Late defensive stand, long scoring drive help North Hills edge Kiski Area
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Friday, October 1, 2021 | 12:01 AM
North Hills’ Cooper Thompson and John Green defend on a ball intended for Kiski Area’s Calvin Heinle in the end zone in the fourth quarter Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, at Martorelli Stadium.
North Hills’ Chase Foskey makes a shoe string tackle on Kiski’s Chad Hepler in the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 at Martorelli Stadium.
Kiski’s Chad Hepler scores against North Hills in the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 at Martorelli Stadium.
Kiski’s Brock Wilkins stops North Hills’ Liam Tracey short of the goal line, North Hills scores on the next play going up for good in the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 at Martorelli Stadium.
Kiski’s Braden Mika celebrates with Chad Hepler (26) after Hepler’s touchdown against North Hills on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 at Martorelli Stadium.
North Hills’ Chase Foskey beats Kiski’s Chad Hepler to help setup the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 at Martorelli Stadium.
North Hills’ Liam Tracey break the tackle attempt by Kiski’s Dominic Dininno on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 at Martorelli Stadium.
Kiski Area’s Calvin Heinle can’t get to a pass in the end zone over North Hills’ Chase Foskey in the fourth quarter Friday at Martorelli Stadium.
Kiski’s Logan Johnson avoids the tackle attempt by North Hills’ Tanner Ilnickion Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 at Martorelli Stadium.
North Hills’ Robert Dickerson beats Kiski’s Dominic Dininno for a touchdown on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 at Martorelli Stadium.
North Hills’ Cooper Thompson stiff-arms Kiski’s Dominic Dininno on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 at Martorelli Stadium.
North Hills was in a precarious position late in the fourth quarter of its Northeast Conference opener with Kiski Area on Friday.
The Indians trailed by three and were backed up into the shadow of their end zone.
But the defense forced a turnover on downs, and quarterback John Green and the rest of the North Hills offense went to work.
The Indians drove the field in less than three minutes, and Green capped the 93-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge with 32 seconds left.
“It was really just a team effort on that last drive,” Green said. “When I came into the huddle, I looked at everyone, and I knew we had it. We all have love for each other, and it really showed.”
Robert Dickerson then intercepted a Logan Johnson heave to the end zone on Kiski Area’s last gasp from the 38 with no time left to preserve North Hills’ 14-10 victory.
“It started with the stop,” North Hills coach Pat Carey said. “They put another one in, and it’s over. Then it finally came together for us. (Green) started running around and moving the ball around. That two-minute drive is something we work on every week, so we were prepared to do what we needed to do.”
North Hills improved to 4-2 overall heading into a conference road game next week against Penn Hills.
The Indians now are 6-0 in the all-time series with the Cavaliers.
They came into the game after not playing last week. They picked up a forfeit win over Woodland Hills after losses the previous two weeks to Seneca Valley and Moon.
“We got a head start on Kiski and got a chance to heal up a little bit after some tough games,” Carey said. “Kiski is a super team. They had us on the ropes.”
Kiski Area, hoping to go 6-0 for the first time since 1986, will look to regroup as it hosts conference foe Fox Chapel next Friday.
“I was proud of the kids. I loved their effort,” Cavaliers coach Sam Albert said. “I feel bad for the kids because they played their hearts out. North Hills made plays when they had to. Now, it’s back to the drawing board. In this conference, it’s a battle every week.”
The teams combined for eight punts in the first half as they both tried to establish their offenses, and North Hills’ Chase Foskey and Kiski Area’s Dom DiNinno picked off passes for their teams to stop additional drives.
North Hills broke through late in the first half.
The Indians defense stopped Kiski Area at its 27. A 3-yard punt set up North Hills at the Cavaliers 30.
After a 2-yard loss, Green went to the air and found Dickerson in the end zone for the score.
Kiski Area’s offense, held to 63 total in the first half, took the second-half kickoff and drove 62 yards to the North Hills 6. The drive stalled there, and senior Cody Dykes came on to boot a 23-yard field goal.
North Hills was held to punts on its first two drives of the second half.
The Cavaliers got the ball back near midfield with 3:26 left in the third quarter and drove to the North Hills 4 before CJ Hepler capped the march with a 4-yard plunge on the third play of the fourth.
Dykes added the extra point to give Kiski Area a 10-7 lead.
Kiski started at its 32 with 7:56 left and drove to the North Hills 4. A false start penalty set the Cavaliers back 5 yards. Two rushes for 2 yards and two incompletions snuffed out the Kiski scoring chance and set up North Hills to produce the dramatic final drive.
“We were first-and-goal and we jumped offsides,” Albert said. “We can’t make those kind of mistakes. We had a chance to put it away there. To their credit, they marched the field on us. We had some missed assignments, but that happens. That’s high school football.”
Green finished the game 10 of 23 passing for 173 yards, and Johnson was 11 of 20 for 157 yards for Kiski Area. Johnson added 16 carries for 63 yards.
Matt Hilty finished with five catches for 103 yards. He was injured on a reception with five minutes left and was not on defense during North Hills’ winning drive.
Watch an archived broadcast of this game on Trib HSSN.
Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.
Tags: Kiski Area, North Hills
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