Westmoreland H.S. football notebook: Norwin gears up for clash with North Allegheny

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, September 13, 2025 | 5:49 PM

Purchase Photo Options

The stage is set for Norwin’s biggest home football game in years.

The fourth-ranked Knights (3-1) dominated No. 5 Seneca Valley on the road Friday night, 56-13, to win their Class 6A conference opener and give themselves a massive boost of confidence going into next week’s showdown with No. 2 North Allegheny (4-0).

All eyes will be on the matchup as fans look for much of the same from perennial power North Allegheny or something new from perpetual underdog Norwin.

That win would be massive for Norwin. The win over Seneca Valley was important, but a steppingstone, according to Knights’ coach Mike Brown.

Hold the victory parade, at least for now.

Brown has had a we’re-supposed-to-be-doing-this approach since the summer when he knew what he had returning: healthy, experienced players who want to change a culture. He wants to stop and enjoy the wins but doesn’t want the Knights to be shocked when they get them.

“They are starting to see their hard work pay off and have success, but they understand it’s a long season and there’s a lot of football still to play,” he said of his team. “We still are going into each week with the same work ethic no matter the outcome from the previous week.”

Senior quarterback Tristyn Tavares threw for three touchdowns and ran for two others Friday to lead the Knights, who also saw budding sophomore Potter Brozeski take a kickoff back 96 yards at Seneca Valley’s NexTier Stadium.

Senior Josh Lenart opened the scoring with a 14-yard TD reception for Norwin, who are a questionable call against Penn-Trafford away from being 4-0.

“We’re just taking one game at a time,” Lenart said. “This will definitely give us momentum for this week. We are really looking forward to (North Allegheny).”

Seniors Jake Knight and Zack Pawling also had TD catches, and junior Giovanni Rothrauff ran for a score for the Knights.

Lenart said camaraderie and synergy are working for Norwin.

“We are playing as a team, and this team is the tightest group of boys that I have ever been a part of,” he said. “We are starting games off fast and playing to the echo of the whistle every play. There is a new mindset this team has this year.”

North Allegheny defeated Hempfield (3-1), which was flying high with an unbeaten start, 56-13.

…

Undefeated

Fourteen WPIAL teams moved to 4-0 with wins Friday night. Two of them are from Westmoreland County.

Southmoreland and Monessen kept their records clean, with the Scotties rallying past Blackhawk, 24-17, and Monessen holding off Serra Catholic, 13-6.

Other 4-0 teams are North Allegheny, Peters Township, Upper St. Clair, Freeport, Imani Christian, North Catholic, Avonworth, South Allegheny, Western Beaver, Fort Cherry, Avella and Jefferson-Morgan.

…

Action Jackson

New coach Dustin Shoaf talks about Southmoreland playing well in all three phases.

The big play for the Scotties came on special teams Friday as sophomore Jackson Mickens sprung free and blocked a punt, then returned it 19 yards for a touchdown. Liam Smith’s extra point gave the Scotties a 17-14 lead in the second quarter before Dawson Wolfe scored on a 7-yard run to make it 24-14 at halftime.

“Originally, our play call was for a middle return, so I wasn’t supposed to rush,” Mickens said. “But I trusted myself and the film I studied, so I went and got it. I think it was a big play, especially after we went down 14-0, but I trusted my guys to overcome adversity and knew all we needed was a spark.”

Mickens, a defensive end who scored on a rushing touchdown after Blackhawk went ahead by two scores early, has Division I offers from Sacramento State, Miami (Ohio) and Akron.

…

Best for last

Two local teams followed the recent trend of late-game heroics to post wins in Week 3.

Mt. Pleasant used a 2-yard touchdown run and extra point from Tyke Snyder to sneak past Ambridge, 28-27.

Derry, meantime, rallied in the fourth quarter for the second straight week and clipped Burrell, 13-7. Max Doherty scored on a short run with just more than a minute remaining, his second score of the game, and the Trojans held on despite missing the extra point and despite Burrell driving late.

Derry linebacker Dylan Pitzer forced a fumble with a jarring hit on Bucs quarterback Antonio Perkins, and Chase Luko recovered for the Trojans.

…

Four for Brown

Jeannette quarterback Kymon’e Brown rushed for 142 yards and four touchdowns on just eight carries — 17.8 yards per carry — as the Jayhawks thumped Frazier, 61-19, to open Eastern Conference play.

Brown started the scoring with a 68-yard TD run and later scored on a 56-yard burst.

Brown also threw two TD passes.

Hunter Schaeffer returned a kickoff 69 yards for another score.

Jeannette (3-1, 1-0) will face a tough road challenge next week at Leechburg (3-1, 1-0).

…

Next week

Top local games next week include two more key 6A matchups: Hempfield (3-1, 0-1) at Central Catholic (3-1, 1-0) and North Allegheny (4-0, 1-0) at Norwin (3-1, 1-0).

Other local matchups of note include Kiski Area (1-3, 0-1) at Penn-Trafford (3-1, 0-1), Jeannette (3-1, 1-0) at Leechburg (3-1, 1-0), Belle Vernon (1-2) at South Fayette (3-1), Ringgold (3-1) at Southmoreland (4-0) and Monessen (4-0, 1-0) at Fort Cherry (4-0, 1-0).

…

Extra points

Hempfield and Norwin had identical final scores Friday (56-13). … Cody Yacamelli, the younger brother of Wisconsin running back Cade Yacamelli, led Penn-Trafford Friday with 145 rushing yards. … Chris Cochran (Latrobe), Tavian Taylor (Monessen) and Max Doherty (Derry) also ran for more than 100 yards. … One point is enough to win, despite the point total: Beaver beat Hopewell, 51-50, and California edged Bentworth, 8-7.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Derry Area, Jeannette, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland