Alle-Kiski Valley high school football notebook: Kiski Area, Springdale, Burrell get 1st wins

By: Michael Love
Saturday, September 9, 2023 | 6:04 PM

Kiski Area and Burrell swallowed the bitter pill of defeat the first two weeks, but the Cavaliers and Bucs experienced the thrill of putting one in the win column Friday.

Cavaliers junior Carson Heinle broke out with three touchdown passes, more than 180 yards through the air and some dramatics late in Friday’s 28-24 victory over Laurel Highlands at Richard J. Dilts Stadium.

He connected with fellow junior Connor Jordan for a 30-yard touchdown with less than a minute to give the Kiski Area the lead.

“They were blitzing a lot and bringing perimeter heat and inside heat,” Kiski Area coach Sam Albert said.

“Carson has to read the safety, and the safety bit the other way. He hit Connor down the seam, and he broke a tackle and got in for the touchdown, which was incredible.”

The three TD passes — Heinle also hooked up with seniors Isaiah Gonzalez and Bart Martin for scores — give him four for the season. He had three touchdowns, one passing and two rushing, in a 28-18 Week Zero loss to nonconference rival Plum.

Senior Brennan Moore added a 69-yard TD run in the decisive final quarter.

Friday’s game and its result took a back seat to an injury to Laurel Highlands’ Antwon Black with 34 seconds left in the game.

Black was taken off the field on a stretcher and life flighted to an area hospital for treatment. Albert said Black is expected to be OK.

“I was really pleased with the win,” Albert said. “We could’ve folded, but the kids stayed with it. It was a scary experience with the kid from Laurel Highlands getting hurt, but it’s good to hear he will be all right.

“We made every mistake you possibly could make. We had at least a dozen penalties and fumbled the football, but when you have a young team, that inconsistency can be there. But hopefully we can continue to grow from that and be ready for conference play.”

Running away with a victory

Burrell retained the Officer Bryan Shaw Memorial Trophy, defeating rival Valley for a fifth straight time in the “Battle of the Bypass” series.

The Bucs, behind 135 yards and a touchdown from senior Devin Beattie, controlled the game in a 30-8 victory.

Burrell didn’t garner any passing yards for a third straight week, totaling 235 on the ground. The Bucs didn’t attempt a pass.

Beattie, who was questionable all week after suffering an injury against Deer Lakes, has 328 yards and three touchdowns through three games.

The win also was a milestone for Burrell as it celebrated the 300th victory in program history.

The Bucs are 300-276-9 in 585 games starting in 1964.

Springdale gets a ‘W’

The Dynamos snapped a 13-game losing streak Saturday afternoon by beating Summit Academy, 35-21.

Chase Weihrauch ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns and also completed 5 of 11 passes for 50 yards.

Springdale’s last victory came in the 2021 WPIAL Class A first round, a 28-0 triumph at West Greene.

Undefeated teams dwindling

After Week 2 games, 25 WPIAL teams remain undefeated. Two of them are from the Alle-Kiski Valley in Knoch and Highlands.

Knoch again called upon its passing game as it went on the road to post a 28-24 victory over Beaver Falls.

Knoch owns the second-highest scoring average — 36.66 points a game — among Allegheny 6 teams through three weeks.

Junior Codi Mullen threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns, giving him 768 yards and seven TDs on the season.

Fellow junior Kaden Spencer caught nine of Mullen’s passes for 140 yards and three scores. The passing game was a big factor against Beaver Falls after Knights senior Tony Nicolazzo and the run game accounted for all four scores in a Week 1 victory over Indiana.

Nicolazzo also got in the scoring act defensively against Beaver Falls with an interception returned 50 yards for a score.

Highlands stays perfect

The Golden Rams overcame penalty issues to move to 3-0 for the second year in a row and set themselves up for a showdown against North Catholic (1-2) on Friday in the Greater Allegheny Conference opener.

Highlands’ offense — led by the 1-2 punch of Aaran Randolph and Luke Bombalski — gets a lot of attention, but the Golden Rams defense again came up strong in the clutch.

Highlands has been in competitive games at halftime against Ambridge, Blackhawk and Friday, but the second half has been the difference.

A fourth-quarter score by the Colts on Friday was the first points surrendered by the Golden Rams defense in the second half this season.

Highlands has produced 85 points in the second half over three games, allowing it to put those contests on ice.

Scoring frenzy

After being limited to just one score in a tough 7-6 Week Zero loss to Keystone Oaks, Deer Lakes has gotten on track offensively the past two games.

On Friday, the Lancers scored the most points — 49 — since a 49-0 win over Derry in Week 3 of 2021.

This comes after Deer Lakes tallied 33 in beating Burrell on Sept. 1.

The Lancers responded to an early Apollo-Ridge score with 28 unanswered first-half points. Zier Williams, who has rushed for 293 yards and three touchdowns over the last six quarters, got the scoring started with a 41-yard run in the first quarter.

Burk added scoring runs of 5 and 3 yards in the second quarter, and he also connected with Nathaniel Moore on a 20-yard TD pass.

Deer Lakes has scored 92 points against Apollo-Ridge the past two seasons.

Conference call

Eight A-K Valley teams kick off conference action Friday.

The lone local matchup pits Leechburg (2-1) at Springdale (1-2) to open the Eastern Conference slate.

Plum hopes to bounce back from its first loss of the season, a 28-14 setback to Shaler (3-0) as it pays a visit to Norwin (1-2) in the Big East Conference.

In the Greater Allegheny Conference, Kiski Area (1-2) hopes to build on its first win as it travels to play a 0-3 Hampton team hungry for its first win.

Burrell (1-2) will play its third home game out of four to start the season as it welcomes Allegheny Conference foe Serra Catholic (0-3) to Buccaneer Stadium.

Riverview hopes to bounce back from a Friday loss to Northgate — its first setback of the season — when it tangles with Clairton (1-2) in the Eastern Conference. The Bears have shut out the Raiders the past seven meetings.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Burrell, Deer Lakes, Highlands, Kiski Area, Knoch, Leechburg, Plum, Riverview, Springdale