North Allegheny finishes off Mt. Lebanon, sets up another finals clash with Central Catholic

By: Dave Mackall
Saturday, November 9, 2024 | 12:31 AM

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North Allegheny left no doubt this time.

Nicholas Humphries intercepted a pair of passes — one resulting in a touchdown and the other setting up a score just before halftime — and No. 2 seed North Allegheny routed No. 3 Mt. Lebanon, 48-14, Friday night at NA’s Newman Stadium to advance to the WPIAL Class 6A championship game against Central Catholic for the fourth time in the past five seasons.

The Tigers (10-1) will be seeking their third consecutive title when the teams meet at 6 p.m. Nov. 16 at Norwin.

Top-seeded Central Catholic (9-2) ousted No. 4 Seneca Valley, 38-13, in the other semifinal, setting up yet another matchup with North Allegheny, which beat the Vikings in the WPIAL title game in a wild affair last season, 44-41, and two years ago, 35-21.

“Our kids believe in one another. That’s the most important thing,” North Allegheny coach Art Walker said. “They’re a tight group. They’ve been together for a long time. They’ve grown up together. And they believe in one another. That goes a long way.”

Brady Brinkley passed for 144 yards and a touchdown and Luke Rohan scored twice, including a 55-yard run in the opening minutes of the game for North Allegheny.

Peter Notaro, an Alabama commit, added field goals of 32 and 47 yards for the Tigers, who ran away from the Blue Devils in the fourth quarter.

North Allegheny led Mt. Lebanon by three touchdowns at halftime of their regular-season matchup and held on for a 28-21 victory on Oct. 4.

They led the Blue Devils again Friday night by three touchdowns and an identical 28-7 score at halftime but scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to roll into the championship game.

North Allegheny took a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter on Rohan’s 2-yard run and added another touchdown with 48 seconds to go before halftime when Humphries intercepted Patrick Smith’s pass to set up Brinkley’s 24-yard scoring strike to Dylan Langdon.

“In the last game we played them, it was the same score at halftime,” Walker said. “We threw a pick in the end zone and they scored. We dropped a punt on the snap and they scored again with like 30 seconds left, and we won, 28-21.”

When Mt. Lebanon (3-8) scored on the first play of the second half on Smith’s 80-yard touchdown pass to Noah Schaerli, cutting the North Allegheny lead to 28-14, it felt similar to the teams’ first meeting.

“They had a big play and had some life,” Walker said. “I just thought our kids took a breath and said, ‘That play’s over. What are we going to do?’ We got some huge turnovers. Nicholas Humphries’ (first) interception was gigantic.”

Smith threw four interceptions among Mt. Lebanon’s five turnovers, with Langdon’s pick stopping another Mt. Lebanon drive following the Blue Devils’ quick strike to start the second half.

“It looked like our guy got mugged a little bit,” Mt. Lebanon coach Greg Perry said. “If it goes (for a reception), we’re trying to make it 28-21. If it doesn’t go, it kind of broke our back. It is what it is. We thought we had the right play called and it didn’t work.”

Smith later injured his finger on defense and was hampered in throwing the ball.

“He was trying to throw and some of those late passes were bad, so we had to abandon the pass,” Perry said.

Owen Urschler’s interception later in the quarter halted another Mt. Lebanon drive.

North Allegheny pulled away in the fourth, scoring three times, including Humphries’ 57-yard interception return. Dylan Brokos added a 5-yard run and Jackson Failla tacked on a 1-yard run in the closing minutes to set in motion a running clock.

“It’s been a tough go against a tough schedule,” Perry said. “Credit our guys, though. They never packed it in this year. They just hung in there.”

Despite the interceptions, Smith, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior, led Mt. Lebanon with 139 yards passing and 118 yards rushing, including a 73-yard score.

“He’s a heck of a player,” Walker said. “He’s a 220-pound quarterback who plays outside linebacker. He’s their leading point scorer and leading rusher. He threw for 1,400 yards. Taking him away was important and (despite his numbers), I thought our guys did that.”

Tags: Mt. lebanon, North Allegheny