North Hills rides pair of big plays to win over Plum

By: Josh Yourish
Friday, October 3, 2025 | 10:40 PM

“Style points don’t matter,” North Hills coach Brody Zangaro could be heard saying to his coaching staff as he emerged from the visitors’ locker room at Plum High School on Friday night, a smile on his face and new life in the WPIAL Class 5A playoff race for his team.

It took a 55-yard fumble return touchdown by linebacker Joey Lutz in the third quarter and a blocked extra-point attempt in the first half, but the interim head coach of the Indians escaped with a 14-13 victory over the Mustangs to get to 2-5 and 2-1 in the Northeast.

“We stress that all the time,” Zangaro, the former defensive coordinator for longtime head coach Pat Carey, said. “We’ve been on our kids about field-goal and extra-point block repeatedly, and finally we did it right and we blocked the extra point.”

The game ended on special teams for North Hills as well, with Lutz getting a final punt off to salt away the last 8 seconds and secure the win.

The North Hills offense managed minus-2 yards passing and leaned heavily on a wildcat rushing attack with junior running back Johnell Edison. Edison finished with 139 yards on the ground, including a 54-yard scamper on the team’s first possession of the game that set up a 4-yard touchdown run from senior running back Israel Armstead.

“All of our blockers did a significant job. I was able to run the ball, but I couldn’t run the ball without them,” Edison said. “It takes a whole team to run the ball from wildcat.”

After that first possession in the first quarter, Plum grabbed control of the momentum and, with two touchdowns before half, seized the lead.

The Mustangs’ first points came courtesy of senior running back Elijah Jackson, a 15-yard score with 6:03 left in the second quarter. Then, the other half of Plum’s two-headed monster in the backfield, junior CJ Hart, added another from 2 yards with 1:57 before the intermission.

However, it was Hart’s fumble that led to the Lutz touchdown. Factoring in two costly second-half interceptions from junior quarterback John Nonnenberg, turnovers swung the result in North Hills’ favor.

“We preach the turnover battle all the time. Taking care of the football, taking the football away, and our safeties just did an unbelievable job,” Zangaro said of Michael Waters and Nick Richter, who preserved North Hills’ slim margin in the fourth quarter.

Turnovers continue to be a frustration for Plum coach Matt Morgan.

“The games we’ve played close this year, we’ve lost the turnover battle,” Morgan said. “We’re not taking care of the ball on offense. I take responsibility for that. We’ll get back to work on Monday and try to correct these mistakes that we keep making.”

After falling to 2-5, 0-3, Plum has another conference matchup in the 5A Northeast against Fox Chapel next Friday. North Hills will continue conference play at home against Shaler.

Tags: North Hills, Plum