Gateway’s Birch eclipses 8,000 career passing yards in win against Norwin
Gateway’s Brad Birch became the seventh WPIAL quarterback to throw for more than 8,000 yards in a career, helping the Gators (54, 5-0) gain a 48-20 Big East Conference win against host Norwin (2-7, 1-3) Friday night.
Birch threw touchdown passes of 60, 48, 10 and 43 yards, giving him 97 career touchdown tosses, the third most in WPIAL history.
For the night, Birch completed 13 of 25 passes for 219 yards. He now has 8,160 yards for his career.
Gateway led 27-14 at halftime.
Also in Class 5A North Hills 16, Franklin Regional 14:
Connor Davis threw touchdown passes of 65 and 30 yards as the visiting Indians (4-5) gained a non- conference win against the Panthers (6-3).
Penn Hills 14, Shaler 0: Julian Dugger had a 68-yard touchdown run and threw a 33-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, leading the Indians (7-2, 4-0) to a Northeast Conference win against the host Titans (4-5, 0-4). Dugger carried nine times for 112 yards.
Plum 38, Hempfield 20: The visiting Mustangs (3-6, 1-4) gained their first Big East Conference win, taming the Spartans (1-8, 0-4). Plum was led by quarterback Sean Franzi, who threw touchdown passes of 17 and 42 yards and had touchdown runs of 19 and 11 yards. Franzi passed for 225 yards.
Bethel Park 49, South Fayette 29:
The Black Hawks (4-5, 3-1) keep their playoff hopes alive with a big Allegheny Six Conference win against the visiting Lions (4-5, 13). Bethel Park quarterback Tanner Pfeuffer passed for 212 yards, including touchdown tosses of 24, 66 and 60 yards. South Fayette quarterback Nico Lamonde completed 30 of 40 passes for 421 yards.
Peters Township 23, CanonMcMillan 10:
Vinny Saccone rushed for 104 yards, including touchdown runs of 12 and 27 yards to pace the undefeated Indians (9-0) to a non-conference win against the 5A Big Macs (5-4). Peters Township led by just 7-3 at halftime.
Class 6A North Allegheny 48, Penn-Trafford 14:
Tyree Alualu had a big game for the visiting Tigers (8-1), scoring on first-half touchdown runs of 9 and 50 yards and returning an interception 80 yards for another score. Penn-Trafford (4-5), a 5A school, trailed the nonconference game 20-7 at halftime.
Central Catholic 42, Seneca Valley 7:
Payton Wehner passed for 235 yards, and Pete Gonzales caught touchdown passes of 75 and 11 yards as the Vikings (8-1, 4-0) gained a Tri-County Five Conference win. Visiting Seneca (3-6, 0-3) trailed just 14-7 at halftime.
Mt. Lebanon 37, Baldwin 6:
The visiting Blue Devils (5-4) used a 123-yard, two-touchdown rushing performance from Fred LaSota to gain a lopsided nonconference win against the 5A Highlanders (1-8)
Erie McDowell 52, Butler 12: McDowell (6-3) led at halftime, 420, as the 6A independent Golden Tornados fall to 2-7.
City League semifinals Westinghouse 42, Allderdice 18:
A big second half moves the Bulldogs (8-0) into next Saturday’s City League title game against University Prep. Allderdice (1-8) jumped out a 6-0 lead on a 10yard first-quarter touchdown run by Deondre Hill and was only down 76 at halftime. But the defending City champion Bulldogs outscored Allderdice in the second half, 3512. Khalil Green led the Westinghouse offense, throwing touchdown passes of 17 and 3 yards to Lloyd Penn.