Alle-Kiski Valley high school football notebook: Perkins does it all for Burrell

By: Michael Love
Saturday, September 6, 2025 | 4:47 PM

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Antonio Perkins is heating up at the right time as a dual threat for the Burrell football team.

Friday night against Mt. Pleasant, the Bucs sophomore shined with his feet and his arm.

He scored on touchdown runs of 1, 42, 10, and 3 yards to help Burrell get into the win column for the first time this season with a 28-21 triumph over Mt. Pleasant.

Perkins finished with 142 yards on 13 carries and has 361 yards and eight rushing scores over the first three games.

He also was 12 of 17 passing for 153 yards, nearly matching his output from the first two weeks combined.

After putting the go-ahead points on the board, Perkins sealed the win with an interception with 20 seconds left.

The transfer from Valley hopes to make an impact again Friday as Burrell visits Derry in the final nonconference tune-up before the start of Allegheny 7 Conference play against Freeport on Sept. 19.

Perkins will face his former teammates Oct. 3 as he and the Bucs host Valley in the annual Battle of the Bypass rivalry game.

That’s a lot of pepperoni

Papa Rocks Pizza in Monroeville will host the Plum football team for pizza sometime in the near future as part of a friendly wager with Grand Slam Pizza in Plum.

Grand Slam would have hosted the Gateway players if they had won Friday’s nonconference rivalry game at Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium.

The bet was an added piece to a game that gets both school communities fired up. The Gators had won 13 in a row in the series over the past 23 years. But Friday night was Plum’s night.

The Mustangs led the Gators, 10-7, at halftime and tallied two third-quarter scores to extend their advantage. Plum scored quickly after the defense stopped Gateway short on a fake punt, and it scored a short TD immediately after recovering a Gators muffed punt at the 3.

Junior quarterback John Nonnenberg threw for 228 yards and touchdowns to sophomore Semaj Robinson and senior Sloan Humphries. He now has 625 yards and nine TD tosses against just one interception.

Humphries finished with four catches with 87 yards, and Robinson caught three balls for 88 yards.

CJ Hart ran for 47 yards and a score on 10 carries for Plum, which opens Northeast Conference play Friday against Shaler.

Jackets continue to roll

Freeport raced past Quaker Valley on Friday for its third win in as many games to start the 2025 season.

The Yellowjackets defense has given up 13 combined points in its victories over the Quakers, Derry, and Indiana. They are running neck-in-neck with the Imani defense (3.5 ppg.) in the Allegheny 7 Conference.

Freeport is 3-0 for the second time in four seasons. The 2022 Yellowjackets also started 3-0 with wins over Indiana, South Allegheny, and Quaker Valley.

Averaging 39.6 points, Freeport will shoot for 4-0 for the first time since 2015 when it hosts Deer Lakes to open conference play.

Fireworks got Freeport on the board against Quaker Valley as senior Amos Glenn returned the opening kickoff 85 yards. He also returned the opening kickoff for a TD in the Week Zero win over Indiana.

Senior Drew Ross scored on a 7-yard run, and the Yellowjackets had all the points they would need after just the first quarter.

Glenn added TD runs of 6, 7 and 1 yard, giving him seven rushing scores through three games.

Ross also connected on an 8-yard scoring pass to Bryson Paga and finished 13 of 20 for 134 yards.

Leading the way

Several other Alle-Kiski Valley throwers, runners and receivers helped paced their teams Friday night and finished among the WPIAL stat leaders.

Deer Lakes junior quarterback Dante Mangieri threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns in a 24-21 loss to Derry. Brother Luca Mangieri, a senior, caught all three TDs and finished with five catches for 172 yards.

Sophomore Landyn Artman fronted Kiski Area with 219 yards (15 of 26) and a touchdown in the Cavaliers’ loss to Hempfield.

Senior Joe Geller helped lead Fox Chapel to its first win over Knoch since 1988 in the first meeting between the teams since 2011. He was 10 of 19 passing for 203 yards with a pair of TD throws to senior Max Melocchi in the Foxes’ 20-18 victory.

Melocchi caught five passes for 165 yards.

Senior Tim Andrasy continued his torrid start with 216 yards and two touchdowns on 36 carries in Leechburg’s 28-0 win over Serra Catholic. He has 615 rushing yards and nine TDs through three games.

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, Fox Chapel, Freeport, Kiski Area, Leechburg, Plum