Trojans remain unbeaten
Wildcats forced to start third- string quarterback
Due to a one- game suspension and an injury, East Allegheny was down to its No. 3 quarterback. It was no way to play the No. 3- ranked team in WPIAL Class 3A.
“With the players we were missing,” East Allegheny coach Dom Pecora said, “we would’ve had to get every bounce, every call, some trick plays and at least a score on defense.”
East Allegheny got none of them. And while the undermanned Wildcats stood tall for a while, North Catholic eventually flexed its muscle and ran away from host East Allegheny, 35- 14, at Churchman Stadium in a big WPIAL Class 3A game.
Afterward, North Catholic coach Patrick O’Shea addressed his team on the field for a few minutes and finished by saying, “OK, we need to get out of here.”
But Pecora wants North Catholic to come back to Churchman soon.
“I never wanted in my life to replay a game again in two weeks as much I would love to play this one again,” Pecora said. “They’re Catholic and they go to church on Sunday. Well, they should say their prayers we didn’t play this game healthy. They’re lucky we didn’t play this game full strength.”
Well, the strength of North Catholic in this Allegheny Seven Conference game was its defense. The Trojans, No. 3- ranked by the Post- Gazette in 3A, made it hard on East Allegheny quarterback Mike Cahill, a freshman. East Allegheny starting quarter back Johnny DiNapoli, who set a WPIAL freshman record for passing yardage last season, did not play because he was ejected from last week’s game and was ineligible under PIAA rules for one game. No. 2 quarterback Mikey Smith was out with an injured ankle sustained in practice this week.
That left the slender Cahill to step under center. This is all you need to know about East Allegheny’s offense: East Allegheny’s first touchdown came on an 82- yard kickoff return by Praishaun Garner in the second quarter. That’s more yards than the Wildcats’ offense had all night. East Allegheny finished with 65 yards, including minus16 yards rushing. Cahill finished 5 of 16 for 50 yards and was under a heavy rush the entire night.
On top of the quarterback absences, East Allegheny lost a few other key players to injuries during the course of the game and lost for the first time this season. The Wildcats are 2- 1 and 1- 1 in conference.
The win gave North Catholic a 3- 0 record, overall and in the conference. The Trojans had scored more than 50 points in the first two games.
“We were in that game,” said Pecora, whose team trailed by only 21- 14 early in the fourth quarter. “We played out butts off. I’ve never been prouder of a team.”
O’Shea was awfully proud of his defense.
“When you score 55 and 51 points the first two weeks of the season, the defense can get overlooked,” O’Shea said. “Even though they took a back seat to the offense, the reason we scored those points was because of our defense.”
The defense scored one TD against East Allegheny when linebacker Nick Maher intercepted a pass and return it 40 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to give North Catholic a 14- 0 lead. Kyle Tipinski scored North Catholic’s first touchdown on a 37- yard run.
Maher made numerous big defensive plays. He recovered a fumble at the East Allegheny 2- yard line in the third quarter that set up a 2- yard TD run by quarterback Joe Prentice. The score came after East Allegheny had sliced the deficit to 21- 14 on Cahill’s 15yard scoring pass to Kiyon Delts.
Maher’s second interception set up North Catholic at the East Allegheny 7, where Tipinski scored on the next play to make it 35- 14.
“I don’t think we have just 11 starters on defense, I think we have 16 that we run on and off the field,” O’Shea said. “Plus, we’re blessed with a defense that is real fast.
“Plus, the other thing that this team has — that not all teams have — is these guys are really close. I’ve been coaching 29 years and it’s been a while since I’ve been with a team that’s as close as this one.”