The Seneca Valley Raiders varsity football team was defeated Friday, September 14, by the North Allegheny Tigers by a score of 45-3.

The Raiders took the opening kickoff and went down the field quickly, grabbing a 3-0 lead after a field goal by kicker Chad Izenas.

The Tigers countered with a field goal of their own by Jason Buchert, and the score at the end of the first quarter was tied.

With the ball backed up deep in their own territory, the Tigers blocked a Raider punt and returned it for a touchdown, putting them up  10-3.

North Allegheny’s senior quarterback Mack Leftwich threw a late second quarter touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Greg Gerrity, making the halftime score North Allegheny 17- Seneca Valley 3.

Things got ugly for the Raiders in the second half.

The Tiger offense added two more touchdowns in both the third and fourth quarters, bringing their point total up to 45.

Senior linebacker Carson Kessler said, “It was definitely a disappointment. We fought hard for the first half, but I feel like [the defense] ran out of gas in the second half. We’ll learn from this game and try and improve next week and the rest of the year.”

The Tiger defense clamped its jaws down on the high powered Raider offense, and they  just never got going.

Senior quarterback Jordan Brown finished the game completing 9 of 21 passes for only 96 yards. Senior halfback Forrest Barnes managed only 15 yards rushing on eight carries.

Brown said “It was a hard game for us as a team. I really wanted this one bad.   We’ll look at it and overcome the adversity and move forward and win the next six games and make a run in the playoffs.”

The seventh ranked Raiders (2-1, 2-1) will play the Connellsville Falcons for their first non-section game of the year at 7:30 at Nextier Stadium for this year’s Homecoming game.

Student Section, don’t forget your Togas!