North Allegheny rallies then holds Norwin on 4th down to seal victory
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Friday, September 19, 2025 | 10:25 PM
North Allegheny’s Luke Rohan plows into the end zone past Norwin defenders for the winner Friday.
Norwin punter Evan Pfeifer causes North Allegheny’s Korry Pitts to fumble but out of bounds Friday.
Norwin’s Ben Markel defends on a pass intended for North Allegheny’s Gavin Ust on Friday.
Norwin’s Josh Benart puts a hit on North Allegheny quarterback Brady Brinkley on Friday.
North Allegheny’s Mason Brown pulls in a touchdown pass over Norwin’s Jake Knight on Friday.
Norwin’s Jake Knight runs for a first-quarter touchdown against North Allegheny on Friday.
Norwin’ s Jake Knight defends on a pass intended for North Allegheny’s Cameron Kushner on Friday.
Norwin’s Zack Pawling scores a third-quarter touchdown against North Allegheny on Friday.
Norwin’s Jake Knight can’t catch North Allegheny’s Ben Kern as he scores a third-quarter touchdown on Friday.
North Allegheny’s Kellen Frank takes out Norwin quarterback Tristyn Tavares on Friday.
Norwin defends on a pass intended for North Allegheny’s Cameron Kushner on Friday.
Norwin breaks up a pass intended for North Allegheny’s Kerry Pitts on Friday.
Norwin quarterback Tristan Tavares runs up the sideline for a first down against North Allegheny on Friday.
It was oh, so close for the Norwin football team but another heartbreaker befell the Knights, a team looking for its first victory against No. 2 North Allegheny.
The win was within their grasp, only to have the Tigers swipe it from them.
The No. 3 Knights came up a yard short on a fourth-down run in the fourth quarter, and North Allegheny rallied for a hard-fought, 20-17 victory in a WPIAL Class 6A battle at Norwin Stadium.
North Allegheny (5-0, 2-0) is 16-0 in the series, and it was a victory that made veteran coach Art Walker Jr. proud of his team.
“That was a great game,” Walker said. “Norwin is a really good team. They are well coached, they have a lot of good athletes, they are good up front and the quarterback is dangerous.
“I am proud of our guys on the road, finding a way to come out with a win after being down at halftime, proud of the second half.”
Norwin (3-2, 1-1) came out strong and scored on its first possession of the game when Jake Knight caught a wide receiver screen from Tristyn Tavares and raced 23 yards for the score and a 7-0 lead.
The Knights had their fans celebrating after they extended their lead to 10-0 when Tristan Josephic booted a 25-yard field goal.
But that is when North Allegheny woke up.
The Tigers, who struggled offensively, created their own break when Caden Petro blocked a Josephic punt.
Nate Orlando recovered at the Norwin 30, and, three plays later, Brady Brinkley tossed a 31-yard touchdown pass to Mason Brown to make it 10-7.
“Two big plays,” Walker said. “The blocked punt got us going, and Mason made a great catch.”
North Allegheny’s defense started to slow down the Norwin offense late in the first half.
But Norwin recovered and took a 17-7 lead on its first possession of the third quarter.
Behind the running of Giovanni Rothrauff and Tavares, the Knights moved down the field with Tavares hitting Zach Pawling with a 30-yard touchdown on another wide receiver screen for a 17-7 lead.
“It was a great game by both teams,” Norwin coach Mike Brown said. “We just came up short. The blocked punt was the difference. We should have had them backed in their own territory.”
North Allegheny struck on the final play of the third quarter when Brinkley hit sophomore Ben Kern on a slant that went 63 yards for a touchdown to make it 17-14.
Midway through the fourth quarter North Allegheny’s defense came up big as senior Cameron Kushner caught an interception off of a defection to set up the winning score, an 8-yard run by Luke Rohan with 5:37 left.
Norwin marched down the field and faced a fourth-and-2 from the North Allegheny 23.
But NA senior tackle Lincoln Hoke, son of former Pittsburgh Steelers lineman Chris Hoke, stopped Rothrauff a yard short of the first down.
“Lincoln is the best defensive lineman in the WPIAL,” Walker said. “He played a great game. Our defense bent at times, but we did not break.”
Rothrauff rushed for 102 yards. It was the fifth time he has rushed for more than 100 yards in a game. Tavares added 82. He also completed 8 of 18 passes for 108 yards.
Brinkley completed 10 of 19 passes for 132 yards.
“You never want to feel good about a loss,” Brown said. “The kid are going to continue to work hard, and we will move on. We must fix our mistakes and, hopefully, get back on the right track.”
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
Tags: North Allegheny, Norwin
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