North Hills rides momentum of 3-0 start into conference opener vs. Pine-Richland

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, September 13, 2024 | 11:31 AM

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North Hills is off to its first 3-0 start in five years, early-season success that coach Pat Carey credits to the snaps his seniors logged over a couple of tough seasons.

The team went 4-6 last year and 3-8 in 2022, but Carey had today’s seniors on the field for a lot of those games. So as North Hills starts conference play Friday night at Pine-Richland, the Indians do so with some newfound momentum.

“It relates to having played a lot of these kids a lot of valuable reps over the last few years,” Carey said. “We only had eight graduating seniors last year. These guys gained experience in tough games and tough environments. So they’ve grown up a lot. It is a very strong senior class for us, and we’re very much a senior-led team.”

No. 2-ranked Pine-Richland (2-0) dominated the past two matchups with North Hills, winning 47-0 in 2022 and 43-0 last year. North Hills’ most-recent win in the series was 13-7 in 2021.

They met in the regular-season finale the past two years. This year’s game at Pine-Richland is the Northeast opener for both.

“Obviously, this is a big one,” Carey said. “They’re a highly touted team and they should be because of the players they have. But we like our momentum right now. We’ll have our hands full for sure, but we like our momentum. We like where we are. We’re going to go up there and battle.”

North Hills is coming off a 21-17 victory over Mars that included fourth-quarter touchdowns by senior running back Julius Green and junior wide receiver Josiah Mathis. The winning score was a 31-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Kelly McCarthy to Mathis.

Pine-Richland’s Week 2 game against Seneca Valley was called off during warmups because of thunderstorms. The Rams’ defeated Central Catholic, 22-17, two weeks ago.

“Not playing that game last week maybe didn’t hurt us, but would’ve given us an opportunity to iron out a few more things,” Pine-Richland coach Jon LeDonne said. “But I think we’re in a good spot right now.”

Pine-Richland has a number of new starters on the field, including five first-year starters on the offensive line. But the Rams’ running game remains among the WPIAL’s most daunting. Junior running back Mac Miller leads with 299 yards on 49 carries and four touchdowns in two games.

Sophomore quarterback Aaron Strader has touchdowns passing and rushing.

The five linemen are tackles Jackson Bojanic-Hubbell (6-2, 265) and Braylen Price (6-6, 270), guards John Curran (6-4, 287) and Josh Nindl (6-4, 305) and center Roman Chiacco (5-10, 250).

“We’re pleasantly surprised with our offensive line early on,” LeDonne said. “We were a little nervous about how those guys were going to respond but they’ve been playing pretty well.”

Carey said, simply: “They’re massive upfront.”

They’ll be the biggest test yet for a new-look North Hills defense that is fast but not necessarily big. The Indians switched schemes this fall under defensive coordinator Brody Zangaro, emphasizing its team speed with more blitzes and stunts.

They’ve shut out Hempfield, held Seneca Valley to six points and limited Mars to 17.

“It’s a different style,” Carey said. “We’re playing more with speed than size. So far, so good. It’s a challenge because of (Pine-Richland’s) size for sure, but I like the way we have a group mentality this year. We’re flying to the ball, all 11 hats.”

North Hills’ senior class includes a number of two-way starters. Among them are Green, a safety and running back, Jack Martin, an outside linebacker and running back, and Ryan Carey, a defensive end and tight end.

The roster has 17 seniors, in all.

“It’s a fun group of kids to coach,” Carey said. “There are a lot of what I call ‘old-school North Hills kids’ on the squad who really get after it and try to find a way to win.”

Entering the conference opener last season, North Hills had lost two of its first three games while dealing with injuries. That’s another key difference for the Indians this week.

“Knock on wood, we’re healthy,” Carey said. “There is just a great vibe around the program right now.”

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: North Hills, Pine-Richland