Preview: North Allegheny Tigers vs. Harrisburg Cougars
The North Allegheny Tigers will head out on the road to face off against the Harrisburg Cougars at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as North Allegheny comes in on eight and Harrisburg on ten.
With a playoff game on the line, North Allegheny rose to the challenge on Friday. They breezed by the Trojans at home to the tune of 41-7. North Allegheny might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won 11 matches by 21 points or more this season.
Logan Kushner was on fire: he rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries, and also threw for 174 yards and three touchdowns on only nine passes. Evan Lyon also deserves a shout-out for his two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Harrisburg faced Manheim Township in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Harrisburg secured a 34-28 W over Manheim Township on Friday. Harrisburg's win was all the more impressive since Manheim Township was averaging only 12 points allowed on the season.
Harrisburg got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Nehemiah Ewell out in front who rushed for 88 yards and three touchdowns. Shawn Lee was another key contributor, rushing for 120 yards and a touchdown.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Manheim Township to a paltry 238 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Harrisburg's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid the passer out six times before it was all said and done. The heavy lifting was done by Micah Chambers and Ryan Epps who racked up four sacks between them.
North Allegheny's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-1. They've been dominating during the contests in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 37 points. As for Harrisburg, their win bumped their record up to 12-1.
