on Friday was Palko’s final regular-season home game. Assistant coach Kim Niedbala will take over as the Indians’ head coach next season as Palko is set to retire.

“It was nice to go against Coach Walker,” Palko said. “It is kind of weird to see a former assistant move on and be as successful as he has been. To have him be the last home game was pretty cool.”

Nathan Smith is a freelance writer.

Tags: North Allegheny, West Allegheny