Week 2 of the regular season is here, and for most Pa. high school football teams, that means another week of non-conference play before league play starts.
Friday night saw yet another number of games postponed due to inclement weather in the Beaver Valley area and delays for several games.
West Allegheny 30, McGuffey 0
West Allegheny opened up regular-season play with a bang Friday night blanking McGuffey with a dominant rushing effort. Senior running back Brock Cornell led the rushing charge with 102 yards and found the end zone once. The senior opened up the scoring Friday night as he broke free for a 64-yard touchdown run. Along with Cornell, fellow halfback Roman Police also found success on the ground, rushing for two scores in the game. West Allegheny will be on the road again next week as it will travel to Moon Township to take on Moon Area at 7 p.m.
Hopewell 35, Ambridge 34
The Vikings notched their second win of the season Friday night in a thrilling overtime victory over Ambridge. After Ambridge running back Zavion Lewis rushed for a 2-yard score in the opening possession of overtime, Hopewell freshman quarterback James Armstrong found the end zone on the following drive on an identical 2-yard rush. Matt Mottes then made the aggressive decision to go for the win on a 2-point conversion, and it paid off with Armstrong pounding it in for the victory. Overall, Armstrong did a solid job Friday night limiting turnovers as he found success through the air, going 11-for-22 for 176 yards and one touchdown without throwing an interception. Along with his success through the air, Armstrong also rushed for 61 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. As for Ambridge, Lewis was a workhorse on the ground for the Bridgers, rushing 12 times for 167 yards and two touchdowns.
Imani Christian 42, Beaver Area 28
Beaver Area suffered its first loss of the 2024 campaign Friday night, falling to Imani Christian. Though quarterback Travis Clear threw for 300 yards on the nose and three touchdowns, the junior gunslinger had three interceptions in the loss. Bobcat wide receiver Amari Jackson hauled in 10 receptions for 105 yards, finding the end zone once. Beaver Area will host Hopewell next week in its first Western Hills Conference matchup of the 2024 season.
Ellwood City 28, Neshannock 21
After the Wolverines' game last week against Shenango was canceled, Ellwood City picked up right where it left off in Week 0 as it defeated a tough Class A opponent Neshannock. The Wolverines got off to an early 14-point advantage as Chris Smiley found the back of the end zone from 11 yards out, which was followed by a six-yard run from Elijah Palmer-McCane. Following two scores from Neshannock, Ellwood City closed out the half as Palmer-McCane broke free on a 59-yard reception from Smiley all the way to the end zone for the score. Overall on Friday, Palmer McCane recorded 259 total yards finding the end zone on two occasions.
Aliquippa 46, Avonworth 20
After trailing by 14 points early on in the contest, Aliquippa went on a 40-point run through the second and fourth quarters to cruise to a 26-point victory Friday night over the Antelopes. After Avonworth's Bryce Mertz scored the first 14 points of the game, Penn State commit and Quips running back Tiqwai Hayes put up the game's next 21 points, finding the end zone three times on the ground rushing from 22 yards, 48 yards and 25 yards, respectively. Qalil Goode put the finishing touches on the victory with a 60-yard pick six in the victory. The Quips will be back at home next week as they will take on Mars at 7 p.m. at Heinz Field.
Western Beaver 38, Rochester 0
Western Beaver captured its first win of the season Saturday afternoon as it blanked Rochester in a dominant performance. Golden Beaver quarterback Jaivin Peel played a hand in the game's first 21 points as he threw for three touchdown scores to open up the game. Peel first connected with Jadon Bishop for a 59-yard score. He later found Chris Kirkland in the second quarter before ending the half with a 60-yard toss for the score. Curtjuan Moore put the exclamation point on the victory with a 38-yard fumble recovery for the score. Overall, Jaivin Peel went 17-for-30 passing for 315 yards and four touchdowns. Bishop hauled in six receptions for 11 yards and two touchdown scores.
North Catholic 33, Blackhawk 32
After holding a 12-point lead in the third quarter, the Cougars narrowly fell to the Trojans Saturday afternoon at Blackhawk High School, dropping to 1-2 on the season. Blackhawk quarterback Stephen Knallay and wide receiver Cody Woodward kicked off Saturday afternoon's game with a bang connecting with one another on a 51-yard score. Following a field goal North Catholic struck for the game's next two scores and had a 14-10 lead in the ladder stages of the first half. However, Blackhawk would strike twice late in the half to take a 26-14 lead into the locker room as Brayden McCarthy rushed in from seven yards out and Knallay later connected with McCarthy for a 26-yard reception with eight seconds remaining in the half. However, after scoring again at the end of the third quarter, North Catholic scored 14 unanswered points down the stretch to edge out a one-point victory. McCarthy was dominant, rushing for 143 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Knallay also impressed after throwing two interceptions last week as he threw for 215 yards for two touchdowns and did not commit a turnover.
South Side Area 35, Beaver Falls 14
South Side Area picked up its second victory of the season as it controlled all facets of the game as the Rams defeated the Tigers. As a team, the Rams rushed for almost 400 yards (finishing with 370) and averaging over seven yards per carry and scoring five touchdowns. Amare Moman found the end zone twice and rushed for the first score of the game. Along with Moman, senior Mateja Pavlovich also rushed for two touchdown scores in the second and third quarters of play.
Riverside 9, Laurel 7
Riverside picked up its first win of the Rob Magnifico era Saturday afternoon with a tight two-point victory on the road. The Spartans had the Panthers on the brink in the fourth quarter of play, but Tony Geiwitz missed a 21-yard field goal to seal the deal for Riverside. Robbie Janis scored the lone points for the Panthers Saturday afternoon as he found the end zone on a two-yard rush. Janis finished the day with 23 carries for 105 yards in the victory.
Northgate 39, New Brighton 7
Freeport 44, Quaker Valley 12
Seton LaSalle 18, OLSH 7 Game Suspended in 3rd quarter; will not be rescheduled.
Penn-Trafford 14, Moon Area 7
Summit Academy Vs. Freedom Area: Canceled
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This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Week 2 High School Football roundup from across the Beaver Valley
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