North Allegheny shuts out rival Central Catholic in 2nd half to claim 5th WPIAL football title
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Saturday, November 19, 2022 | 8:44 PM
North Allegheny celebrates with the trophy after beating Central Catholic to win the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
North Allegheny’s Daniel Sellers picks up a muffed exchange between Central Catholic’s Payton Wehner and running back Elijah Faulkner and takes it to the house during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
North Allegheny’s Daniel Sellers celebrates his touchdown against Central Catholic during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
Central Catholic’s Cole Sullivan pulls in a late second-quarter pass beating North Allegheny’s Campbell Melzer to set up a touchdown before the half during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
Central Catholic’s Vernon Settles reverses course for a touchdown against North Allegheny during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
North Allegheny celebrates with the trophy after beating Central Catholic to win the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
North Allegheny head coach Art Walker celebrates with his team as they beat Central Catholic in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
North Allegheny head coach Art Walker celebrates as his team beats Central Catholic in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
North Allegheny’s Andrew Gavlik drags Central Catholic’s Argento Greene into the end zone for a touchdown during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
North Allegheny’s Logan Kushner scoots outside on Central Catholic’s Argento Greene during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
Central Catholic’s Colsen Gatten pulls in a pass past North Allegheny’s Ian Zahorchak during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
North Allegheny’s Khiryn Boyd breaks up a pass intended for Central Catholic’s Peter Gonzalez during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
North Allegheny’s Khiryn Boyd looks back as he beats Central Catholic’s Vernon Settles to the end zone for a touchdown during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
North Allegheny’s Logan Kushner beats Central Catholic’s Anthony Speca to the end zone for a touchdown during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Norwin High School.
These teams combined for one touchdown when they met eight weeks ago in a low-scoring, field-position battle between WPIAL rivals who leaned mostly on their defenses.
This wasn’t that kind of game.
Instead, North Allegheny quarterback Logan Kushner threw touchdown passes of 51 and 68 yards, rushed for 184 yards and scored on a 45-yard run as the No. 1 seeded Tigers defeated No. 3 Central Catholic, 35-21, in the WPIAL Class 6A championship Saturday night at Norwin.
The teams combined for 777 yards of offense, eight touchdowns and plenty of big plays, but North Allegheny (11-1) was the only team to score after halftime.
“The first game was definitely all defense, and our defense had been bailing us out all year,” Kushner said. “It was finally time for the offense to show what we have.”
The WPIAL title was North Allegheny’s fifth overall and first since 2012.
Kushner’s 45-yard TD run in the third quarter broke a 21-21 halftime tie. The junior quarterback wasn’t a major part of NA’s running game in the regular season, but carried the football 15 times in the championship game.
“We haven’t run him a lot all year, but when you’re in the WPIAL championship, all bets are off,” NA coach Art Walker said. “He ran hard, he ran smart and he was just determined to win this game.”
Central Catholic (7-5) finished as WPIAL runner-up for the second year in a row.
North Allegheny had been chasing this WPIAL title for a decade, since winning three consecutive Class 4A titles in 2010-12. The Tigers were WPIAL runners-up to Central Catholic in 2020.
“Ten years,” Walker said. “We’ve been in the (championship) game. We’ve been in the semis. For these guys to get a 6A — we’ve never had a 6A championship — these guys get to make history. Now they’ll be a team remembered.”
Wide receiver Khiryn Boyd caught both of Kushner’s touchdown passes in the first half, and running back Andrew Gavlik added an 18-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter.
Still, NA’s defense had a big part in the win.
The Tigers’ first touchdown was a 15-yard scoop-and-score by defensive end Daniel Sellers when Central Catholic fumbled a handoff in the first quarter. And after a back-and-forth first half, Central Catholic’s offense was shut out entirely in the second.
The Vikings had two red zone possessions in the fourth quarter and each ended with failed fourth-down attempt. The most dramatic saw Tyree Alualu stop Central Catholic quarterback Payton Wehner at the goal line.
“We just couldn’t get anything going,” Central Catholic coach Terry Totten said, “and they found a few things.”
Kushner completed only three of eight passes but totaled 130 yards.
Boyd, a junior, had two catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns. He also was vital in the secondary as the Tigers worked to slow down a potent Central Catholic passing game.
“We knew we had to be our best today,” Boyd said, “and that’s what happened.”
Wehner passed for 257 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for 75 yards and another score on 12 carries. The Central Catholic junior completed 18 of 30 passes.
Vernon Settles caught six passes for 57 yards scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, one on a 16-yard run and another on a 19-yard catch. Peter Gonzalez added 105 receiving yards on seven catches, but Central Catholic went scoreless on five second-half possession.
“We came into the half with our heads low,” said Alualu, a junior inside linebacker. “We didn’t want to give up that many points, but coach told us to stay on our assignments.”
North Allegheny took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on Sellers’ fumble recovery. The Tigers extended their lead to 13-0 later in the quarter when Boyd out-ran Central Catholic’s defense and caught a 51-yard touchdown pass.
Central Catholic answered with consecutive touchdowns by Settles about 4 minutes apart early in the second quarter. The first was a 16-yard run and the second was on a 19-yard pass from Wehner to lead 14-13.
North Allegheny retook the lead when Kushner connected with Boyd for a 68-yard touchdown. Kushner added the two-point run to lead 21-14.
Central Catholic fought back in the final 3 minutes before half with a nine-play, 82-yard drive. Wehner forced a 21-21 tie with 2-yard touchdown run 24 seconds before half.
The Vikings were in the WPIAL finals for the fourth year in a row, despite regular-season struggles that saw them lose four of their first seven games.
“They fought back hard from where we were five weeks ago,” Totten said, “but we came up short.”
Watch an archived video stream broadcast of this game on Trib HSSN.
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
Tags: Central Catholic, North Allegheny
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