North Allegheny defeats Pittsburgh Central Catholic to win WPIAL Class 6A title behind huge night by Logan Kushner
IRWIN, Pennsylvania - Logan Kushner took the snap, ran to his right and saw nothing but the green turf of the field at Norwin Knights Stadium in front of him on Saturday night.
The North Allegheny senior quarterback ran 76 yards for a touchdown to give the Tigers a 44-34 lead over Pittsburgh Central Catholic with just 2:18 left in the WPIAL Class 6A championship.
"I have to give a shout out to the offensive line, because that was the reason for the last touchdown," Kushner said. "I saw the hole and just ran as fast as I could."
Central Catholic tried to answer as Payton Wehner found Cole Sullivan for a 14-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left, but the ensuing onside kick was eventually recovered by North Allegheny to seal the 44-41 win and the second straight WPIAL title for the Tigers.
"I was just hoping that we recovered," Kushner said with a smile.
Kushner was the story of the game, as he threw for two touchdown passes and ran for three more in the first half alone to give the Tigers a 34-20 halftime lead.
In the first quarter, Kushner hooked up with wide receiver Khiryn Boyd for touchdown passes of 45 and 57 yards. And then in the second quarter, he had touchdown runs of 29, 7 and 3 yards.
He finished the game 3-of-7 passing for 107 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 240 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries.
"Logan Kushner validated himself tonight," North Allegheny head coach Art Walker said. "I don't know why every single Patriot League and Ivy League school has not offered him or are just breathing down his neck. He was best player in the field tonight and that's saying something when you have guys going all over the place with offers."
Wehner kept the Vikings in the game, as he threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter. Elijah Faulkner scored a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Vikings.
The two teams had met earlier this season, with Central Catholic taking home a 50-22 win on Sept. 22.
"I think we developed as a team and I think we grew and we changed in two months," Walker said. "There's a lot of heart and a lot of effort. Chemistry is an amazing thing. When you have team chemistry, that can overcome a lot and these guys believe that."
North Allegheny took the opening kickoff the second half and ran off more than 10 minutes before attempting a field goal that was blocked and returned to the North Allegheny 19 by Central Catholic, setting up a 15-yard touchdown by Faulkner to cut the North Allegheny lead to 34-27 in the final minute of the fourth quarter,.
Despite not scoring, the Tigers executed the way they wanted to on that drive.
"One of the reasons we were huddling is because we didn't want to make a lot of our calls that we made last time in case they knew them," Walker said. "And we also used some clock up with it and once we started grinding things out on the ground game, that's huge to melt that clock down."
Peter Notaro then hit a 29-yard field goal attempt with 8:41 left in the fourth to push the North Allegheny lead to 37-27.
North Allegheny quarterback Logan Kushner (No. 7) celebrates with wide receiver Evan Lyon after Kushner scored a touchdown against Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game on November 18, 2023. Photo credit: Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports
Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports
-- Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sblivepa
