Jack Broderick, North Hills run past West Allegheny 28-0. Advance to 5A semifinals.
Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs
Greg Hillman | November 13, 2026
WEST VIEW, PA– I’ve got two words for you, Eric Kasperowicz.
It’s hard to wrap your head around how he turned his alma mater into a WPIAL contender basically overnight.
They looked every bit the part for all of 29 minutes, following North Hills’ 28-0 shutout win vs. West Allegheny on Friday night to clinch their first playoff win since 2010. That was so long ago, some of the underclassmen on this team weren’t even born yet.
And it just so happened to be the year Nicco Thomas was born, as he would tell me after. It means so much to this community to have a contender again. Not to mention a local hero leading the way- yeah, that’s good stuff.
But it looked a little shaky early on for North Hills. Mistakes and self-inflicted penalties kept West Allegheny in the game a lot longer than they should’ve been. I asked Kasperowicz if he felt like there were any nerves playing a factor, and this was his response.
“Yeah, I think there were definitely some nerves, he said. “We left a lot of plays out there, but hats off to West Allegheny and coach [Bob] Palko; they do such a great job. It wasn’t easy, and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
#NorthHills head coach Eric Kasperowicz on the playoff win vs West Allegheny
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@NHIndiansFB https://t.co/DW1c9nJhps— Greg Hillman (@ghillman_media) November 14, 2026
I asked Nicco Thomas the same question, and he had the exact opposite answer, surprisingly.
“No,” he said confidently. “It was cold out; it was hard to get the fire started, but we got it stoked eventually. You know our defense is fundamentally sound. We’re in aggressive defense, and then our offense just got the job done.”
#NorthHills Nicco Thomas after the 1st playoff win for NG since the year he was born!
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@NHAthletics_
@NHIndiansFB
@NiccoT2028 https://t.co/SsPoEKpuuN— Greg Hillman (@ghillman_media) November 14, 2026
That offense, while sluggish in the first 19 minutes or so, eventually woke up, thanks to Jack Broderick, who would net a hat trick in the win.
Here’s the conversation I had with him postgame about his three touchdowns, which included an 80-yarder.
Jack Broderick after his 3 TD night vs West Allegheny
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@NHAthletics_ https://t.co/vJpHb5KkaO— Greg Hillman (@ghillman_media) November 14, 2026
He was by far the best player on the field tonight. On that first touchdown, he found the hole that his teammates created for him, and he took it the distance to open the scoring.
Jack Broderick gets #NorthHills on the board first 7-0 5:22 2nd quarter
@NHIndiansFB
@PaFootballNews https://t.co/WPVS2YeLG6— Greg Hillman (@ghillman_media) November 14, 2026
Now on the defensive side, they were lights out again. The last time I covered a North Hills game was when they beat Plum 42-7. And that game was similar to this one as well. West Allegheny found little to no ground all night long. The run game was nonexistent, and the passing game, while at times, found some rhythm, would end up punting the ball back to North Hills or turning the ball over on downs.
Speaking of doing such a thing, anytime West A had good field position, and my goodness, did they have some of that tonight, they still couldn’t score because they had to go for it on 4th down because a field goal wouldn’t have done them any good.
To North Hills’ immense credit, they held their ground and kept the other Indians off the scoreboard.
Now, comes the real challenge again. This team knows how it felt to get run out of their own building by Pine-Richland. At least this time, the game will be played at a neutral site, so they don’t have to worry about that. They just have to play them again.
This team feels more motivated than ever to get their revenge on their coach’s old squad. They understand the task at hand and what comes after that. But first things first, the Rams. Can they beat them? Time will tell.
It’s awesome to see this community get excited for a playoff win for the first time since I played one season at Martorelli when I played for North Hills community youth football. Yes, I’m a Hampton Talbot 100% wholeheartedly. But I have a special place for North Hills, given the fact that I spent 90% of my childhood here. I know this team feels the love for what they’ve brought to this community this season and that they get to play one more game for them and each other.
Thanks for reading my coverage! PA Football News is your #1 source for high school football around the WPIAL. No one does the PIAA playoffs like PA Football News!
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