Bethel Park downs NA
It was 57 degrees as Bethel Park’s offense dominated North Allegheny, 35-15, in the Black Hawks’ season opener Friday night. Most of that sentence might surprise you.
But behind an experienced offensive line led by James Gmiter and Gavin Vargesko, senior running back Tanner Volpatti accounted for four touchdowns as the Southeastern Conference’s Bethel Park held off a mighty Northern Seven Conference foe a year after the Black Hawks lost four close games to Northern Seven opponents. That includes a season-opening, 21-14 setback against North Allegheny and a 35-32 defeat against Pine-Richland in the WPIAL 6A quarterfinals.
“They’re good up there, we know,” Bethel Park coach Jeff Metheny said. “We played a lot of their better teams last year and we had some tough games against them. So we’ve got to see the film, I’m sure we weren’t perfect, but we’re off to a good start. So, yes, it gives you some confidence.”
Volpatti rushed for 141 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries and helped the Black Hawks strike first, catching a screen pass from junior quarterback Luke Surunis and taking it 43 yards for a touchdown.
“We have a very big line, strong, physical, and that’s why I played so well,” Volpatti said. “Because of them. It’s all because of them.”
Bethel Park didn’t put the ball in the air for the rest of the half – it had no need. The Black Hawks had 156 rushing yards at the half compared to North Allegheny’s 27 and led the time of possession, 15:33 to 8:27. They finished with 348 rushing yards, and Surunis completed 4 of 8 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown.
Experience on the line was key in the win, Metheny said, as was never playing from behind.
“We’ve got a lot of linemen back, and we think that we’re going to be able to run the ball against some pretty good teams, and we showed that tonight,” Metheny said. “Volpatti ran well, and all the backs … it got us off to a good start, so it was important.”
The Black Hawks held off a nine-point rally in the third quarter as Ben Maenza ran in a touchdown from 6 yards and the snap for a Black Hawks punt went out the back of Bethel Park’s end zone, giving North Allegheny a safety as well as a boost.
After that, Bethel Park picked off a pass thrown by running back Turner White, the Tigers’ second interception of the night, and North Allegheny snuck in a 1-yard touchdown run by Maenza with 2:18 to play. The extra point, however, was blocked and the Tigers couldn’t gain more ground.
In the second quarter, up 7-0, the Black Hawks held the Tigers to a quick three-andout possession before Volpatti punched in another score from seven yards out. With 7:54 left in the second quarter, Bethel Park cornerback Ben Barnot intercepted North Allegheny quarterback Luke Trueman, and Volpatti again made the Tigers pay, this time with a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Black Hawks a 21-0 lead.
Trueman completed 16 of 30 passes for 203 yards.
“He’s a great player,” Metheny said of Volpatti, who has struggled with injuries. “Boy. He’s really strong, he’s worked really hard.”
John Doleno, who rushed for 143 yards on eight carries, polished off Bethel Park’s win with a 25-yard touchdown run, fighting through tackles for the last five yards.
North Allegheny coach Art Walker Jr. said the Tigers would work to learn from the loss
“It’s one game. It’s one game and obviously you want to try to win them all, but it doesn’t always happen,” Walker said. “The No. 1 thing is we stick together. It’s real easy to make excuses and point fingers and say that it’s this guy’s fault, that guy’s fault, it’s easy to listen to the negativity from everybody else that doesn’t play. But that’s a coward’s way out. And we’re here to build character and get better and I told them we can be better and learn from this. There was no quit. They still fought. There [were] bright spots. But you’ve just got to keep at it.”
Bethel Park will open Southeastern Conference play Friday against Peters Township and North Allegheny will open Northern Seven Conference play against Central Catholic.