Moon rallies for nonconference win vs. West Allegheny

By: Ed Troup
Saturday, September 14, 2024 | 12:04 AM

Moon roared early and often in the second half Friday night, scoring 26 unanswered points on way to a 32-24 comeback win against West Allegheny at William “Rip” Scherer Field at Moon Tiger Stadium.

Trailing 24-6 with 7 minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Moon (2-1) looked to running back Paul Bronaugh to lead the comeback. Bronaugh scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to pull Moon within 12 points and later scored from 15 yards to ice the game for the Tigers with 2:10 left in the game. Bronaugh finished with 15 carries for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

“(Bronaugh) is our guy, the one we want to get the ball to,” Moon coach Ryan Linn said. “He makes our offense go and has done a great job for us this year.”

In between the Bronaugh touchdown runs, Moon scored on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Cross to Nicolas Prozzoly with 39 seconds left in the third quarter and an 18-yard touchdown run by Tavis Lindsay with 3:56 left in the game to give the Tigers their first lead of the game 25-24.

“Our kids just kept playing,” Linn said. “We seized our opportunities (in the second half) and took the momentum that went with it.”

West Allegheny (0-1) struck first on an impressive opening drive. The eight-play, 99-yard march was capped off by quarterback Brody Malatak hitting Brodie Cornell on a 30-yard touchdown pass with 4:52 left in the opening quarter.

The Indians led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Indians extended their lead on a 31-yard field-goal by kicker Tegan Tomei to a 10-0 lead with 10:04 left in the second quarter.

Moon finally responded on a 69-yard scoring drive with 7:20 left in the second quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by Kyden Kulvanish. The extra point by Tigers kicker Evan Senkevich was blocked, and the Indians held a 10-6 lead at halftime.

The Indians got two scores to start the second half: a 1-yard touchdown run by Roman Police and a 6-yard touchdown run by Cornell, which gave the Indians the 24-6 lead before the Moon comeback began.

Cross completed 8 of 16 pass for 175 yards, a touchdown and interception. Malatak completed 6 of 11 passes for 109 yards along with a touchdown and two interceptions in the loss.

West Allegheny running backs Brock and Brodie Cornell along with Police combined for 158 yards rushing prior to injuries removing them form the game in the second half for the Indians.

Moon will travel to Class 6A Seneca Valley in Week 4 for another nonconference matchup. West Allegheny will host defending WPIAL Class 5A Champion Peters Township, also a nonconference game.

“Always good to be sitting at 2-1 with another nonconference game next week,” Linn said. “After that, we have a gauntlet of teams coming in a conference, we just have to get healthy and keep getting better each week.”

Tags: Moon, West Allegheny