Moon pulls away in victory over West Allegheny

By: Kyle Dawson
Friday, September 12, 2025 | 11:52 PM

Previous Next

After a defensive battle for the vast majority of the first half in Friday’s Class 4A/Class 5A contest between West Allegheny and Moon, it was a wild final minute at West Allegheny High School to close the first half of a 21-3 Tigers win.

After a blocked punt, West Allegheny set up with great field position and opened the scoring with a 42-yard field goal off the toe of Teagan Tomai.

But just 48 seconds later, Moon broke through with a four-play, 65-yard drive that was capped by a 31-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Cross to Jayden Revis.

Ryan Linn and his staff were happy to see what the offense could do in the final minute.

“It was a little bit of a feeling-out process at the beginning,” said Linn. “They were up 3-0 near the end of the half, and I looked at our OC and said ‘just see what we do here.’ Their kid’s kicked the ball in the end zone all year and didn’t. We got a nice return, a big play to get into plus territory and a few plays later we’re in the end zone. We rode that momentum the rest of the way.”

Moon (3-1) added 14 points in the third quarter, one touchdown coming on a second chance.

The Tigers lined up to punt, but a roughing the punter call gave Moon new life. It took advantage with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Cross to Savario Vandetti, making it 14-3.

West Allegheny (1-2) threw a 40-yard pick-6 to Jared Moyer on the ensuing drive, which provided the final margin.

It was a struggle to get going offensively for the homestanding Indians in the nonconference tilt. They had a few explosive plays early, even in their first drive, but that ended in a missed field goal.

“We made a lot of mistakes on our end, and we didn’t clean some things up that we saw in practice,” West Allegheny coach Dave Schoppe said. “Take nothing away from Moon; they played a great game. We know running the ball is what we’ve been, and we’ve got a young quarterback and young guys we’re trying to get the ball to. It’s a work in progress right now.”

The Indians were led on the ground by Brodie Cornell, who managed 58 yards on nine attempts. Austin Probert added 65 yards on eight carries. But other than that, it was a struggle to get going. Donovan O’Connor threw three interceptions in defeat.

Cross was the highlight on the stat sheet, going 10 for 18 passing for Moon for 147 yards, two scores and an interception.

“We have the guys that can go do it, and (Andrew’s) arm talent can get it done,” Linn said. “Tonight we went full spread and let it rip. It was a good thing for us, and it puts it on film.”

Linn was very pleased with the defensive effort as well.

“We talked about it: force turnovers. They had some timely penalties, and we got some big stops. That team has some good running backs,” Linn said. “Our defense has been awesome outside of six minutes against Penn-Trafford last week.”

West Allegheny’s task doesn’t get easier as it travels to Peters Township next week for another nonconference tilt before starting Parkway Conference play at Ambridge in Week 5.

The Tigers will host Seneca Valley in Week 4 before beginning the Allegheny Six Conference gauntlet in Week 5 at home against Bethel Park.

Tags: Moon, West Allegheny