Norwin football snaps losing streak vs. Penn-Trafford

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, August 24, 2018 | 11:09 PM

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The Norwin football team had lost seven straight in the series with rival Penn-Trafford dating to 2011.

On Friday, the Knights, No. 5 in the Trib HSSN Class 6A rankings, made sure the streak didn’t grow any longer.

Jack Salopek threw for four touchdowns and ran for another as Norwin held off a second-half charge from the Warriors and scored a 44-36 victory at Knights Stadium.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Norwin coach Dave Brozeski said. “This Week Zero game every year is just a battle. I am proud of our guys and proud of our coaches. The kids persevered and earned a big win. We’ll enjoy this for 24 hours or so and then get back to work and prepare for North Allegheny.”

Norwin jumped out to a 24-0 lead in the second quarter and seemed ready to run away with the game. But Penn-Trafford scored right before halftime and added two third-quarter scores to trim the Knights lead to 24-21.

But Norwin scored three touchdowns over the final 16 minutes to keep Penn-Trafford at arm’s length.

Penn-Trafford scored with 2 minutes, 54 seconds left to cut it to a one-score deficit. The Warriors tried an onside kick, their third of the game. The first two were successful, but the final one was recovered by the Knights at the Warriors 47.

Jayvon Thrift ran for 13 yards to the 34, and the Knights ran out the clock.

“We put ourselves in a pretty bad hole down 24-0, and with 16 or 17 new starters, it could’ve gone either way,” Penn-Trafford coach John Ruane said. “But I am really proud of the way we battled back and showed some spark. We had a chance to win the game late, to be honest. I think we played well enough at some points to win the game.”

Both offenses made sure there wasn’t going to be a repeat of last year’s 3-0 defensive struggle. The teams combined for 891 yards of offense. Norwin accounted for 526.

Salopek finished 20 of 28 passing for 283 yards. He added 71 yards rushing.

Two of those touchdowns went to William Kerston, who finished with five catches for 96 yards.

“Salopek played outstanding for them,” Ruane said. “He’s the real deal.”

Norwin, with its back against the wall after Penn-Trafford scored to make it 24-21, drove from its 24 to the Penn-Trafford 15. After a pair of sacks, the Knights faced a fourth-and-27 on the 32.

But Salopek threw a dart to Sean Pavlik at the 8, and Pavlik took it the rest of the way to complete the scoring connection. The point-after kick failed, but Norwin regained some breathing room.

Penn-Trafford had two quarterbacks in action. Ethan Carr started and then gave way to Gabe Dunlap.

Dunlap surpassed 100 yards passing and rushing.

He completed 11 of 13 passes for 156 yards and three touchdowns and added 15 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown.

Caleb Lisbon contributed 19 rushes for 80 yards and a score.

Norwin got on the board quickly as Salopek found a wide-open and streaking Gianni Rizzo for a 78-yard touchdown on the Knights’ third play from scrimmage.

It was the Youngstown State recruit’s only reception of the game.

“We’re going to watch the film, correct the mistakes and get our guys as healthy as we can for next week,” said Brozeski, whose Knights open conference play against North Allegheny.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.

Tags: Norwin, Penn-Trafford