Avonworth stops Imani Christian to make 3rd straight trip to Acrisure Stadium

By: Antonio Rossetti
Friday, November 15, 2024 | 10:36 PM

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The Avonworth Antelopes galloped their way to Acrisure Stadium for the third straight year, defeating the Imani Christian Saints, 14-6, in the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals Friday night.

After a first half dominated by defense, Avonworth broke the scoreless tie late in the third quarter.

After forcing Imani Christian to punt, the Lopes got a piece of the ball, getting good field position at the Saints’ 32.

Luca Neal hit a hole on an unbalanced line right, breaking it for a 32-yard touchdown, earning the ‘Lopes a 7-0 lead with a little over two minutes left in the quarter.

Avonworth fumbled at the Imani Christian 27 on its next drive, but the Antelopes defense came up with another clutch stop.

This led to Neal shooting through a massive hole over center for a 50-yard touchdown, taking a 14-0 lead with 8:19 left in the fourth quarter.

Fifty-nine seconds later, David Davis lunged through a hole, taking it 81 yards to the house. The 2-point try failed as Avonworth stuffed Gabe Jenkins, however, keeping it at 14-6.

The Antelopes ran for three first downs and drained the last seven minutes. The ‘Lopes finished the Saints off when Nico Neal notched a first down with 36 seconds left as the Saints were out of timeouts.

Luca Neal spearheaded the ‘Lopes, rushing for 204 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns.

“My O-line, they go all out for me every play,” Neal said. “I have to give them everything I got.”

Neal ran the majority of his plays as a quarterback lead in a power formation.

He notched 120 yards on 11 carries in the second half. Neal was patient picking his holes.

“They were blitzing everyone and so I was just reading, and seeing what we had,” Neal said. “I just had to be patient, wait for something to open up and then go.”

Defensively, the ‘Lopes put on a show. Avonworth schemed and bent but never broke.

Imani Christian put together three drives that went into Avonworth territory in the first half.

On its first drive of the game, Stephen Vandriver fumbled a snap at the Avonworth 47 on fourth-and-1.

In the beginning of the second quarter, the Antelopes forced a fumble and recovered it at their own 35.

Avonworth also forced a turnover on downs on a fourth-and-10 at their own 28.

Mason Metz and Justin Beck, two captains on defense, helped shut down the Saints.

“A lot of scheming,” Metz said. “We spent a whole week game planning for them. The big thing was contain for us. Us D-ends had to contain them and we were able to get some sacks, too. Our linebackers played some great coverage against their wide receivers, which was big.”

Beck was one of those linebackers. He said the ‘Lopes will never break in crunch time.

“We work as a team,” Beck said. “We’re a family. We’ve been with each other since we were younger, since we were little kids, and that bond that we created, that’s what we do. When it gets going, when it gets tough, we bond together, and we held them on that 2-point conversion and that says it all. I mean, they couldn’t get 3 yards on us.”

Avonworth contained undefeated Imani Christian’s rushing attack, holding Gabe Jenkins to 32 yards. Davis tallied 85 yards on five carries, but 81 of those yards came on one play.

Metz noted that their scheme led to key stops and plays on defense, which led to good field position and the opportunity to run some clock.

“We had a couple fumble forces,” Metz said. “The goal-line stand for the 2-pointer was big. A lot of fourth downs and stretching a lot plays on fourth down to force them to punt. Field position helped us a lot.”

Beck added that the secondary and also the pressure Metz created led to holding the Saints to just six points.

The ‘Lopes are ready for another go in the WPIAL finals, this time against Central Valley, which defeated Elizabeth Forward, 31-15. Avonworth lost to Belle Vernon in the championship game each of the last two seasons.

“We got Central Valley, we know we got them, and it’s going to be a dogfight,” Beck said. “It’s going to be all four quarters. We’re going to have to come out hard like we had these past two weeks, and we’ve made a statement. We’ve got to play together like we never have. We’ve got to play better than we did against Beaver. We’ve got to play better than we did today. No mistakes, and we’re gonna win that.”

Tags: Avonworth, Imani Christian