Moon edges Bethel Park in Allegheny Six Conference opener

By: Kyle Dawson
Friday, September 26, 2025 | 11:59 PM

The hype has been plentiful around the Class 5A Allegheny Six Conference, and Friday night’s clash between Moon and Bethel Park showed why.

At Tigers Stadium at Moon Area High School, Moon bounced back from a tough nonconference loss to Seneca Valley last week with a strong start and a big kick late to topple Bethel Park, 23-20. That snapped the Blackhawks’ (4-2, 0-1) three-game winning streak and boosted the Tigers to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

“We knew they weren’t going to back down. Those kids have great resolve and don’t quit,” Moon coach Ryan Linn said. “It was a great response. You always worry about how you’ll respond in moments. We’ve had a couple games go down to the wire, and tonight we figured out how to win that close one late.”

Moon started off hot out of the gate. On the first play from scrimmage, Antione Arnett, who finished with more than 110 yards on the ground, ran 60 yards to set the Tigers up with a goal-to-go. Two plays later, Daiveon Taylor powered the ball in from 2 yards for the opening score, with the kick making it 7-0 just 48 seconds in.

Moon got some stops early, holding the WPIAL’s third-leading rusher, David Dennison, who entered with 900 yards, mostly in check. Dennison was limited to 80 yards by the Tigers’ bruising defense.

“Anybody that’s been around the league long enough knows these games are competitive and come down to the end,” Bethel Park coach Phil Peckich said. “I don’t think we got the kids ready to play at the start. We’ve been going against (Moon’s) scheme for a long time, and they have athletes.

“We knew what kind of opportunity we have, but we didn’t capitalize on a lot of the shot plays we had. We knew it would be tough sledding to run the ball.”

Taylor punched it in from a yard out on the second play of the second quarter, the run set up by a 36-yard pass on the first play of the quarter from Andrew Cross to Jayden Revis.

The Black Hawks got their first drive going and answered with 8:21 to play in the half on a 3-yard run by Dennison, making it 14-7.

But, immediately, Moon answered. Cross broke through the middle on a read option and took the ball to the end zone for a 70-yard score on the next play from scrimmage. The extra point was no good, making it 20-7 Moon, a lead the Tigers took to the break.

“They go down and score, and it’s 14-7 and it’s like, shoot, and (Andrew) pops it off and we’re up two scores again,” Linn said.

Out of the break, Bethel Park drove down the field and scored on an 18-yard run by Will Sabatos on a reverse that originally was handed to Dennison. Earlier in the drive, Evan Devine found Sabatos for a 53-yard throw for a third-down conversion that kept the scoring drive alive.

Bethel Park’s defense kept the Black Hawks close, and, eventually the offense broke through. After engineering a long drive, Devine scored from a yard away on Bethel Park’s version of the “tush push,” and Xavier Jackson’s PAT tied the score at 20-20 with 7:30 to play.

Moon moved the chains a few times before turning the ball over on downs, giving the visitors a chance that resulted in a punt. Moon then worked its way down the field and set up a third field goal attempt for Senkevich — who missed in the first half from 41 and 44 yards — from 36 for the lead.

With 16.2 seconds left, Senkevich drilled his most important try of the game, giving the Tigers the 23-20 lead that held as the winning score. AJ Buford’s interception as time expired finished the job.

“He’s a senior. He’s done everything we’ve asked him,” Linn said. “If we got a chance, we were putting him back out there. He stepped up and made it true.”

Bethel Park will host winless Baldwin in conference action next week, and Moon get another stiff test in unbeaten Peters Township, who won the other Allegheny Six thriller, edging Upper St. Clair.

“That’s the thing. It’s this conference. You don’t have the chance to enjoy it for a day or two,” Linn said with a chuckle. “We’ll enjoy this one tonight and come back tomorrow morning and get to work.”

Tags: Bethel Park, Moon