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Northgate helps Cornell honor Ed Dawson; hangs on for win

 
Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| October 31, 2026

A home Northgate football game has certainly not received as much media attention as it did tonight in many, many years. But of course, the attention surrounding Northgate and Cornell had nothing to do with the play on the field and everything to do with one special man, Coach Ed Dawson, who was honored pregame at Alumni Field after passing away suddenly last Friday night.

This Friday night proved once again that few things bring people together more than sports. The strong, united young men from Cornell ran onto the field to a roaring crowd of two communities behind them, recognizing the courage and toughness it took to come ready to play for their coach, who had just been laid to rest earlier that day.

“We asked the kids if they wanted to play,” Cornell Coach Ken Rainey said about the process earlier in the week. “Every single player raised their hand.”

As captains from both teams approached midfield for the coin toss, players and coaches from both sides surrounded them as Northgate Superintendent Dr. Caroline Johns offered words of encouragement and led a moment of silence.

Coach Dawson’s impact will be remembered not only by the Cornell community, but by the entire WPIAL, as many coaches and teams throughout Western Pennsylvania wore blue in different forms tonight. Northgate, like many hosting schools throughout the area this week, donated the proceeds from its 50/50 raffle to the Dawson family, and also handed out blue ribbons for everyone to wear.

“Selfishly, I want him to be here,” EJ Dawson said, the former Raider who had played for his dad and coached on the sidelines last night in his honor. “But I know he’s in a better place, and he went out doing what he loved.”

The game itself was one Coach Dawson would’ve enjoyed being a part of. The outcome came down to the very last play, which is certainly a silver lining for the Raiders (3-6, 1-4) in their 7-0 loss to the Flames (7-3, 5-2), who await their playoff seeding tomorrow afternoon for the first time since 2016.

“We did him justice today,” Rainey said. “That was the best version of ourselves all year. He wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

It was a sloppy yet gritty performance from both teams, with plenty of turnovers, penalties, and little offensive efficiency from either side. But the Flames have consistently found ways to win games that don’t always look pretty, improving to 5-1 in one-score affairs this season.

The lone score came on a 48-yard deep ball from DJ Smith to Samir King in the first quarter. Smith eclipsed both 1,000 yards rushing and passing for the season.

Smith and Cornell quarterback Ta’rell Jones felt the heat in the backfield all night. Both teams went backward due to sacks in the second quarter, and five false starts against the Flames in the first half didn’t help their cause during two of their last three drives, where poor punts from the Raiders set them up with great field position beyond the 50-yard line.

Northgate also struggled with snaps, where DJ Smith had to fall on multiple loose balls, including one that Cornell recovered in the third quarter.

“There’s no excuse for it,” Northgate Head Coach Chris Lucas said. “If we continue to make those mistakes in the playoffs, it’s not going to be a very long playoff.”

Cornell found some running room in the second half, but holdings and false starts killed drives for the Raiders. With under 2:30 remaining, the Raiders put together a drive with some completions despite Ta’Rell Jones being sidelined with an injury for most of the fourth quarter.

The Raiders called their final timeout with 20 seconds left after a run from Daveon Collier set up 3rd-and-2 inside the five-yard line. Jeremiah Dent then took the direct snap and was stopped short by linebacker Christian Tamburri. In a hurry to get the final snap off in time, the ball went high off Dent’s hands, and a herd of Flames tackled him as the clock hit zero.

“I could not be prouder of how these kids have handled adversity,” Lucas said. “There’s been a change this year. Our kids believe they can win even when their backs are against the wall.”

Lucas was even more impressed with the way Cornell played for their coach after such a horrible tragedy.

“Life is much bigger than the game,” Lucas said he preached to his players this week. “Our focus was doing whatever we could to help Cornell. I couldn’t believe the heart that those guys [Cornell’s coaching staff and players] showed tonight.”

Northgate will most likely be on the road in their first-round playoff matchup and will need to clean up their offensive mistakes if they want to pull off an upset next week.

 

 

 

 
 
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