The Moon Area Tigers will look to extend their season-opening winning streak to three games Friday night, but they’ll have a battle on their hands when Penn-Trafford visits Tiger Stadium for a 7 p.m. WPIAL non-section football matchup.
That is one of seven games involving West Hills teams Friday night, with all of them starting at 7 p.m. Elsewhere, Montour will host Trinity, Carlynton will entertain South Allegheny, Cornell plays at home against Riverview, Sto-Rox welcomes Brentwood, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart visits Seton LaSalle and Bishop Canevin travels to Steel Valley.
Both Moon and Penn-Trafford enter Friday night’s matchup with 2-0 records. Moon is coming off a 41-13 beating of West Hills neighbor Montour last week on the Spartans’ home turf.
The Tigers didn’t go to the air much, but when they did, they made it count as three of quarterback Andrew Cross’s four completions went for touchdowns to back the 160-yard rushing performance of Antoine Arnett in whipping Montour.
Cross connected with Braeden Stuart from 11 yards, Myles Turner from 32 yards and Jacob Warnagiris from 10 yards and ran for a score. Arnett also rushed for two touchdowns as Moon ran for 242 yards on the ground while holding Montour to 85.
Penn-Trafford opened its season by edging Norwin, 34-31, and then came back last week and beat Mt. Lebanon, 26-18. The Warriors have totaled over 300 yards of offense in both their games.
Quarterback Nate Desmond hit on 15 of 23 passes for 222 yards in the win over Mt. Lebanon, with Nick Ponko hauling in eight of those passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Cody Yacamelli added a rushing touchdown.
Moon coach Ryan Linn said he believes his team matches up well with the Warriors.
“I think we have an advantage at the wide receiver and defensive back positions,” he said. “I feel they are better up front than we are, and that’s our biggest concern as a staff — controlling their run game.”
Linn said if the Tigers defense can get the Warriors in long down-and-distance situations, that could allow Moon to try and create pressure “and hopefully pressure their quarterback into making some bad decisions.”
Linn said the Tigers need to be more consistent on offense and need to maintain drives and eliminate penalties.
“Defensively we need to continue to create pressure and get to the quarterback,” he said. “When we are doing those things, we have a chance to have continued success.”
Trinity (1-1) at Montour (1-1)
The Spartans posted a solid 27-20 victory over Central Valley in their season opener but yielded 27 straight points to Moon in last week’s 41-13 loss at Thomas J. Birko Memorial Stadium. That 27-point outburst started with the Tigers holding a 14-13 lead.
Montour managed just eight first downs and 85 yards rushing and possessed the ball for just under 18 minutes compared to 30 for Moon. The disparity was even wider in the second half as the Tigers held the ball for nearly 19 minutes to Montour’s 5.
One bright spot was running back Caden Halajcio, who rushed for 92 yards on 19 carries, but other than a 43-yard gain, the senior standout was held in check.
Quarterback Brandon Bennett completed 9 of 17 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown while Zander Stern caught five passes for 52 yards and Archie Collins had a pair of receptions for 49 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown.
Trinity lost its season opener, 14-13, to Moon on a last-second score and beat McGuffey, 35-13, last week.
South Allegheny (2-0) at Carlynton (1-1)
The Cougars beat Carrick, 20-12, in their season opener but dropped a 7-6 decision to Avella last week in a game that saw them fumble three times including one inside their own 10-yard line to set up Avella’s only score.
Quarterback Maddox Horrell connected on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Mason Jameson in the fourth quarter, but a missed extra point left Carlynton one point short.
Horrell passed for 151 yards on 11 completions in 20 attempts, and his top receivers were JaeSean Nembhard, Dwayne Fisher and Brooklyn Harvey.
The Cougars had difficulty mounting a ground game, as Justin Berger and Ashton Donlin combined for just 59 yards on 18 carries.
Carlynton outgained Avella by more than 100 yards but turnovers hurt the Cougars.
Riverview (2-0) at Cornell (1-1)
The Raiders got 164 yards passing and two touchdowns from M.J. Stuckey and all-purpose standout Khylil Johnson threw for 96 yards and two touchdowns, had 108 yards receiving and two touchdowns, and rushed for 57 yards, but it wasn’t enough in a 36-32 loss to California.
Terrance Collington had 96 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns and rushed for 24 yards in last week’s loss. The Raiders opened their season with a 20-12 win over Carrick.
Riverview’s most recent outing resulted in a 35-0 victory over Valley.
Kaden Levy rushed for a pair of second-half touchdowns in the “other” Raiders’ win while Connor Kmetz threw for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Brentwood (0-2) at Sto-Rox (0-2)
Something has to give in this matchup of two winless teams. The Vikings showed some offensive life last week, scoring 20 points in a loss to Carmichaels after managing just six points the week before it their season-opening loss to South Side.
Ramonte Hunter rushed for two touchdowns and Chase Jefferson also found the end zone in last week’s loss to Carmichaels, which led 22-0 after one quarter and 30-6 at halftime on the way to a 38-20 win.
Brentwood lost 49-6 to South Allegheny last week and 21-14 to Yough in its season opener.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (1-1) at Seton LaSalle (1-1)
The Chargers ran into a buzzsaw in the person of Fort Cherry’s Matt Sieg, as the Penn State-bound standout rushed for two touchdowns and added a pick-six for good measure in the Rangers’ 40-0 win.
OLSH had difficulty getting anything going on offense, finishing with minus-10 yards rushing and 60 yards passing while absorbing four sacks for a minus-40 yards.
Jamire Samuels rushed for 15 yards on 11 carries for OLSH while quarterbacks J.J. Hayden and Nehemiah Ichimura were a combined 3 for 13 for 60 yards with three interceptions.
Seton LaSalle lost its season opener to North Catholic, 47-14, but rebounded with a 22-7 win over Bishop Canevin last week.
Bishop Canevin (0-2) at Steel Valley (1-1)
The Crusaders led 7-0 early in last week’s game against Seton LaSalle but gave up 22 straight points in suffering their second straight loss, 22-7.
Damar Olds caught six passes for 165 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown catch, to lead Bishop Canevin, which opened its season with a 35-28 loss to Clarkson North of Canada.
The Crusaders’ defense had trouble getting off the field in the second half last week, as Seton LaSalle controlled the ball for more than 20 minutes while outscoring Bishop Canevin 15-0.
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