North Allegheny traveled to the historic Wolvarena on Friday night to take on Woodland Hills in the first game of the KDKA Kickoff Classic. There are five games during the two-day event, but it will be tough to top this one as the Tigers scored with 50 seconds left and hung on late to escape with a 28-26 victory.

 

NA got the ball first and picked up a first down on their opening play from scrimmage. An interception stalled the drive after four plays. Woodland Hills quickly took advantage of the turnover as Scoop Smith scored a 60-yard rushing touchdown on an option play to give the Wolverines the 6-0 lead. North Allegheny responded with a seven-play drive, but the Woodland Hills defense stood up and stopped the Tigers on fourth-and-one from the Wolverine 27-yard line.  The NA defense came up with a big stop of their own and forced Woodland Hills to punt. The Tiger offense was finally able to break through, going 53 yards in four plays, capped by Brady Brinkley to Ben Kern for a 21-yard touchdown. North Allegheny took a 7-6 lead after a quarter of play.

 

 

After another stop, the Tigers put together a 10-play, 42-yard drive that was stopped just outside the red zone. Ethan Maravich made a field goal from 39 yards out, and the North Allegheny lead expanded to 10-6.

 

 

With the defense humming, the Tigers got the ball back and looked to be driving before another interception gave the Wolverines the momentum back. Woodland Hills cashed in on another turnover when quarterback Cam Walter hit Ziggy Moore on a 35-yard screen and the Wolverines had the 14-10 lead at halftime.

 

North Allegheny came out of the halftime break on fire, getting a three-and-out to begin the second half. The offense immediately drove 33 yards to find the end zone again via a Luke Rohan four-yard run. The Tigers had the lead back at 16-14.

 

 

The next play from scrimmage, Korry Pitts intercepted a pass at the 35-yard line and took it to the house to extend the NA lead to 22-14.

 

 

While the Tigers looked to have all the momentum, Woodland Hills regrouped and went 80 yards in six plays with Walter finding Malik McCloud from 35 yards out. The Wolverines cut into North Allegheny’s lead 22-20. A fumble on NA’s next possession gave Woody High all the momentum, and a Taylor Reid 31-yard touchdown run put the Wolverines back in the lead 26-22 going into the fourth quarter.

 

The teams traded punts to begin the fourth quarter. With 5:53 remaining in the game, North Allegheny started a drive at its own 32-yard line. The Tigers methodically moved the ball down to the Woodland Hills’ six-yard line. The Wolverines’ defense stepped up, and it all came down to a fourth-and-goal with 55 seconds left. Brinkley completed a screen pass to Rohan on the critical play, who walked into the end zone. NA had the 28-26 lead with 50 seconds left.

 

 

Woodland Hills made one final push, getting to the 13-yard line on the last play of the game, but the Tigers ultimately held on for a hard-fought 28-26 victory.

 

Rohan was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game with 22 carries for 107 yards, a rushing touchdown and the game-winning receiving touchdown.

 

Brinkley finished 17-for-24 with 211 yards and two touchdowns. Kern had three catches for 43 yards while Pitts had three catches for 25 yards offensively.

 

James Harrison led the defense with eight tackles. Mason Brown, Kellan Frank and Kaison Inouye all had four tackles for NA.

 

North Allegheny starts the season 1-0 overall while Woodland Hills falls to 0-1. The Tigers will be back in action next Friday when they travel to a similar spot, this time to Gateway, to take on the Gators at 7 p.m. That game will be broadcast live on the North Allegheny Sports Network.