Bethel Park pulls away from North Hills in Class 5A 1st round, sets up Peters Township rematch

By: Mitch Montani
Friday, October 31, 2025 | 11:43 PM

Bethel Park combined a stout defense with timely offense Friday night, defeating North Hills, 38-7, in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs.

It was a slow start for the Black Hawks, who found themselves tied 7-7 in the final minutes of the second quarter. That’s when, despite limited availability, senior running back David Dennison entered the game. He scored two rushing touchdowns, separated by just 2 minutes, 27 seconds, to give Bethel Park a 21-7 halftime lead.

“We knew that he’d be available for us if we needed to use him,” Bethel Park coach Phil Peckich said. “We wanted to make sure we secured playing another week. We got him in there a little bit throughout the course of the middle part of the game. The runs set up some more passing.”

Dennison’s touchdown runs of 1 and 12 yards were part of an 11-carry, 80-yard night.

With limited availability for Dennison, junior Tyler Miller got the start for the Black Hawks. His 27-yard touchdown run was the only scoring in the first quarter. He finished the night with 16 carries for 67 yards.

“He’s been a back who in different parts of the year has stepped up,” Peckich said. “He’s a a guy who in practice every week gets the majority of our reps. He understands that he can step up and be that guy. He’s a quality back.”

The Black Hawks outscored North Hills 17-0 in the second half. A 22-yard field goal from Xavier Jackson was the only score of the third quarter. Seniors Jovian Smith and Kahanuola Kuewa each scored fourth-quarter touchdowns to seal the game.

After allowing a second-quarter score, Bethel Park’s defense shut out North Hills the rest of the way. Kahanu’ola Kuewa, Santino Nowozeniuk and Deshawn Barfield each registered interceptions.

“Our defense played really well,” Peckich said. “If you look at the stuff that we struggled with last week, we improved in that area.”

The Indians’ only score of the game came in the second quarter, when quarterback Austin Ellis found senior tight end Joseph Lutz for a 7-yard touchdown. Ellis finished the night 9 of 16 for 167 yards passing. North Hills’ season ended with a 3-8 overall record.

The Black Hawks will advance to the Class 5A quarterfinals to face Peters Township in a rematch of last week’s 35-0 Bethel Park loss loss in the Allegheny Six Conference finale.

“They’re a very quality team,” Peckich said. “We have a tall task ahead of us here. We understand who they are and have to get our guys ready to play.”

Tags: Bethel Park, North Hills