Defense guiding North Allegheny to fast start

By: Josh Rizzo
Thursday, September 12, 2019 | 5:06 PM

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Attempting to grind out a victory against North Allegheny football would be ill-advised.

Behind an aggressive defense, the Tigers have snuffed out opposing offenses in three straight victories to start the season.

North Allegheny, which snuck by Central Catholic, 11-10, on Sept. 6 at Shaler, has recorded two shutouts and sacked the quarterback 18 times.

Tigers coach Art Walker, who recorded his 200th victory against the Vikings, feels they have had the right scheme.

“Our coaches put our guys in great position,” Walker said. “(Defensive coordinator) Doug (Brinkley) does a great job with those guys. He gets the credit along with the kids. He’s the one putting them in the position to understand what their opponent is doing and in a position to make plays.”

Results from North Allegheny’s game last Friday against Canon-McMillan were too late for this edition.

Beating perennial Class 6A rival Central Catholic followed the formula for North Allegheny. The Tigers (3-0, 2-0) stayed close thanks to their defense. Senior Precise Colon and the special teams made the play that put North Allegheny ahead.

Colon ran a punt back 60 yards for a touchdown that cut the lead to 10-9 with 2 minutes, 55 seconds remaining. After Central Catholic was flagged for offsides, North Allegheny went for two.

Peter Vardzel converted the two-point try with a run to give the Tigers a win.

“We wanted to try and take their run game away,” Walker said. “Both teams are run-oriented teams. We wanted to make them beat us throwing the ball. Other than one big run, we did a fantastic job. The defense kept us in the game.”

What has propelled the defense is the pass rush. Eight different Tigers’ defenders have recorded at least one sack. Sam Sheridan leads North Allegheny with 4.5 sacks, while Nathan Hoke and Hayden Sheets each have four.

While the Tigers haven’t produced a ton of turnovers thus far — North Allegheny has one fumble recovery and interception — Walker believes North Allegheny showed a lot against the Vikings. The Tigers trailed 7-3 entering the fourth quarter and needed a late surge on special teams to eke out a victory.

“The biggest thing to take from it was there was no quit in our guys,” Walker said. “They fought all the way through for every second and minute in the football game. These kids showed they had determination and grit, they believed until the end.”

Tags: North Allegheny